the rum soaked fist: internal martial arts forum

Thanks dragonpawn for posting as a professional to provide needed context to this difficult topic. i have had a number of prospective students on medication or with serious health issues. i am very careful to limit any claims made about the training and it's possible benefits. I have referred the majority to other modalities. When the few students I did accept reached their limits, it was time for them to go. First, do no harm. Second, don't waste time.

I agree with those sentiments Kelley.
And let me add that having taught both inpatient psychiatric patients and prison inmates, I found them to be on average some of the most respectful, attentive and appreciative students I've encountered.

I am not a psychologist but I am closely associated with trained and practicing psychologists/psychotherapists and in the past I have also provided some training for psychiatric inpatients and outpatients, as well as having had various students with mental health issues.
When teaching some form of qigong or tai chi to people with a ‘mental instability’, which can be okay or indeed useful under some circumstances, you need to see what kind of disorder(s) they are currently suffering from. In all cases the current condition shouldn’t be too extreme, otherwise you’ll probably do more harm than good.
In most cases, even for disorders that are (usually) as diverse as depression and psychosis, establishing a clear connection with the ground – relaxed rooting, so to speak – is the best starting point and sometimes that’s about all you can do or should do. For people with depression, you might continue on from here by helping them to gently connect upwards as well. A careful opening/broadening/softening of the neck area and of the chest/heart area can be beneficial, but very gently, always formulated as an offer or option and never as “you should do this”.
For people tending to schizoprenic psychosis – if they are not in an actute episode, when medication and close psychiatric/therapeutic support are probably the only options – then helping them to ‘ground’ themselves physically can be beneficial. It’s probably best here to keep the input, either verbal or hands-on, quite ‘sober’ and literal. Any use of metaphors, images, “imagine that...” and so on may prove to be destabilizing and is best avoided, because it can feed straight in to the reality disconnect that they are already experiencing. (In the same way that “The Matrix” is not recommended viewing for people already tending towards paranoid schizophrenia). This also means, almost certainly, it’s better to avoid any kind of ‘energy work’. This can be a little challenging for most tai chi / qigong teachers, because we tend to use a range of images and metaphors that come to seem natural for us. Instead: keep it simple, keep it literal, keep it empathetic and kind, but also as teacher provide a clear ‘opposite pole’ as someone who’s down to earth, calm and centered.