Rethinking Mental Health in British Columbia: A Trauma-Informed Critique of the Mental Health Act and Western Counselling Education
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Authors
Rai, Satina
Issue Date
2025-08-07
Type
Capstone
Language
en
Keywords
Mental Health Act in British Columbia , impacts of police on mental health , deemed consent , impacts of settler colonialism on mental health , efficacy of involuntary treatment , mental health industrial complex , role of physicians under the MHA
Alternative Title
Abstract
This capstone critically examines British Columbia's Mental Health Act (MHA) through a traumainformed framework with specific focus on the deemed consent provision and its impact on Indigenous Peoples and other marginalized groups. Drawing from abolitionist worldview, decolonial and anti-oppressive perspectives, and lived experience, this paper explores how the MHA positions mental health as an individualized biomedical issue rather than recognizing and addressing the oppressive social systems that contribute to collective mental illness. In doing so, it grants excessive, unchecked authority to healthcare professionals and police officers, perpetuating systems of control and surveillance rather than community- based, culturally
sensitive care. It also critiques the capitalistic and colonial nature of Western-centric counselling education, arguing counsellors must question curriculum and challenge these structures to create cultural safety, autonomy, and community care. By re-evaluating legislation and curriculum through trauma-informed frameworks, we can equip counsellors to disrupt harmful systems and advocate for transformation that address root causes of mental illness rather than pathologizing—and punishing—individuals impacted by systemic harm.
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Citation
Publisher
License
Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 United States
openAccess
openAccess