Letter from International Committee Co-Chairs, Carolyn Peterson and Sue Carr

Greetings from the Co-Chairs of the International Committee.

Welcome to the latest edition of the International Committee’s bi-annual newsletter. We are a Joint Committee of the Psychiatric Rehabilitation Association (PRA), Psychosocial Rehabilitation/Réadaptation Psychosociale Canada (PSR/RPS Canada), and now the Israeli Psychiatric Rehabilitation Association (ISPRA), and international members of these associations.

Once again, we have collected a range of articles on PSR practices around the world. Submissions for future editions of the newsletter can be forwarded at any time to either of the committee co-chairs (contact information follows at end of this article).

Please let your colleagues who have an interest in PSR practices internationally know about this newsletter*. If they are not a member of PRA, ISPRA, or PSR/RPS Canada, please let them know about us and our interest in connecting with others around the world in supporting training and education related to PSR and encourage them to join one of our associations. If you know of conferences on PSR occurring in other countries, please forward this information to us to be included in future editions.

*Email info@psychrehabassociation.org to request a PDF version of this issue that you can circulate electronically.

This issue would not be possible without the submissions from our authors. Thank you for all your articles. For some of you, we recognize the additional challenge of writing in a second or third language and applaud your willingness to take on this challenge, given the extra effort required. It is thrilling to hear new and exciting developments and how challenges are being overcome in a variety of settings.

As co-chairs, we would also like to thank all our active committee members: Mary Huggins, Veronica Carey, and Adrienne Sheff (PRA), David Rosenberg (Sweden), Marianne Farkas (WAPR), Oren Derhy and Max Lachman (ISPRA), Ru Tauro (International Centre for Club House Development), Medhat Elsabbahy (United Arab Emirates and the Arab Nations), Russ Smith and Shaheen Ahmed (Caravan of Hope), and Veronica Nyamali (Nigeria) - as well as Casey Garner of PRA and Sherry Sim of PSR/ RPS Canada.

Our committee meetings are held on the 3rd Tuesday of every month at 11:00am EST. We welcome new members from outside Canada and the United States who have a connection to a national or international PSR organization to participate. For those unable to join by phone, we can correspond via email. For more information about our committee’s activities, or how to become a new member of our committee, please contact either co-chair.

Best wishes from the International Committee Co- Chairs,
Sue Carr, PSR/RPS Canada (sue.carr@sympatico.ca)
Carolyn Peterson, PRA (carolynpeterson@bvu.net)