About

Mission Statement

Building collective capacity in improving access to mental health services and destigmatizing perceptions of mental health embedded in the built environment.

Yale Mental Health Colloquium

March 30, 2019

The Inaugural Yale Mental Health Colloquium was held at the Yale School of Management (SOM) in the Spring of 2019. The Colloquium was a half-day event open to invited guests that convened scholars from the diverse fields of architecture, business, economics, education, law neuroscience, psychiatry, public health, social work, and technology. With discussions of how each field impacts mental health and spirited discussions on how to understand its cross-disciplinary nature, the colloquium made important strides towards consilience.

The Colloquium was organized by a group of students, faculty and staff. As one of the organizers, Kate Altmann saw the success of the Colloquium and sought to host the symposium the following year at the Yale School of Architecture (YSoA). Read more about the Yale Mental Health Colloquium here.

Beyond the Visible: Space, Place, and Power in Mental Health

September 10-24, 2020

Based on the success of the Colloquium, Kate Altmann and several of the faculty and staff, such as Sheril Holbrook, Joel Sanders & Jessica Helfand decided to pursue a continued conversation.

Kate Altmann and Mariana Riobom gathered a group of YSoA students and faculty and began organizing a Symposium at the Yale School of Architecture. As the full team was formed, the group decided that the multi-disciplinary approach could reach its potential more fully by working as an annual symposium that traveled between different schools at Yale and take on the expertise at each school to pursue broader dialogues surrounding mental health

After the Covid-19 pandemic, the organizers decided to move the symposium online to enable a broader, more dynamic conversation.

Throughout the month of September, the symposium will virtually draw together designers and practitioners with the goal of building collective capacity in improving access to mental health services and destigmatizing perceptions of mental health embedded in the built environment. Beyond the Visible will explore issues of mental health at three scales - the hospital, the home, and the city.