INTAR

If you have registered for a place at the INTAR Conference, the conference will take place at the University of Liverpool (UK) in the Central Teaching Hub, and the Chadwick Building (F6 and E6 on the campus map). (opens in a new window) Please come to the Central Teaching Hub for registration at 9.00 am on the day(s) for which you have booked your place. Vine Court accommodation is located at F1 and F2 on the campus map. Directions to the University of Liverpool by public transport and by car, and car parking information can be found here (opens in a new window) A map of the University location in relation to Liverpool Lime Street train station can be found here (opens in a new window) Please note that the conference opens with coffee and registration at 9.00 am in the Central Teaching Hub, and finishes at 5.00 pm each day. … [Read More...]

If you have registered for a place at the INTAR Conference, the conference will take place at the University of Liverpool (UK) in the Central Teaching Hub, and the Chadwick Building (F6 and E6 on the campus map). (opens in a new window) Please come to the Central Teaching Hub for registration on the day(s) for which you have booked your place. Vine Court accommodation is located at F1 and F2 on the campus map. Directions to the University of Liverpool by public transport and by car, and car parking information can be found here (opens in a new window) A map of the University location in relation to Liverpool Lime Street train station can be found here (opens in a new window) Please note that the conference opens with coffee and registration at 9.00 am in the Central Teaching Hub, and finishes at 5.00 pm each day. … [Read More...]

The deadline for registering a place at the INTAR conference taking place in Liverpool 25th - 27th June is FRIDAY 13TH JUNE. To register your place please click here Please note, registrations cannot be taken after this date. … [Read More...]

The deadline for registering a place at the INTAR conference taking place in Liverpool 25th - 27th June is FRIDAY 13TH JUNE. To register you place please click here Please note, registrations cannot be taken after this date. … [Read More...]

The deadline for registering a place at the INTAR conference taking place in Liverpool 25th - 27th June is FRIDAY 13TH JUNE. To register you place please click here … [Read More...]

The INTAR Conference, ‘Power to Communities: healing through social justice’ is now only a month away! A full programme is available at INTAR programme FINAL (opens in a new window) The conference is happening at the University of Liverpool from 25th – 27th June and will offer a variety of workshops, performances, and discussions as well as the opportunity to hear a range of internationally respected keynote speakers in the fields of psychiatry, psychology, human rights, community development and social sciences. Many of the presenters have direct personal experience of mental distress and the conference provides a fantastic opportunity to hear about good practice and radical approaches from all over the world. There are still some Full Price and Concessionary places available! To book your place visit http://payments.liv.ac.uk/browse/product.asp?compid=1&modid=1&catid=155 Details of how to get to the venue can be found here … [Read More...]

The INTAR Conference, ‘Power to Communities: healing through social justice’ is now only a month away! A full programme is available at INTAR programme FINAL The conference is happening at the University of Liverpool from 25th – 27th June and will offer a variety of workshops, performances, and discussions as well as the opportunity to hear a range of internationally respected keynote speakers in the fields of psychiatry, psychology, human rights, community development and social sciences. Many of the presenters have direct personal experience of mental distress and the conference provides a fantastic opportunity to hear about good practice and radical approaches from all over the world. There are still some Full Price and Concessionary places available! To book your place visit http://payments.liv.ac.uk/browse/product.asp?compid=1&modid=1&catid=155 Details of how to get to the venue can be found here … [Read More...]

The deadline for booking accommodation at Vine Court, 5 minutes walk away from the INTAR conference venue, is Friday 23rd May. INTAR Conference Accommodation at the University comprises en-suite bedrooms at Vine Court with breakfast for £45.00 per night, and is available from Tuesday 24th to Friday 27th June 2014. To book your accommodation please use this link … [Read More...]

INTAR Conference 2014 Venue and Directions The conference will take place at the University of Liverpool (UK) in the Central Teaching Hub, and the Chadwick Building (F6 and E6 on the campus map). (opens in a new window) Vine Court accommodation is located at F1 and F2 on the campus map. Directions to the University of Liverpool by public transport and by car, and car parking information can be found here (opens in a new window) A map of the University location in relation to Liverpool Lime Street train station can be found here (opens in a new window) Please note that the conference opens with coffee and registration at 9.00 am in the Central Teaching Hub, and finishes at 5.00 pm each day. … [Read More...]

We are pleased to announce that the programme for the INTAR Conference, ‘Power to Communities: healing through social justice’ is now available at INTAR Conference 2014 – programme summary (opens in a new window) The conference will take place at the University of Liverpool from 25th – 27th June and offers a variety of workshops, performances, discussions and the opportunity to hear a range of internationally respected keynote speakers in the fields of psychiatry, psychology, human rights, community development and social sciences. Many of the presenters have direct personal experience of mental distress and the conference provides a fantastic opportunity to hear about good practice and radical approaches from all over the world. Full Price and Concessionary places are still available for this exciting international event. To book your place visit http://payments.liv.ac.uk/browse/product.asp?compid=1&modid=1&catid=155 (opens in a new window) … [Read More...]

The deadline for booking accommodation at Vine Court, 5 minutes walk away from the INTAR conference venue, is Friday 23rd May. INTAR Conference Accommodation at the University comprises en-suite bedrooms at Vine Court with breakfast and is available from Tuesday 24th to Friday 27th June 2014, inclusive. To book your accommodation please use this link … [Read More...]

The deadline for booking accommodation at Vine Court, 5 minutes walk away from the INTAR conference venue, is Friday 23rd May. INTAR Conference Accommodation at the University comprises en-suite bedrooms at Vine Court with breakfast and is available from: Tuesday 24th to Friday 27th June 2014, inclusive to book please use this link … [Read More...]

We are pleased to announce that the programme for the INTAR Conference, ‘Power to Communities: healing through social justice’ is now available at INTAR Conference 2014 – programme summary The conference will take place at the University of Liverpool from 25th – 27th June and offers a variety of workshops, performances, discussions and the opportunity to hear a range of internationally respected keynote speakers in the fields of psychiatry, psychology, human rights, community development and social sciences. Many of the presenters have direct personal experience of mental distress and the conference provides a fantastic opportunity to hear about good practice and radical approaches from all over the world. Full Price and Concessionary places are still available for this exciting international event. To book your place visit http://payments.liv.ac.uk/browse/product.asp?compid=1&modid=1&catid=155 … [Read More...]

INTAR Conference 2014 Venue and Directions The conference will take place at the University of Liverpool (UK) in the Central Teaching Hub, and the Chadwick Building (E6 and F 6 on the campus map). (opens in a new window) Vine Court accommodation is located at F1 and F2 on the campus map. Directions to the University of Liverpool by public transport and by car, and car parking information can be found here (opens in a new window) A map of the University location in relation to Liverpool Lime Street train station can be found here (opens in a new window) Please note that the conference opens with coffee and registration at 9.00 am in the Central Teaching Hub, and finishes at 5.00 pm each day. … [Read More...]

INTAR Conference 2014 Venue and Directions The conference will take place at the University of Liverpool in the Central Teaching Hub, and the Chadwick Building (E6 and F 6 on the campus map). (opens in a new window) Vine Court accommodation is located at F1 and F2 on the campus map. Directions to the University of Liverpool by public transport and by car, and car parking information can be found here (opens in a new window) A map of the University location in relation to Liverpool Lime Street train station can be found here (opens in a new window) Please note that the conference opens with coffee and registration at 9.00 am in the Central Teaching Hub, and finishes at 5.00 pm each day. … [Read More...]

INTAR Conference 2014 Venue and Directions The conference will take place at the University of Liverpool in the Central Teaching Hub, and the Chadwick Building (E6 and F 6 on the campus map). Campus map (printable PDF) Campus map (printable PDF) Vine Court is located at F1 and F2 on the campus map. Directions to the University of Liverpool by public transport and by car, and car parking information can be found here http://www.liv.ac.uk/maps/visiting/ A map of the University campus in relation to Lime Street train station can be found here. http://www.liv.ac.uk/maps/university-map/ Please note that the conference opens with coffee and registration at 9.00 am in the Central Teaching Hub, and finishes at 5.00 pm each day. … [Read More...]

INTAR Conference 2014 Venue and Directions The conference will take place at the University of Liverpool in the Central Teaching Hub, and the Chadwick Building (E6 and F 6 on the campus map). Campus map (printable PDF) Vine Court is located at F1 and F2 on the campus map. Directions to the University of Liverpool by public transport and by car, and car parking information can be found here http://www.liv.ac.uk/maps/visiting/ A map of the University campus in relation to Lime Street train station can be found here. http://www.liv.ac.uk/maps/university-map/ Please note that the conference opens with coffee and registration at 9.00 am in the Central Teaching Hub, and finishes at 5.00 pm each day. … [Read More...]

If you have registered for a place at the INTAR Conference, the conference will take place at the University of Liverpool (UK) in the Central Teaching Hub, and the Chadwick Building (F6 and E6 on the campus map). (opens in a new window) Please come to the Central Teaching Hub for registration on the day(s) for which you have booked your place. Vine Court accommodation is located at F1 and F2 on the campus map. Directions to the University of Liverpool by public transport and by car, and car parking information can be found here (opens in a new window) A map of the University location in relation to Liverpool Lime Street train station can be found here (opens in a new window) Please note that the conference opens with coffee and registration at 9.00 am in the Central Teaching Hub, and finishes at 5.00 pm each day. … [Read More...]

INTAR Conference 2014 Venue and Directions The conference will take place at the University of Liverpool in the Central Teaching Hub, and the Chadwick Building (E6 and F 6 on the campus map). Vine Court is located at F1 and F2 on the campus map. Directions to the University of Liverpool by public transport and by car, and car parking information can be found here http://www.liv.ac.uk/maps/visiting/ A map of the University campus in relation to Lime Street train station can be found here. Please note that the conference opens with coffee and registration at 9.00 am in the Central Teaching Hub, and finishes at 5.00 pm each day. … [Read More...]

Registration for the INTAR 2014 Conference is now open! To register for the Conference please click here [opens in a new window] Click image to view programme Conference Themes: Social injustice and mental health: Wednesday 25th June Securing human rights in psychiatric care: Wednesday 25th June Cultural diversity and mental health: Thursday 26th June Creating and developing healing communities: Friday 27th June Arts and madness: Throughout Plenary Speakers Wednesday 25th June Professor Isaac Prilleltensky, University of Miami: Mental Health as Social Justice Professor Kate Pickett, University of York: Inequality and Mental Health Marianne Schulze, Australian-Austrian human rights advocate: Human Rights and Mental Health Professor Peter Beresford, Brunel University: Social Justice and Mad Studies Thursday 26th June Dr. Bhargavi Davar, philosopher and social science researcher: Gender, Culture … [Read More...]

Registration for the INTAR 2014 Conference is now open! To register for the Conference please click here [opens in a new window] Click image to view programme Conference Themes: Social injustice and mental health: Wednesday 25th June Securing human rights in psychiatric care: Wednesday 25th June Cultural diversity and mental health: Thursday 26th June Creating and developing healing communities: Friday 27th June Arts and madness: Throughout Plenary Speakers Wednesday 25th June Professor Isaac Prilleltensky, University of Miami: Mental Health as Social Justice Professor Kate Pickett, University of York: Inequality and Mental Health Marianne Schulze, Australian-Austrian human rights advocate: Human Rights and Mental Health Thursday 26th June Dr. Bhargavi Davar, philosopher and social science researcher: Gender, Culture and Mental Health Rameri Moukam, Pattigift CIC: Pattigift and Black People’s … [Read More...]

Registration for the INTAR 2014 Conference is now open! To register for the Conference please click here [opens in a new window] Conference Themes: Social injustice and mental health: Wednesday 25th June Securing human rights in psychiatric care: Wednesday 25th June Cultural diversity and mental health: Thursday 26th June Creating and developing healing communities: Friday 27th June Arts and madness: Throughout Plenary Speakers Wednesday 25th June Professor Isaac Prilleltensky, University of Miami: Mental Health as Social Justice Professor Kate Pickett, University of York: Inequality and Mental Health Marianne Schulze, Australian-Austrian human rights advocate: Human Rights and Mental Health Thursday 26th June Dr. Bhargavi Davar, philosopher and social science researcher: Gender, Culture and Mental Health Rameri Moukam, Pattigift CIC: Pattigift and Black People’s Recovery Professor William Sax, … [Read More...]

Registration for the INTAR 2014 Conference is now open! To register for the Conference please click here [opens in a new window] Programme Earlybird bookings will be available until Friday 18th April 2014, after which time full price bookings will apply. Concessionary places are available for students, voluntary groups and voluntary sector organisations, people over 65, children aged 12-17 years, and service users and people on benefits who have been unable to secure a free place. The closing date for final registration is Friday 13th June 2014 (please note that accommodation in Vine Court must be booked by Friday 23rd May). Conference Submissions Thank you to everyone who has responded to our ‘Call for Contributions’. The deadline for submissions to present at the conference is 31st December. Please note that all accepted authors / presenters participating in the Conference must register to attend the conference, and pay the … [Read More...]

Registration for the INTAR 2014 Conference is now open! To register for the Conference please click here [opens in a new window] Earlybird bookings will be available until Friday 18th April 2014, after which time full price bookings will apply. Concessionary places are available for students, voluntary groups and voluntary sector organisations, people over 65, children aged 12-17 years, and service users and people on benefits who have been unable to secure a free place. The closing date for final registration is Friday 13th June 2014 (please note that accommodation in Vine Court must be booked by Friday 23rd May). Conference Submissions Thank you to everyone who has responded to our ‘Call for Contributions’. The deadline for submissions to present at the conference is 31st December. Please note that all accepted authors / presenters participating in the Conference must register to attend the conference, and pay the conference … [Read More...]

Registration for the INTAR 2014 Conference is now open! To register for the Conference please click here [opens in a new window] Earlybird bookings will be available until Friday 18th April 2014, after which time full price bookings will apply. Concessionary places are available for students, voluntary groups and voluntary sector organisations, children aged 12-17 years, and service users and people on benefits who have been unable to secure a free place. The closing date for final registration is Friday 13th June 2014 (please note that accommodation in Vine Court must be booked by Friday 23rd May). Conference Submissions Thank you to everyone who has responded to our ‘Call for Contributions’. The deadline for submissions to present at the conference is 31st December. Please note that all accepted authors / presenters participating in the Conference must register to attend the conference, and pay the conference registration fee, where … [Read More...]

Registration for the INTAR 2014 Conference is now open! To register for the Conference please click here [opens in a new window] Earlybird bookings will be available until Friday 18th April 2014, after which time full price bookings will apply. Concessionary places are available for students, voluntary groups and voluntary sector organisations, children aged 12-17 years, and service users and people on benefits who have been unable to secure a free place. The closing date for final registration is Friday 13th June 2014 (please note that accommodation in Vine Court should be booked by Friday 23rd May). Conference Submissions Thank you to everyone who has responded to our ‘Call for Contributions’. The deadline for submissions to present at the conference is 31st December. Please note that all accepted authors / presenters participating in the Conference must register to attend the conference, and pay the conference registration fee, where … [Read More...]

Registration for the INTAR 2014 Conference is now open! To register for the Conference please click here Earlybird bookings will be available until Friday 18th April 2014, after which time full price bookings will apply. Concessionary places are available for students, voluntary groups and voluntary sector organisations, children aged 12-17 years, and service users and people on benefits who have been unable to secure a free place. The closing date for final registration is Friday 13th June 2014 (please note that accommodation in Vine Court should be booked by Friday 23rd May). Conference Submissions Thank you to everyone who has responded to our ‘Call for Contributions’. The deadline for submissions to present at the conference is 31st December. Please note that all accepted authors / presenters participating in the Conference must register to attend the conference, and pay the conference registration fee, where applicable. Voluntary … [Read More...]

Registration for the INTAR 2014 Conference is now open! To register for the Conference please visit: http://payments.liv.ac.uk/browse/product.asp?compid=1&modid=1&catid=155 Earlybird bookings will be available until Friday 18th April 2014, after which time full price bookings will apply. Concessionary places are available for students, voluntary groups and voluntary sector organisations, children aged 12-17 years, and service users and people on benefits who have been unable to secure a free place. The closing date for final registration is Friday 13th June 2014 (please note that accommodation in Vine Court should be booked by Friday 23rd May). Conference Submissions Thank you to everyone who has responded to our ‘Call for Contributions’. The deadline for submissions to present at the conference is 31st December. Please note that all accepted authors / presenters participating in the Conference must register to attend the conference, and … [Read More...]

DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSIONS IS 31st DECEMBER! Please read below for more details, and submit your idea in no more than 250 words by email to: INTAR@liverpoolmentalhealth.org or by post to: The Liverpool Mental Health Consortium, 151 Dale Street, Liverpool, L2 2AH The International Network Toward Alternatives and Recovery (INTAR) in partnership with the Liverpool Clinical Commissioning Group, Liverpool Mental Health Consortium and University of Liverpool is pleased to make this preliminary announcement and call for contributions for the INTAR 2014 Conference, to be held in the University of Liverpool on 25th - 27th June 2014. INTAR gathers survivors, professionals, family members, and advocates from around the world to work together for new practices towards emotional distress and what is often labelled as psychosis. Based on leading research and successful innovations, INTAR believes the over-reliance on diagnosis, hospital and medication fails to respect … [Read More...]

Conference flyer … [Read More...]

Conference flyer We are pleased to announce that the University of Liverpool will host the 2014 INTAR Conference - so please get the dates in your diary now! The conference themes will be: • Social injustice and mental health (Wed 25th June) • Securing human rights in psychiatric care (Wed 25th June) • Cultural diversity and mental health (Thur 26th June) • Creating and developing healing communities (Fri 27th June) • Arts and madness (throughout) Further news - including details of plenary speakers and booking information - will be available soon. Contact INTAR@liverpoolmentalhealth.org or see here. … [Read More...]

The International Network Toward Alternatives and Recovery (INTAR) in partnership with the Liverpool Clinical Commissioning Group, Liverpool Mental Health Consortium and University of Liverpool is pleased to make this preliminary announcement and call for contributions for the INTAR 2014 Conference, to be held in the University of Liverpool on 25th - 27th June 2014. INTAR gathers survivors, professionals, family members, and advocates from around the world to work together for new practices towards emotional distress and what is often labelled as psychosis. Based on leading research and successful innovations, INTAR believes the over-reliance on diagnosis, hospital and medication fails to respect the dignity and autonomy of the person in crisis. Self-defined recovery must be at the centre of ethical care. INTAR promotes alternative settings to hospitals and institutions, so that people can find the care, connectedness, respect, and interventions they need … [Read More...]

INTAR Conference, Liverpool 2014: Call for Contributions The International Network Toward Alternatives and Recovery (INTAR) in partnership with the Liverpool Clinical Commissioning Group, Liverpool Mental Health Consortium and University of Liverpool is pleased to make this preliminary announcement and call for contributions for the INTAR 2014 Conference, to be held in the University of Liverpool on 25th - 27th June 2014. INTAR gathers survivors, professionals, family members, and advocates from around the world to work together for new practices towards emotional distress and what is often labelled as psychosis. Based on leading research and successful innovations, INTAR believes the over-reliance on diagnosis, hospital and medication fails to respect the dignity and autonomy of the person in crisis. Self-defined recovery must be at the centre of ethical care. INTAR promotes alternative settings to hospitals and institutions, so that people can find the care, … [Read More...]

We are pleased to announce that the University of Liverpool will host the 2014 INTAR Conference - so please get the dates in your diary now! The conference themes will be: • Social injustice and mental health (Wed 25th June) • Securing human rights in psychiatric care (Wed 25th June) • Cultural diversity and mental health (Thur 26th June) • Creating and developing healing communities (Fri 27th June) • Arts and madness (throughout) Further news - including details of plenary speakers and booking information - will be available soon. Contact INTAR@liverpoolmentalhealth.org or see here. … [Read More...]

The International Network Toward Alternatives and Recovery gathers prominent survivors, professionals, family members, and advocates from around the world to work together for new clinical and social practices in response to emotional distress and what is often labeled as psychosis. Based in leading edge research and successful innovations, INTAR believes the prevailing biomedical overreliance on diagnoses, hospitals, and medications has failed to respect the dignity and autonomy of the person in crisis, and that full recovery must be at the center of ethical care. … [Read More...]

Liverpool Conference Announced! 25th - 27th June 2014 We are pleased to announce that the University of Liverpool will host the 2014 INTAR Conference - so please get the dates in your diary now! The conference themes will be: Social injustice and mental health (Wed 25th June) Securing human rights in psychiatric care (Wed 25th June) Cultural diversity and mental health (Thur 26th June) Creating and developing healing communities (Fri 27th June) Arts and madness (throughout) Further news - including details of plenary speakers and booking information - will be available soon. Contact INTAR@liverpoolmentalhealth.org … [Read More...]

http://www.dialogicpractice.net The Institute for Dialogic Practice is the U.S.-based training facility for Finnish Open Dialogue and dialogical therapy. Our international faculty consists of the leading developers, practitioners and researchers. All of the faculty are affiliated with top-ranked European and U.S. university clinics and medical schools. The training program provides the basic foundation in Open Dialogue as a network-based approach to crisis work, and in Dialogic Practice with individuals, couples, families, and organizations. We invite you to learn more about Open Dialogue and Dialogic Practice. … [Read More...]

http://www.opendialogueapproach.com … [Read More...]

Challenging Our Understanding of Psychosis and Exploring Alternatives for Recovery November 3 & 4, 2011 University of Toronto, Hart House Registration and conference details to follow. Sponsored by INTAR and The Leadership Project. This conference offered a unique opportunity to hear from a distinguished group of writers, clinical practitioners, researchers, advocates and activists who are foremost in their fields of critical psychiatry, psychology, education, journalism, community development and activism. Their inspiring work on psychosis, depression and recovery puts them in the vanguard of the push to transform mental health care. Check out the photos in our Photo Gallery here. Conference … [Read More...]

Mark your calendar Challenging Our Understanding of Psychosis and Exploring Alternatives for Recovery November 3 & 4, 2011 University of Toronto, Hart House Registration and conference details to follow. Sponsored by INTAR and The Leadership Project. This conference offered a unique opportunity to hear from a distinguished group of writers, clinical practitioners, researchers, advocates and activists who are foremost in their fields of critical psychiatry, psychology, education, journalism, community development and activism. Their inspiring work on psychosis, depression and recovery puts them in the vanguard of the push to transform mental health care. Join them as they present the case for a new perspective on psychosis, and humanistic, community-based alternatives for recovery. Conference … [Read More...]

INTAR Coordinators plan INTAR's conferences and oversee the networking and collaborations among INTAR's networks of survivors, professionals, researchers, family members and advocates. Peter Stastny Peter Stastny received his medical degree from the University of Vienna and completed a psychiatric residency at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in the Bronx. Since then, Peter has conducted research on the effects of long-term institutionalization, family influence, peer support, self-help and advance directives. He has been a consultant and founding member of several user-run organizations, and has provided advocacy and expert testimony in many cases dealing with psychiatric malpractice and forced treatment. Peter is also documentary film-maker and author of many scholarly and literary articles. He served on the Board of Windhorse Associates and the National Associations of Rights, Protection and Advocacy and is Associate Professor of Psychiatry at the … [Read More...]

There are many different types of peer-run alternatives to psychiatric hospitalization. Successful peer-run respites are currently operating in New Hampshire, Maine, W. Virginia, Ohio, Georgia, Alaska, New York, Nebraska, Arizona and North Carolina. In addition, programs are being developed in other states including Massachusetts, California, and New Mexico. Below is a directory of peer-run alternatives compiled by NEC. If you are aware of a program or service that should be added to this list, please contact the National Empowerment Center with the information. Read more here: http://www.power2u.org/peer-run-crisis-services.html … [Read More...]

Our Mission: To carry a message of recovery, empowerment, hope and healing to people with lived experience with mental health issues, trauma, and extreme states. We carry that message with authority because we are a consumer/survivor/expatient-run organization and each of us is living a personal journey of recovery and empowerment. We are convinced that recovery and empowerment are not the privilege of a few exceptional leaders, but rather are possible for each person who has been labeled with lived experience. Whether on the back ward of a state mental institution or working as an executive in a corporation, we want people who are mental health consumers/survivors/expatients to know there is a place to turn to in order to receive the information they might need in order to regain control over their lives and the resources that affect their lives. That place is the National Empowerment Center. Information and Referral | Networking | Conference Planning | … [Read More...]

Coercion in psychiatry is one of the main topics in user/survivor movement worldwide. At the same time, user controlled research in this field is almost non existent. The reasons for this situation will be analysed, the need for research on coercion and the obstacles that research done by users/survivors faces. The presentation will also outline possible methodologies, their advantages and their potential. Read more here: http://ki-art-multimedia.de/dresden/jasna.htm … [Read More...]

European Network of (ex-)Users and Survivors of Psychiatry ENUSP is an initiative to give (ex-)users and survivors of psychiatric services a means to communicate, to exchange opinions, views and experiences in order to support each other in the personal, political and social struggle against expulsion, injustice and stigma in our respective countries. ENUSP is the only grassroots umbrella organisation on a European level that unifies (among others) national organisations of (ex-)users and survivors of psychiatry across the continent to provide a direct representation of people who are or have been on the receiving end of psychiatric services. Involvement of both user and survivor organisations from all over Europe is a unique added value of the Network. Read more here: www.enusp.org/ … [Read More...]

The ACE Study is an ongoing collaboration between the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Kaiser Permanente. Led by Co-principal Investigators Robert F. Anda, MD, MS, and Vincent J. Felitti, MD, the ACE Study is perhaps the largest scientific research study of its kind, analyzing the relationship between multiple categories of childhood trauma (ACEs), and health and behavioral outcomes later in life. Read more here: http://www.acestudy.org/ … [Read More...]

The Center to Study Recovery in Social Contexts is an NIMH funded grant to investigate the well being of people with serious mental health issues, especially those who use publicly financed services in New York State. The Center applies a perspective used in economic development, Sen’s Capabilities Framework, to guide research on recovery. We examine real opportunities that people have to do and be what they value within the social contexts of resources, law, custom and policy, taking a Community Based Participatory Research approach that involves members of the mental health community in formulating research questions, designing methods of inquiry, and interpreting findings. Read more here: http://recovery.rfmh.org/ … [Read More...]

If you hear voices HVN can help - we are committed to helping people who hear voices. Our reputation is growing as the limitations of a solely medical approach to voices become better known. Psychiatry refers to hearing voices as 'auditory hallucinations' but our research shows that there are many explanations for hearing voices. Many people begin to hear voices as a result of extreme stress or trauma. We offer information, support and understanding to people who hear voices and those who support them. The aims of the network are: To raise awareness of voice hearing, visions, tactile sensations and other sensory experiences; To give men women and children who have these experiences an opportunity to talk freely about this together; To support anyone with these experiences seeking to understand, learn and grow from them in their own way. Read more here: http://www.hearing-voices.org/ … [Read More...]

http://www.soterianetwork.org.uk/conference/index.html The Soteria Network presents Alternatives Within and Beyond Psychiatry A one-day conference exploring different approaches to thought and practice in the mental health arena to be held in: Derby on Friday 11th November 2011 at the Riverside Conference Centre 9am - 4.30pm International speakers will include: Robert Whitaker (US) Pulitzer-prize nominated journalist and author of ‘Mad in America’ and ‘Anatomy of an Epidemic’ Jaakko Seikkula (Finland) Psychologist and psychotherapist – developed the ‘Open Dialogue’ approach to treating psychosis UK–based speakers will include: Richard Bentall Professor of Psychology, University of Liverpool and author of ‘Madness Explained’ and ‘Doctoring the Mind’ Sonia Johnson Professor of Social and Community Psychiatry, University College London Price Before 30/09/2011: Waged/Organisation £100, Unwaged … [Read More...]

If you hear voices HVN can help - we are committed to helping people who hear voices. Our reputation is growing as the limitations of a solely medical approach to voices become better known. Psychiatry refers to hearing voices as 'auditory hallucinations' but our research shows that there are many explanations for hearing voices. Many people begin to hear voices as a result of extreme stress or trauma. We offer information, support and understanding to people who hear voices and those who support them. The aims of the network are: To raise awareness of voice hearing, visions, tactile sensations and other sensory experiences To give men women and children who have these experiences an opportunity to talk freely about this together To support anyone with these experiences seeking to understand, learn and grow from them in their own way … [Read More...]

What is the ACE Study? The ACE Study is an ongoing collaboration between the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Kaiser Permanente. Led by Co-principal Investigators Robert F. Anda, MD, MS, and Vincent J. Felitti, MD, the ACE Study is perhaps the largest scientific research study of its kind, analyzing the relationship between multiple categories of childhood trauma (ACEs), and health and behavioral outcomes later in life. … [Read More...]

Read more here: www.enusp.org/ … [Read More...]

Jasna Russo Coercion in psychiatry is one of the main topics in user/survivor movement worldwide. At the same time, user controlled research in this field is almost non existent. The reasons for this situation will be analysed, the need for research on coercion and the obstacles that research done by users/survivors faces. The presentation will also outline possible methodologies, their advantages and their potential. … [Read More...]

| How to Contact Us | Our Mission: To carry a message of recovery, empowerment, hope and healing to people with lived experience with mental health issues, trauma, and extreme states. We carry that message with authority because we are a consumer/survivor/expatient-run organization and each of us is living a personal journey of recovery and empowerment. We are convinced that recovery and empowerment are not the privilege of a few exceptional leaders, but rather are possible for each person who has been labeled with lived experience. Whether on the back ward of a state mental institution or working as an executive in a corporation, we want people who are mental health consumers/survivors/expatients to know there is a place to turn to in order to receive the information they might need in order to regain control over their lives and the resources that affect their lives. That place is the National Empowerment Center. | Information and Referral | Networking | … [Read More...]

Mark your calendar Challenging Our Understanding of Psychosis and Exploring Alternatives for Recovery November 3 & 4, 2011 University of Toronto, Hart House Registration and conference details to follow. Sponsored by INTAR and The Leadership Project. This conference offers a unique opportunity to hear from a distinguished group of writers, clinical practitioners, researchers, advocates and activists who are foremost in their fields of critical psychiatry, psychology, education, journalism, community development and activism. Their inspiring work on psychosis, depression and recovery puts them in the vanguard of the push to transform mental health care. Join them as they present the case for a new perspective on psychosis, and humanistic, community-based alternatives for recovery. Our Guests: Robert Whitaker, “Anatomy of an Epidemic” Richard Bentall, Ph.D. Deconstructing Schizophrenia Sandra Escher, Ph.D. Hearing Voices Dr. Philip Thomas, … [Read More...]

Soteria-Alaska was established to provide an alternative to psychiatric hospitalization under the principles established by the beloved, late Dr. Loren Mosher in his Soteria-House project for people who want to try something other than psychotropic drugs. Read More here: http://soteria-alaska.com/ … [Read More...]

Shery offers a broad range of training based on individual needs. These may include training in intentional trauma-informed peer support, warmline skills, peer run crisis alternatives, co-supervision, Facilitator training and training for professionals in recovery-based practice. All training is very interactive using role play to demonstrate “values in action.” Read More here: http://www.mentalhealthpeers.com/ … [Read More...]

Online support for psychiatric drug withdrawal: This blog is, in part, a documentation of my journey off psychiatric medications as well as an introduction to alternative forms of care for mental health disorders regardless of whether one is on medications, off medications, or coming off medications. This blog also deals in general with socio/political and spiritual issues as they pertain to mental health and human rights issues surrounding psychiatry. For additional collections of such themed posts look at the tabs on the top of the page. It makes navigating the rest of the archives much easier. This blog also serves as a source of critical information about psychopharmaceuticals. This blog may be appropriate for anyone with any psychiatric diagnosis. All diagnosis can potentially respond to natural treatments. It’s possible for anyone to consider life without medication. This blog is a contemplation about healing ourselves through … [Read More...]

Online support for psychiatric drug withdrawal Support is vitally important in the process of withdrawal. Often one of the best places for information and support is online as there are rarely people in our lives who truly understand what we are undertaking. It’s important to have people supporting you at home too and ultimately better if you can manage that. The best case scenario is to have both, along with professionals that also support you. I never found professionals who really knew what to do, but I did find wonderful people who cooperated with me and learned with me about the whole process. That is often the best one can do. It’s critical that the professionals you work with are willing to listen to your particular experience. Read More here: http://bipolarblast.wordpress.com … [Read More...]

This web site is dedicated to sufferers of iatrogenic benzodiazepine tranquilliser addiction everywhere. Launched on July 6, 2000 with a dozen pages this site now has more than 1200 pages of articles and information, expert medical documents, news stories and personal accounts. Read More here: http://www.benzo.org.uk/ … [Read More...]

Read More here: http://www.benzo.org.uk/ … [Read More...]

This website aims to give you up to date information about psychiatric medication, how it functions and the withdrawal process. It is put together by people who have been prescribed medication and withdrawn from it, and clinicians who have been involved in supporting this process. If we have a period of distress or confusion and receive medical help we are generally given a diagnosis and prescribed psychiatric drugs. Research suggests doctors tend to know more about putting people on medication than the actual withdrawal process. It is important therefore to disseminate information about the ‘coming off’ process. Read more here: http://www.comingoff.com/ … [Read More...]

The Mill River Institute for Dialogic Practice Haydenville, MA 01039 • 413.585.1198 TRAINING PROGRAM IN DIALOGIC PRACTICE INTERNATIONAL FACULTY 2011-2012 MARY OLSON, PH.D. JAAKKO SEIKKULA, PH.D. MARKKU SUTELA, M.A. The first of its kind in the US, this yearlong program provides an in-depth introduction to the principles and practices of dialogic therapy, including Finnish Open Dialogue. There will be lectures, videotapes, experiential exercises, and reflecting consultations. LEVEL 1 CERTIFICATION: 100 HOURS (4 Modules) October 27 - 30, 2011 January 19 - 22, 2012 March 29 - April 1, 2012 June 11 - 15, 2012 $4000. $1000 due upon acceptance, balance due on October 1. To apply and register, please send your CV/resume: Mary Olson at brassworks.millriver@gmail.com … [Read More...]

Voices of the Heart Mission To promote and defend the rights and interests of people who have been labeled "mentally ill". To support the rights of service recipients to exercise freedom and control over their own lives. To provide peer support to service recipients in speaking out about their own needs. To address issues in the mental health system that affects the lives of service recipients. To engage in other activities related to networking with other groups or organizations that will support and advocate initiatives, agenda, coalitions and information exchange (visit Voices of the Heart Website) … [Read More...]

For printer friendly document complete with footnotes (not included in this post) click here. ABSTRACT The changing role of the family and how the family unit may help or harm a disturbed and/or disturbing member is examined. The authors use their personal experiences as mental health professionals, user/survivors and family members to inform their critique. A brief history of family involvement - how the family has been perceived and worked with by mental health professionals - is followed by a description of present day practices. The paper concludes with speculation about alternatives in which quality of life for all of the family members may be more possible. INTRODUCTION The role of nuclear families in helping or hindering the recovery process is the canvas upon which we will examine what has been done, what is being done now, and what might be done to support and nurture the untapped potential of this primary resource. Just as the … [Read More...]

We are pleased to announce the conference Searching for a Rose Garden. Fostering Real Alternatives to Psychiatry on 2nd and 3rd September, 2011 in Berlin. This conference is the highlight of the event series „?Survivor Control: The Rights and Self-help Opportunities of People with Psychiatric Experience” organized by the Berlin Association for Protection against Psychiatric Violence this year. Searching for a Rose Garden will introduce and explore alternatives to psychiatry that build upon survivors? knowledge. These are approaches developed in close collaboration with people who have direct experience of extreme crisis and receiving psychiatric treatment. They are based on survivors? own understandings of madness and distress. The conference topics will also include suicidality and self-harm which can challenge alternative practices and are often handed over to psychiatry. Experiential knowledge proves to be a unique and invaluable source in … [Read More...]

Mark your calendar Challenging Our Understanding of Psychosis and Exploring Alternatives for Recovery November 3 & 4, 2011 University of Toronto, Hart House Registration and conference details to follow. Sponsored by INTAR and The Leadership Project. This conference offers a unique opportunity to hear from a distinguished group of writers, clinical practitioners, researchers, advocates and activists who are foremost in their fields of critical psychiatry, psychology, education, journalism, community development and activism. Their inspiring work on psychosis, depression and recovery puts them in the vanguard of the push to transform mental health care. Join them as they present the case for a new perspective on psychosis, and humanistic, community-based alternatives for recovery. Our Guests: Robert Whitaker, “Anatomy of an Epidemic” Richard Bentall, Ph.D. Deconstructing Schizophrenia Sandra Escher, Ph.D. Hearing Voices Dr. Philip Thomas, … [Read More...]

Mark your calendar Challenging Our Understanding of Psychosis and Exploring Alternatives for Recovery November 3 & 4, 2011 University of Toronto, Hart House Registration and conference details to follow. Sponsored by INTAR and The Leadership Project. This conference offers a unique opportunity to hear from a distinguished group of writers, clinical practitioners, researchers, advocates and activists who are foremost in their fields of critical psychiatry, psychology, education, journalism, community development and activism. Their inspiring work on psychosis, depression and recovery puts them in the vanguard of the push to transform mental health care. Join them as they present the case for a new perspective on psychosis, and humanistic, community-based alternatives for recovery. Our Guests: Robert Whitaker, “Anatomy of an Epidemic” Richard Bentall, Ph.D. Deconstructing Schizophrenia Sandra Escher, Ph.D. Hearing Voices Dr. Philip Thomas, Critical … [Read More...]

INTAR's conference Rethinking Psychiatric Crisis: Alternative Responses to “First Breaks” Was held Nov 23, 2009 at New York University's Kimmel center, with more than 300 participants. About The Conference First-person accounts consistently show that treatment can compound the ordeal of early psychiatric crisis– especially those resulting in hospitalization. In addition to the disorientation of psychosis, or the bleak depths of depression, treatment itself can be an ordeal. Even when offering welcome relief and safety, conventional biomedical responses can involve coercion, social isolation, the adverse effects of powerful medications, and suspension of life plans. Research suggests that lowering medication dose or delaying its use can reduce the disruptive effects associated with conventional treatment of first breaks. When combined with non-coercive, labor- intensive practices that draw upon kin and/or peers, viable alternatives to hospitalization … [Read More...]

Kim Hopper Center to Study Recovery in Social Contexts October 2009 A note on the project: This paper will attempt to lay out a usable version of the capabilities approach and explore how its conceptual toolkit might aid us in thinking about “first breaks” and early crises. As will quickly be evident, this is very provisional work. Applied work in capabilities that deals with physical and mental states of distinction, limitation and exclusion – difference, “impairment,” and “disability” – is still in its formative stages and has yet to get its linguistic house in order. So, a forewarning: In making the argument, this paper will necessarily raid and pillage a number of literatures for concepts, distinctions and applications that will then be put to provisional use, found wanting or misleading, and revised accordingly or thrown out. Initial or trial adoption of terms should not be mistaken for final endorsement – and, indeed, one of this … [Read More...]

Excerpt from the review: Alternatives Beyond Psychiatry functions as a powerful indictment of the failings of the mental health system and a rallying cry for more humane and authentic support services. It is driven by anger at a psychiatric system that is seen to invalidate people’s experiences and actually prevent recovery. But, rather than dwelling on negativity, it uses this anger to inspire and develop new forms of support infused with hope. We read of the experiences of Dorothea Buck-Zerchin (a 90 year old woman with seventy years experience of coercion in the mental health system), Kate Millet’s passionate re-instatement of the ‘myth of mental illness’, survivors’ personal accounts of how they survived, about examples of concrete working alternatives (e.g. Soteria House, the Windhorse Project, Hotel Magnus Stenbock, and the Berlin Runaway House) and various practical support tools. From around the world, it offers examples of innovative and … [Read More...]

Abstract This article explores the progressive and regressive potential of ‘user involvement’ in research and evaluation, with particular reference to social policy. There is growing political and research interest in user involvement. This article critically explores key different approaches to user involvement in research and relates them to consumerist and democratic models of involvement in policy and practice, management and development. The article highlights the need to approach user involvement in research critically and systematically, taking account of the diversity of approaches that have developed and to take forward user involvement in research in equal association with service user organisations and movements. (download PDF here) … [Read More...]

The 'Bradford Group' of psychiatrists first met in Bradford in January 1999. The group provides a network to develop a critique of the contemporary psychiatric system. CPN is a network primarily for psychiatrists, psychiatric trainees and medical students with an interest in psychiatry. … [Read More...]

I. Introduction: The purpose of this working paper is to identify and describe key alternatives to mainstream psychiatric intervention -- designed to benefit individuals experiencing a first break or early crisis episode (see definition below) -- that are either currently available or have been in operation since the mid 1970s. We focus on the three programs/practice models that are most prominently represented in the literature and that stood the best chance of falling within a set of guiding principles that are based on discussions held by members of the INTAR network during its four preceding meetings (see below). We examine these alternatives in terms of their operating principles, engagement of affected persons and interested others, outcomes, and consumer satisfaction, relying on published data, with the ultimate goal of determining to what extent these programs preserve and enhance existing capabilities, offer means of operationalizing “hope,” and … [Read More...]

The 'Bradford Group' of psychiatrists first met in Bradford in January 1999. The group provides a network to develop a critique of the contemporary psychiatric system. … [Read More...]

Asylum magazine is a forum for free debate, open to anyone with an interest in psychiatry or mental health. We especially welcome contributions from service users or ex-users (or survivors), carers, and frontline psychiatric or mental health workers (anonymously, if you wish). The magazine is not-for-profit and run by a collective of unpaid volunteers. Asylum Collective is open to anyone who wants to help produce and develop the magazine, working in a spirit of equality. … [Read More...]

ABSTRACT The changing role of the family and how the family unit may help or harm a disturbed and/or disturbing member is examined. The authors use their personal experiences as mental health professionals, user/survivors and family members to inform their critique. A brief history of family involvement - how the family has been perceived and worked with by mental health professionals - is followed by a description of present day practices. The paper concludes with speculation about alternatives in which quality of life for all of the family members may be more possible. INTRODUCTION The role of nuclear families in helping or hindering the recovery process is the canvas upon which we will examine what has been done, what is being done now, and what might be done to support and nurture the untapped potential of this primary resource. Just as the construct “mental illness” invokes considerable debate and has generated numerous hypotheses, the … [Read More...]

When we receive an inquiry about counseling and consulting, forward this list: Will Hall willhall.net will@willhall.net … [Read More...]

We are a network of people in the UK promoting the development of drug-free and minimum medication therapeutic environments for people experiencing 'psychosis' or extreme states. We are part of an international movement of service users, survivors, activists, carers and professionals fighting for more humane, non-coercive mental health services. People who hear voices, have visions or experience reality in different ways to those around them — and become overwhelmed by their experiences — are often referred to as experiencing 'psychosis'. We believe that people can and do recover from difficulties which tend to be categorised under the term psychosis. This recovery can be with, without and sometimes despite psychiatric intervention. Conventional psychiatry tends to regard 'psychosis' as part of a serious mental illness such as 'schizophrenia', 'bi-polar disorder' or 'psychotic depression'. We recognise that 'psychosis' can be extremely distressing to the … [Read More...]

The International Network Toward Alternatives and Recovery gathers prominent survivors, professionals, family members, and advocates from around the world to work together for new clinical and social practices towards emotional distress and what is often labeled as psychosis. Based in leading edge research and successful innovations, INTAR believes the prevailing biomedical overreliance on diagnoses, hospitals, and medications has failed to respect the dignity and autonomy of the person in crisis, and that full recovery must be at the center of ethical care. … [Read More...]

http://feeds.delicious.com/rss/tag/intar … [Read More...]

Abstract Introduction: Although a range of adverse effects of antipsychotic medication are well documented, less attention has been paid to the issue of reduced life expectancy. Method: The medical literature was searched to identify studies assessing severe somatic side-effects of long-term antipsychotic treatment with a possible impact on mortality, and studies evaluating antipsychotic-associated brain structure changes. Conclusion: Antipsychotics should be used more selectively, for shorter durations and with lowest possible effective dose. Greater use of psychosocial interventions that have been proven effective should be an integral part of facilitating reductions in frequency, dosage and duration of antipsychotics. Psychosis, Volume 2, Issue 1 February 2010 , pages 50 - 69 Read More Here: http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/content~db=all~content=a917653501 … [Read More...]

This prospective longitudinal 15-year multifollow-up research studied whether unmedicated patients with schizophrenia can function as well as schizophrenia patients on antipsychotic medications. If so, can differences in premorbid characteristics and personality factors account for this? One hundred and forty-?ve patients, including 64 with schizophrenia, were evaluated on premorbid variables, assessed prospectively at index hospitalization, and then followed up 5 times over 15 years. At each follow-up, patients were compared on symptoms and global outcome. A larger percent of schizophrenia patients not on antipsychotics showed periods of recovery and better global functioning (p .001). The longitudinal data identify a subgroup of schizophrenia patients who do not immediately relapse while off antipsychotics and experience intervals of recovery. Their more favorable outcome is associated with internal characteristics of the patients, including better premorbid … [Read More...]

Portland Hearing Voices is a community group to promote mental diversity. We create public education, discussion groups, training, and community support related to hearing voices, seeing visions, and having unusual beliefs and sensory experiences often labeled as psychosis, bipolar, mania, paranoia, schizophrenia, and other mental disorders. We aim to reduce fear and misunderstanding, question stereotypes, promote holistic health options, overcome isolation, and create a more inclusive community. We have a mental diversity approach that reaches beyond narrow medical diagnosis and treatments, and we explore creativity, spirituality, trauma, and sensitivity in our experiences. We are proud of who we are and we are not crazy. We help each other learn from and live with our mental differences, and we struggle with emotional distress and pain while also valuing positive sides of what we go through. Non-judgmental; people taking medication, not taking medication, and … [Read More...]

This prospective longitudinal 15-year multifollow-up research studied whether unmedicated patients with schizophrenia can function as well as schizophrenia patients on antipsychotic medications. If so, can differences in premorbid characteristics and personality factors account for this? One hundred and forty-five patients, including 64 with schizophrenia, were evaluated on premorbid variables, assessed prospectively at index hospitalization, and then followed up 5 times over 15 years. At each follow-up, patients were compared on symptoms and global outcome. A larger percent of schizophrenia patients not on antipsychotics showed periods of recovery and better global functioning (p .001). The longitudinal data identify a subgroup of schizophrenia patients who do not immediately relapse while off antipsychotics and experience intervals of recovery. Their more favorable outcome is associated with internal characteristics of the patients, including better premorbid … [Read More...]

There is certainly a wealth of historical evidence supporting a non-medical approach to madness ranging from Geel, the city in Belgium where the 'mad' lived with local families, receiving support and care that allowed them to function in the 'normal' social world despite the emotional distress some experienced (Goldstein, 2003), to the so-called Moral Treatment developed at the York Retreat by William Tuke towards the end of the eighteenth century (Digby, 1985), which advocated peace, respect, and dignity in all relationships, and emphasised the importance of maintaining usual social activities, work and exercise. These approaches, predicated as they were on a gentle and humane engagement with the vagaries of human experience at the limits, and invoking respect, dignity, collective responsibility, and an emphasis on interpersonal relationships as guiding principles, have much to tell contemporary biomedical psychiatry. In the modern era, non-medical attempts to … [Read More...]

It is commonly believed tha t reversal of schizophrenia is accomplished primarily through neuroleptic drug treatment, but this belief can only be maintained by ignoring a great deal of material published in the scientific literature. Randomized studies comparing psvchosocial treatment programs without neuroleptics to drug-based programs were sought out for review, and six were found. Long-term out comes were statistically equivalent or superior in the nondrug group in all six studies, even those where the quality of the psvchosocial treattment was questionable. In studies with psychosocial interventions that appeared to have higher quality, both short- and long-term results were equivalent or superior without neuroleptics. These findings suggest that neuroleptics interfere with long- term recovery and, if appropriate psychosocial interventions are available, are not even necessary for short-term behavior control. Matt Irwin, Ethical Human Psychology and … [Read More...]

INTAR is building this section of the site regularly. Please visit often or subscribe for email notifications of latest additions. If you have a resource that you think should be shared here please let us know and we will include it. Click for a listing of resources by category. You can also Search in the box at the bottom of the page.> Conferences Events Research Advocacy Coming off medications Crisis Respites Families First Break Open Dialog Organizations Peer Run Survivor Research Trauma Informed Care Voices … [Read More...]

INTAR is building this section of the site regularly. Please visit often or subscribe for email notifications of latest additions. If you have a resource that you think should be shared here please let us know and we will include it. Click for a listing of resources by category. You can also Search in the box at the bottom of the page.> conferences events research advocacy coming off medications crisis respites families first break open dialog organizations peer run survivor research trauma informed care voices … [Read More...]

INTAR is building this section of the site regularly. Please visit often or subscribe for email notifications of latest additions. If you have a resource that you think should be shared here please let us know and we will include it. Click for a listing of resources by category. You can also Search in the box at the bottom of the page. Contact INTAR with submissions of resources to add. conferences events research advocacy coming off medications crisis respites families first break open dialog organizations peer run survivor research trauma informed care voices … [Read More...]

Intar is building this section of the site daily. Please visit often for the latest resources. If you have a resource that you think should be shared here please let us know and we will include it. Click for a listing of resources by category. You can also Search in the box at the bottom of the page. Contact INTAR with submissions of resources to add. conferences events research advocacy coming off medications crisis respites families first break open dialog organizations peer run survivor research trauma informed care voices … [Read More...]

Reconsidering medication-free research in early-episode schizophrenia prompts a review of acute psychosocial treatments using medication postponement protocols. We describe and compare the different psychosocial treatment approaches. Studies were included in the review if initial psychosocial treatment combined with a time-limited postponement of antipsychotics was compared to initial antipsychotic treatment using a quasi-experimental or better research design and reportcd outcomes of at least one year. Five studies were included (N=261). each reporting modestly better long-term outcomes than initial medication treatment. resulting in a composite sma l l - medium effect-size advantage ( r .= 0.17). In addition, 27-43% of experimental patients were not receiving anti psychotics at the two- or three-year follow-up. These projects demonstrate the feasibility of a carefully supervised approach to medication-free research and also suggest a strategy for … [Read More...]

It is commonly believed tha t reversal of schizophrenia is accomplished primarily through neuroleptic drug treatment , but this belief can only be maintained by ignoring a great deal of material published in the scientific literature. Randomized studies comparing psvchosocial treatment programs without neuroleptics to drug-based programs were sought out for review, and six were found. Long-term out comes were statistically equivalent or superior in the nondrug group in all six studies, even those whe r e the quality of the psvchosocial treattment was questionable. In studies with psychosocial interventions that appeared to have higher quality, both short- and long-term results were equivalent or superior without neuroleptics. These findings suggest that neuroleptics interfere with long- term recovery and, if appropriate psychosocial interventions are available, are not even necessary for short-term behavior control. Matt Irwin, Ethical Human Psychology and … [Read More...]

Reconsidering medication-free research in early-episode schizophrenia prompts a review of acute psychosocial treatments using medication postponement protocols. We describe and compare the different psychosocial treatment approaches. Studies were included in the review if initial psychosocial treatment combined with a time-limited postponement of antipsychotics was compared to initial antipsychotic treatment using a quasi-experimental or better research design and reportcd outcomes of at least one year. Five studies were ineludcd (N=261). each reporting modestly better long-term outcomes than initial medication treatment. resulting in a composite sma l l - medium effect-size advantage ( r .= 0.17). In addition, 27-43% of experimental patients were not receiving anti psychotics at the two- or three-year follow-up. These projects demonstrate the feasibility of a carefully supervised approach to medication-free research and also suggest a strategy for … [Read More...]

Reconsidering medication-free research in early-episode schizophrenia prompts a review ofacute psychosocial treatments using medication postponement protocols. We describe and compare the different psychosocial treatment approaches. Studies were included in the review i f initial psychosocial treatment combined with a time-limited postponement of antipsychotics was compared to initial antipsychotic treatment using a quasi-experimental or better research design and reportcd outcomes of at least one year. Five studies were ineludcd (N=261). each reporting modestly better long-term outcomes than initial medication treatment. resulting in a composite sma l l - medium effect-size advantage ( r .= 0.17). In addition, 27-43% of experimental patients were not receiving anti psychotics at the two- or three-year follow-up. These projects demonstrate the feasibility of a carefully supervised approach to medication-free research and also suggest a strategy for integrating … [Read More...]

Read More Here: http://psychrights.org/Research/Digest/Effective/effective.htm … [Read More...]

Conclusion: Antipsychotics should be used more selectively, for shorter durations and with lowest possible effective dose. Greater use of psychosocial interventions that have been proven effective should be an integral part of facilitating reductions in frequency, dosage and duration of antipsycotics. Read More Here: http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/content~db=all~content=a917653501 … [Read More...]

What does Mad Pride Ireland do? We believe that the best way to promote understanding of the issues surrounding mental health is to engage the community through active participation in a fun environment. We do that by hosting family events that are inclusive, fun and suitable for children, teenagers, adults and families. These events do not bombard people with pamphlets extolling the virtues of one approach over another. Rather they show the world that madness is an everyday occurrence that affects us all and can be dealt with openly, lovingly and without stigma. Read More Here: http://www.madprideireland.ie/ … [Read More...]

Copyright: All material herein unless otherwise specified is licensed under the by-nc-nd Creative Commons 3.0 license. Advance permission granted to republish without alteration, with source intact, and for non-commercial purposes. Fair Use: This site may contain copyrighted (© ) material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. Such material is made available to advance understanding of issues related to mental health recovery. It is believed that this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is used for non-profit educational purposes. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml. If you wish to use copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. … [Read More...]

Copyright: All material herein unless otherwise specified is licensed under the ND-NC-ATRIB Creative Commons 3.0 license. Advance permission granted to republish without alteration, with source intact, and for non-commercial purposes. Fair Use: This site may contain copyrighted (© ) material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. Such material is made available to advance understanding of issues related to mental health recovery. It is believed that this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is used for non-profit educational purposes. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml. If you wish to use copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. … [Read More...]

Copyright: All material herein unless otherwise specified is licensed under the ND-NC-ATRIB Creative Commons 3.0 license. Advance permission granted to republish without alteration, with source intact, and for non-commercial purposes. Fair Use: This site may contain copyrighted (© ) material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. Such material is made available to advance understanding of ecological, political, human rights, economic, democracy, scientific, moral, ethical, and social justice issues, etc. It is believed that this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is used for non-profit educational purposes. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml. If you wish to use copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use', you … [Read More...]

The Law Project for Psychiatric Rights (PsychRights) is a non-profit, tax exempt 501(c)(3) public interest law firm whose mission is to mount a strategic legal campaign against forced psychiatric drugging and electroshock in the United States akin to what Thurgood Marshall and the NAACP mounted in the 40's and 50's on behalf of African American civil rights. The public mental health system is creating a huge class of chronic mental patients through forcing them to take ineffective, yet extremely harmful drugs. Read More Here: http://psychrights.org/ … [Read More...]

Windhorse Integrative Mental Health is a non-profit treatment and education organization with a whole person approach to recovery from serious psychiatric distress. Our services are individually tailored in close communication with each client and family. Read More Here: http://www.windhorseimh.org/ … [Read More...]

Disability Rights International is dedicated to promoting the human rights and full participation in society of people with disabilities worldwide. Read More Here: http://www.disabilityrightsintl.org/ … [Read More...]

Read More Here: http://www.disabilityrightsintl.org/ … [Read More...]

NARPA‘s mission is to promote policies and pursue strategies that result in individuals with psychiatric diagnoses making their own choices regarding treatment. We educate and mentor those individuals to enable them to exercise their legal and human rights with a goal of abolition of all forced treatment. NARPA is an independent organization, solely supported by its members. It is a unique mix of people who have experienced psychiatric intervention, advocates, civil rights activists, mental health workers, and lawyers -- with many people whose roles overlap. NARPA exists to to protect people’s right to choice and to be free from coercion, and to promote alternatives so that the right to choice can be meaningful. Read More Here: http://www.narpa.org/ … [Read More...]

NARPA‘s mission is to promote policies and pursue strategies that result in individuals with psychiatric diagnoses making their own choices regarding treatment. We educate and mentor those individuals to enable them to exercise their legal and human rights with a goal of abolition of all forced treatment. NARPA is an independent organization, solely supported by its members. It is a unique mix of people who have experienced psychiatric intervention, advocates, civil rights activists, mental health workers, and lawyers -- with many people whose roles overlap. NARPA exists to to protect people’s right to choice and to be free from coercion, and to promote alternatives so that the right to choice can be meaningful. Read about NARPA's history of human rights advocacy, check out the ADA Case of the Week archives, and more. … [Read More...]

Celebrating 24 years of united independent activism for human rights and humane alternatives in mental health. MindFreedom International is a voice for survivors of abuse in mental health care. … [Read More...]

Freedom Center is a support and activism community run by and for people labeled with severe 'mental disorders.' We call for compassion, human rights, self-determination, and holistic options. We create alternatives to the mental health system's widespread despair, abuse, fraudulent science and dangerous treatments. We are based in pro-choic harm reduction philosophy regarding medical treatments, and include people taking or not talking medications. "Freedom Center is a valuable option for many of our residents. It is a welcome addition to services available to citizens of our city." -- Mary Clare Higgins, Mayor of Northampton Read More Here: http://www.freedom-center.org/ … [Read More...]

The Icarus Project envisions a new culture and language that resonates with our actual experiences of 'mental illness' rather than trying to fit our lives into a conventional framework. We are a network of people living with and/or affected by experiences that are often diagnosed and labeled as psychiatric conditions. We believe these experiences are mad gifts needing cultivation and care, rather than diseases or disorders. By joining together as individuals and as a community, the intertwined threads of madness, creativity, and collaboration can inspire hope and transformation in an oppressive and damaged world. Participation in The Icarus Project helps us overcome alienation and tap into the true potential that lies between brilliance and madness Read More Here: http://theicarusproject.net/ . … [Read More...]

The Family Outreach and Response organization offers recovery-oriented mental health support services to families. Our staff and volunteers are all psychiatric survivors or family members of people who experience extreme mind states often labeled as “mental illness”. We offer educational and support services to families from both a professional and a lived experience perspective. Read More Here: http://familymentalhealthrecovery.org/ … [Read More...]

Read More Here: http://familymentalhealthrecovery.org/ … [Read More...]

Psychiatric advance directives are relatively new legal instruments that may be used to document a competent person’s specific instructions or preferences regarding future mental health treatment. Psychiatric advance directives can be used to plan for the possibility that someone may lose capacity to give or withhold informed consent to treatment during acute episodes of psychiatric illness. Read More Here: http://www.nrc-pad.org/ … [Read More...]

Working across the world to spread positive and hopeful messages about the experience of hearing voices. If you hear voices, know someone who does or want to find out more about this experience - then this site is for you. Read More Here: http://www.intervoiceonline.org/ … [Read More...]

The International Network Toward Alternatives and Recovery gathers prominent survivors, professionals, family members, and advocates from around the world to work together for new clinical and social practices towards emotional distress and what is often labeled as psychosis. Based in leading edge research and successful innovations, INTAR believes the prevailing biomedical overreliance on diagnoses, hospitals, and medications has failed to respect the dignity and autonomy of the person in crisis, and that full recovery must be at the center of ethical care. … [Read More...]

Click for a listing of resources by category. You can also Search in the box at the bottom of the page. Contact INTAR with submissions of resources to add. conferences events research advocacy coming off medications crisis respites families first break open dialog organizations peer run survivor research trauma informed care voices … [Read More...]

The world-wide first book about "Successful coming down from psychiatric drugs." With experience-reports of 28 (ex-) users and survivors of psychiatric drugs from all over the world and additional articles of psychotherapists, physicians, psychiatrists, natural healers and other professionals helping withdraw. With prefaces by Judi Chamberlin, Pirkko Lahti and Loren R. Mosher. Closing words by Karl Bach Jensen. Contributions by Regina Bellion, Carola Bock, Wilma Boevink, Michael Chmela, Bert Gölden, Ilse Gold, Gábor Gombos, Katalin Gombos, Maths Jesperson, Klaus John, Manuela Kälin, Kerstin Kempker, Leo P. Koehne, Jan Kuypers, Elke Laskowski, Peter Lehmann, Ulrich Lindner, Iris Marmotte, Constanze Meyer, Harald Müller, Eiko Nagano, Mary Nettle, Una M. Parker, Nada Rath, Erwin Redig, Hannelore Reetz, Roland A. Richter, Marc Rufer, Jasna Russo, Lynne Setter, Martin Urban, Wolfgang Voelzke, David Webb, Gerda Wozart, Josef Zehentbauer and Katherine Zurcher. … [Read More...]

The Icarus Project and Freedom Center’s 40-page guide gathers the best information we’ve come across and the most valuable lessons we’ve learned about reducing and coming off psychiatric medication. Includes info on mood stabilizers, anti-psychotics, anti-depressants, anti-anxiety drugs, risks, benefits, wellness tools, psychiatric drug withdrawal, information for people staying on their medications, detailed Resource section, and much more. A ‘harm reduction’ approach means not being pro- or anti-medication, but supporting people to make their own decisions balancing the risks and benefits involved. Written by Will Hall, with a 14-member health professional Advisory Board providing research assistance and 24 other collaborators involved in developing and editing. The guide has photographs and art throughout, and a beautiful original cover painting by Ashley McNamara. Read more here: Harm Reduction Guide To Coming Off Psychiatric Drugs … [Read More...]

Click for a listing of resources by category. Contact INTAR with submissions of resources to add. conferences events research advocacy coming off medications crisis respites families first break open dialog organizations peer run survivor research trauma informed care voices … [Read More...]

Click for a listing of resources by category. Contact INTAR with submissions of resources to add. … [Read More...]

conferences events research advocacy coming off medications crisis respites families first break open dialog organizations peer run survivor research trauma informed care voices … [Read More...]

INTAR is building this section of the site regularly. Please visit often or subscribe for email notifications of latest additions. If you have a resource that you think should be shared here please let us know and we will include it. Click for a listing of resources by category. You can also Search in the box at the bottom of the page. Conferences Events Research Advocacy Coming off medications Crisis Respites Families First Break Open Dialog Organizations Peer Run Survivor Research Trauma Informed Care Voices … [Read More...]

>Since 2004 INTAR has hosted several international conferences bringing together more than a thousand participants. INTAR conferences are widely noted as forums where researchers, advocates, survivors, family members and professionals forge collaborative bonds around recovery alternatives, with wide-ranging influence for mental health policy reform. … [Read More...]

Since 2004 INTAR has hosted several international conferences bringing together more than a thousand participants. INTAR conferences are widely noted as forums where researchers, advocates, survivors, family members and professionals forge collaborative bonds around recovery alternatives, with wide-ranging influence for mental health policy reform. … [Read More...]

General inquires: intar@intar.org Consulting, counseling, and training: consult@intar.org Mailing address: For donations, please email: intar@intar.org … [Read More...]

http://www.opendialogueapproach.com … [Read More...]

Compared to narrative and solution-focused therapies, in dialogical approaches the therapists’ position becomes different. Therapists are no longer interventionists with some preplanned map for the stories that clients are telling. Instead, their main focuses on how to respond to clients’ utterances as answers are the generators for mobilizing one’s own psychological resources, since ‘for the word (and consequently for a human being) there is nothing more terrible than a lack of response’ (Bakhtin, 1984, p.127). Respecting the dialogical principle that every utterance calls for a response, team members strive to answer what is said. Answering does not mean giving an explanation or interpretation, but, rather, demonstrating in a therapist’s response that one has noticed what has been said and, when possible, opening up a new point of view on what has been said. This is not a forced interruption of every utterance to give a response, but an adaptation … [Read More...]

Is a 'psychotic' crisis inside one person's mind -- or does it happen between people, in their relationship? Can therapy untangle the web of madness by addressing the family, providers, and entire social network? Smith College social worker and Fullbright scholar Mary Olson discusses the innovative work of Jaakko Seikkula's Open Dialog Approach in Finland, which has achieved dramatic success helping people through extreme states labeled 'psychosis' and 'schizophrenia' -- while relying much less on medication and hospitalization. Madness Radio interview with Mary Olson on Open Dialog … [Read More...]

MEXICO CITY, MEXICO – November 30, 2010 – Following a year- long investigation, Disability Rights International (DRI) and the Comisión Méxicana de Defensa y Promoción de los Derechos Humanos (CMDPDH) released findings today in a joint report detailing the human rights abuses perpetrated against children and adults with disabilities in Mexico. Abandoned & Disappeared: Mexico’s Segregation and Abuse of Children and Adults with Disabilities, describes the disappearances of children from Mexican orphanages and institutions and the discovery by investigators of people in institutions held without any record of their names, ages or location of placement. Read more here: http://www.disabilityrightsintl.org/ … [Read More...]

In the past decade, the field of family therapy has witnessed the emergence of a new template for practice based on reflection and narrative, instead of strategy and intervention. There also are broader social and cultural frameworks, especially regarding gender and issues of social justice. The style of practice has evolved from a hierarchical one to therapeutic conversation based on collaboration. The intellectual movements of postmodernism and feminism challenged traditional cybernetic and systems models and provided the seeds for new forms of therapy. This evolving tradition as a whole can be traced back to the communication research of Gregory Bateson and his colleagues in Palo Alto. One of the distinguishing features of postmodern therapy is the stance of treating the patient and family as members of a partnership within a network that includes the professionals and anyone else connected to the situation (Seikkula et al., 1995). Read more: Family and … [Read More...]

http://www.opendialogueapproach.com … [Read More...]

Is a 'psychotic' crisis inside one person's mind -- or does it happen between people, in their relationship? Can therapy untangle the web of madness by addressing the family, providers, and entire social network? Smith College social worker and Fullbright scholar Mary Olson discusses the innovative work of Jaakko Seikkula's Open Dialogue Approach in Finland, which has achieved dramatic success helping people through extreme states labeled 'psychosis' and 'schizophrenia' -- while relying much less on medication and hospitalization. Madness Radio interview with Mary Olson on Open Dialog … [Read More...]

In Finland, a network-based, language approach to psychiatric care has emerged, called "Open Dialogue." It draws on Bakhtin's dialogical principles (Bakhtin, 1984) and is rooted in a Batesonian tradition. Two levels of analysis, the poetics and the micropolitics, are presented. The poetics include three principles: "tolerance of uncertainty," "dialogism," and "polyphony in social networks." A treatment meeting shows how these poetics operate to generate a therapeutic dialogue. The micropolitics are the larger institutional practices that support this way of working and are part of Finnish Need-Adapted Treatment. Recent research suggests that Open Dialogue has improved outcomes for young people in a variety of acute, severe psychiatric crises, such as psychosis, as compared to treatment-as-usual settings. In a nonrandomized, 2-year follow up of first-episode schizophrenia, hospitalization decreased to approximately 19 days; neuroleptic medication was needed in 35% … [Read More...]

http://www.madnessradio.net/audio-extra/09HearingVoicesCongress-WillHallComingOffMedications.mp3 … [Read More...]

http://www.opendialogueapproach.com … [Read More...]

Madness Radio interview with Mary Olson on Open Dialog … [Read More...]

In the past decade, the field of family therapy has witnessed the emergence of a new template for practice based on reflection and narrative, instead of strategy and intervention. There also are broader social and cultural frameworks, especially regarding gender and issues of social justice. The style of practice has evolved from a hierarchical one totherapeutic conversation based on collaboration. The intellectual movements of postmodernism and feminism challenged traditional cybernetic and systems models and provided the seeds for new forms of therapy. This evolving tradition as a whole can be traced back to the communication research of Gregory Bateson and his colleagues in Palo Alto. One of the distinguishing features of postmodern therapy is the stance of treating the patient and family as members of a partnership within a network that includes the professionals and anyone else connected to the situation (Seikkula et al., 1995). Read more: Family and … [Read More...]

In the past decade, the field of family therapy has witnessed the emergence of a new template for practice based on reflection and narrative, instead of strategy and intervention. There also are broader social and cultural frameworks, especially regarding gender and issues of social justice. The style of practice has evolved from a hierarchical one totherapeutic conversation based on collaboration. The intellectual movements of postmodernism and feminism challenged traditional cybernetic and systems models and provided the seeds for new forms of therapy. This evolving tradition as a whole can be traced back to the communication research of Gregory Bateson and his colleagues in Palo Alto. One of the distinguishing features of postmodern therapy is the stance of treating the patient and family as members of a partnership within a network that includes the professionals and anyone else connected to the situation (Seikkula et al., 1995). Read more: … [Read More...]

Compared to narrative and solution-focused therapies, in dialogical approaches the therapists’ position becomes different. Therapists are no longer interventionists with some preplanned map for the stories that clients are telling. Instead, their main focuses on how to respond to clients’ utterances as answers are the generators for mobilizing one’s own psychological resources, since ‘for the word (and consequently for a human being) there is nothing more terrible than a lack of response’ (Bakhtin, 1984, p.127). Respecting the dialogical princi- ple that every utterance calls for a response, team members strive to answer what is said. Answering does not mean giving an explanation or interpretation, but, rather, demonstrating in a therapist’s response that one has noticed what has been said and, when possible, opening up a new point of view on what has been said. This is not a forced interruption of every utterance to give a response, but an adaptation … [Read More...]

Compared to narrative and solution-focused therapies, in dialogical approaches the therapists’ position becomes different. Therapists are no longer interventionists with some preplanned map for the stories that clients are telling. Instead, their main focuses on how to respond to clients’ utterances as answers are the generators for mobilizing one’s own psychological resources, since ‘for the word (and conse- quently for a human being) there is nothing more terrible than a lack of response’ (Bakhtin, 1984, p.127). Respecting the dialogical princi- ple that every utterance calls for a response, team members strive to answer what is said. Answering does not mean giving an explanation or interpretation, but, rather, demonstrating in a therapist’s response that one has noticed what has been said and, when possible, opening up a new point of view on what has been said. This is not a forced interruption of every utterance to give a response, but an … [Read More...]

What happens in Falun is that the people around the patient, the ”family,” are gathered as soon as possible for a session with the team. The team consists of the psychiatrist, Goran Andre, a psychologist, and two other people. They meet in a living-room type setting. By family is meant whoever is significant in the life of the patient. The experience of the team is that people will come, even if they have to travel from far away. In this situation, everybody, not only the patient, is filled with anxiety and despair. Together with the team the family gets an increased capacity to contain and solve problems. It is often found that the patient emerges from psychosis during this first family session. The patient is almost always able to return home with the family the same day. If needed, one of the team members may come along home and stay the night with the family. Psychosis Outcome with Reverse Psychiatry Now the remarkable outcome. During these four … [Read More...]

INTAR Coordinators plan INTAR's conferences and oversee the networking and collaborations among INTAR's networks of survivors, professional, family members and advocates. Peter Stastny Peter Stastny received his medical degree from the University of Vienna and completed a psychiatric residency at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in the Bronx. Since then, Peter has conducted research on the effects of long-term institutionalization, family influence, peer support, self-help and advance directives. He has been a consultant and founding member of several user-run organizations, and has provided advocacy and expert testimony in many cases dealing with psychiatric malpractice and forced treatment. Peter is also documentary film-maker and author of many scholarly and literary articles. He served on the Board of Windhorse Associates and the National Associations of Rights, Protection and Advocacy and is Associate Professor of Psychiatry at the Albert … [Read More...]

SAMHSA has agreed to a Transformation Grant for a Peer Run Crisis Respite in Santa Cruz County. Yana Jacobs reports: "I want to say I couldn't have written this grant without the inspiration and networking from the Alternative Consumer community, primarily INTAR, THANK YOU! You folks showed me the way, were my inspiration to have hope and keep pushing for changes. You re-awakened my belief in human caring, community, passion, healing with natural supports I had the honor and pleasure to be invited into your community and here is a concrete result from those discussions!" … [Read More...]

INTAR member Will Hall is also host and producer of Madness Radio, a Pacifica Network FM radio show heard on several stations around the country. Madness Radio frequently features guests who have participated in INTAR conferences and projects; you can listen to these shows online here. More shows at the Madness Radio website. … [Read More...]

Please join INTAR for our 5th annual conference on November 23rd at New York University's Kimmel Center -- Rethinking Psychiatric Crisis: alternative responses to "first breaks." Read more about the conference at MIWatch.org. Download the brochure here. For electronic registration with credit card, click here. You can also call the conference information line for more information: (212)-780-1400 x7801. Conference Presenters Include: Robert Whittaker, author of Mad in America Jan Wallcraft, co-editor of the Handbook of Service User Involvement in Mental Health Research Jaakko Seikkula, Professor of Psychotherapy in Norway and Finland; co-developer, Open Dialogue approach to family and network therapy in psychosis Alma Menn, former Co-Director of Soteria House Sue Estroff, author of Making It Crazy: An Ethnography of Psychiatric Clients in an American Community Kim Hopper, co-editor of Recovery from Schizophrenia: An International Perspective and … [Read More...]

MIWatch-News About Mental Illness published this essay by INTAR coordinator Peter Stastny prior to the 2009 INTAR conference in New York City. Read the the essay at the MIWatch website here, including the extensive dialog in the Comments section. First psychotic breaks -- conference topic Peter Stastny,* MD, writes about an upcoming conference (Nov 23): "Alternative responses to first psychotic breaks: Rethinking psychiatric crisis." After several years, there is a renewed focus on treatment for first psychotic episodes. An emphasis on early intervention and prevention of psychosis, with the goal of shortening the "duration of untreated psychosis" has obscured the view on the actual services that are being offered to individuals in the midst of a first episode. Recently, the National Institute of Mental Health challenged the psychiatric field to develop a new, state-of-the-art intervention for an "initial schizophrenic episode" (RAISE), realizing that the … [Read More...]

The International Network Toward Alternatives and Recovery gathers prominent survivors, professionals, family members, and advocates from around the world to work together for new clinical and social practices towards emotional distress and what is often labeled as psychosis. Based in leading edge research and successful innovations, INTAR believes the prevailing biomedical overreliance on diagnoses, hospitals, and medications has failed to respect the dignity and autonomy of the person in crisis, and that full recovery must be at the center of ethical care. … [Read More...]

SAMHSA has agreed to a Transformation Grant for a Peer Run Crisis Respite in Santa Cruz County. Yana Jacobs reports: I want to say I couldn't have written this grant without the inspiration and networking from the Alternative Consumer community, primarily INTAR, THANK YOU! You folks showed me the way, were my inspiration to have hope and keep pushing for changes. You re-awakened my belief in human caring, community, passion, healing with natural supports I had the honor and pleasure to be invited into your community and here is a concrete result from those discussions! A special THANKS to Seana O'Callahan, who was my primary partner in writing this grant, I couldn't have done it without you, between New York and California we lived on the inter-net, 24 hours a day (so it seemed) together networking with the larger group! It was so powerful to have so much help and enthusiasm across the country. Shery Mead, Laysha Ostrow, John Bola, Neal Adams, Peter and … [Read More...]

The First INTAR Gathering, November 13-16 2004, at the Race Brook Lodge, in Sheffield, MA brought together more than thirty advocates, professionals, family members, researchers and survivors to initiate the INTAR network, as well as share research, clinical experience, personal recovery stories and family struggles in a forum of collaborative learning. Download the official notes taken by a notetaker during the gathering. … [Read More...]

The 2008 International Recovery Perspectives Conference - Action On Alternatives - Critical and Creative Exploration of Leading Edge Approaches in Mental Health Recovery was held in Toronto Canada June 5-7 . The powerful event brought together more than 300 survivors, professionals, family members and others involved in helping people through extreme states of emotional distress. Download conference program … [Read More...]

INTAR's 2007 gathering was held at The Haven on Gabriola Island in British Columbia, Canada. More than thirty participants from 5 countries gathered for four days of workshops and presentations. The conference was organized around three themes: Alternatives; Organization and structure; and Dissemination and outreach, and concluded with a Public Panel presentation to more than 100 participants from the public at Malaspina College. Download the press release about the gathering here. Download the Agenda here. Read Chris Stevenson's INTAR 2007 conference report here. Download the List of Participants here … [Read More...]

FIRST INTAR GATHERING November 13-16, 2004 Race Brook Lodge, Sheffield, MA SUMMARY in QUOTES … [Read More...]

Download the INTAR report draft here. Listen to Voices of INTAR, an audio documentary interviewing 13 INTAR participants produced by Will Hall of Madness Radio here. … [Read More...]

MIWatch-News About Mental Illness published this essay by INTAR coordinator Peter Stastny prior to the 2009 INTAR conference in New York City. Read the the essay at the MIWatch website here, including the extensive dialog in the Comments section First psychotic breaks -- conference topic Peter Stastny,* MD, writes about an upcoming conference (Nov 23): "Alternative responses to first psychotic breaks: Rethinking psychiatric crisis." After several years, there is a renewed focus on treatment for first psychotic episodes. An emphasis on early intervention and prevention of psychosis, with the goal of shortening the "duration of untreated psychosis" has obscured the view on the actual services that are being offered to individuals in the midst of a first episode. Recently, the National Institute of Mental Health challenged the psychiatric field to develop a new, state-of-the-art intervention for an "initial schizophrenic episode" (RAISE), realizing that the … [Read More...]

INTAR's conferenceRethinking Psychiatric Crisis: Alternative Responses to “First Breaks” Was held Nov 23, 2009 at New York University's Kimmel center, with more than 300 participants. About The Conference First-person accounts consistently show that treatment can compound the ordeal of early psychiatric crisis– especially those resulting in hospitalization. In addition to the disorientation of psychosis, or the bleak depths of depression, treatment itself can be an ordeal. Even when offering welcome relief and safety, conventional biomedical responses can involve coercion, social isolation, the adverse effects of powerful medications, and suspension of life plans. Research suggests that lowering medication dose or delaying its use can reduce the disruptive effects associated with conventional treatment of first breaks. When combined with non-coercive, labor- intensive practices that draw upon kin and/or peers, viable alternatives to hospitalization … [Read More...]

About The Conference First-person accounts consistently show that treatment can compound the ordeal of early psychiatric crisis– especially those resulting in hospitalization. In addition to the disorientation of psychosis, or the bleak depths of depression, treatment itself can be an ordeal. Even when offering welcome relief and safety, conventional biomedical responses can involve coercion, social isolation, the adverse effects of powerful medications, and suspension of life plans. Research suggests that lowering medication dose or delaying its use can reduce the disruptive effects associated with conventional treatment of first breaks. When combined with non-coercive, labor- intensive practices that draw upon kin and/or peers, viable alternatives to hospitalization have proven feasible. Although little known in the U.S., experience elsewhere suggests that such alternatives may provide gentler, more flexible, less disabling means of negotiating early … [Read More...]

INTAR's 2007 gathering was held at The Haven on Gabriola Island in British Columbia, Canada. More than thirty participants from 5 countries gathered for four days of workshops and presentations. The conference was organized around three themes: Alternatives; Organization and structure; and Dissemination and outreach, and concluded with a Public Panel presentation to more than 100 participants from the public at Malaspina College Download the press release about the gathering here. Download the Agenda here. Read Chris Stevenson's INTAR 2007 conference report here. Download the List of Participants here … [Read More...]

The International Network Toward Alternatives and Recovery gathers prominent survivors, professionals, family members, and advocates from around the world to work together for new clinical and social practices towards emotional distress and what is often labeled as psychosis. Based in leading edge research and successful innovations, INTAR believes the prevailing biomedical overreliance on diagnoses, hospitals, and medications has failed to respect the dignity and autonomy of the person in crisis, and that full recovery must be at the center of ethical care. … [Read More...]

The 2009 INTAR conference on “Rethinking Psychiatric Crisis” in New York City was a success. Volunteer photographers Brian MacKinnon, Will Hall, and Krista MacKinnon recorded the pre-conference retreat in Rye, NY, and the conference itself at NYU’s Kimmel Center. The harvest is shared online at Flickr. Conference Presenters Included: Robert Whittaker, author of Mad in America Jan Wallcraft, co-editor of the Handbook of Service User Involvement in Mental Health Research Jaakko Seikkula, Professor of Psychotherapy in Norway and Finland; co-developer, Open Dialogue approach to family and network therapy in psychosis Alma Menn, former Co-Director of Soteria House Sue Estroff, author of Making It Crazy: An Ethnography of Psychiatric Clients in an American Community Kim Hopper, co-editor of Recovery from Schizophrenia: An International Perspective and author of Reckoning with Homelessness Ken Thompson, Associate Director of the Center for … [Read More...]

Download the INTAR report draft here. Listen to Voices of INTAR, an audio documentary interviewing 13 INTAR participante produced by Will Hall of Madness Radio here. … [Read More...]

FIRST INTAR GATHERING November 13-16, 2004 Race Brook Lodge, Sheffield, MA SUMMARY in QUOTES … [Read More...]

Download the INTAR report draft here. Listen to Voices of INTAR, an audio documentary interviewing 13 INTAR participante produced by Will Hall of Madness Radio here. … [Read More...]

FIRST INTAR GATHERING November 13-16, 2004 Race Brook Lodge, Sheffield, MA SUMMARY in QUOTES … [Read More...]

Download the INTAR report draft here. Listen to Voices of INTAR, an audio documentary interviewing 13 INTAR participante produced by Will Hall of Madness Radio here. … [Read More...]

Download the INTAR report draft here. Listen to Voices of INTAR, an audio documentary interviewing 13 INTAR participants produced by Will Hall of Madness Radio here. … [Read More...]

Download the INTAR report draft here. Listen to Voices of INTAR, an audio documentary interviewing 13 INTAR participante produced by Will Hall of Madness Radio here. … [Read More...]

The International Network Toward Alternatives and Recovery gathers prominent survivors, professionals, family members, and advocates from around the world working for new clinical and social practices towards emotional distress and what is often labeled as psychosis. Based in leading edge research and successful innovations, INTAR believes the prevailing biomedical overreliance on diagnoses, hospitals, and medications has failed to respect the dignity and autonomy of the person in crisis, and that full recovery must be at the center of ethical care. … [Read More...]

Press release about the gathering here: http://intar.org/files/INTAR2007-GabriolaIsland-PressRelease.pdf Read the Agenda here: http://intar.org/files/INTAR2007-GabriolaIsland-Agenda.pdf Read Chris Stevenson's INTAR 2007 conference report here: http://intar.org/2007/02/2007-intar-meeting-%E2%80%93-chris-stevenson-report/ Read Peter Stastny's History of INTAR from the 2007 meeting: http://intar.org/history-of-intar-may-6-2007-from-peter-stastny Conference Notes from May 7, Opening Day: http://intar.org/files/INTAR2007-GabriolaIsland-ConfNotesMay7.doc Conference Notes from May 8: http://intar.org/files/INTAR2007-GabriolaIsland-ConfNotesMay8.doc Notes from discussion about potential INTAR online journal: http://intar.org/files/INTAR2007-GabriolaIsland-JournalDiscussion.doc Draft of INTAR by-laws prepared for possible non-profit incorporation: http://intar.org/files/INTAR2007-GabriolaIsland-DraftBylawsforIncorporation.doc … [Read More...]

Are you looking for professional counseling, or does your organization have consulting and training needs? The counselors of INTAR have extensive experience working with people in crisis and their families, and INTAR members have offered trainings for groups, hospitals, government agencies and other settings in more than 12 countries. Email counsult(at)intar(dot)org and we will connect you with a qualified INTAR trainer or counselor in your area; counseling and consulting is also available world-wide by telephone or Skype video. … [Read More...]

FIRST INTAR GATHERING November 13-16, 2004 Race Brook Lodge, Sheffield, MA SUMMARY in QUOTES … [Read More...]

Are you looking for professional counseling, or does your organization have consulting and training needs? The counselors of INTAR have extensive experience working with people in crisis and their families, and INTAR members have offered trainings for groups, hospitals, government agencies and other settings in more than 12 countries. Please see our Contact page. for details. Email counsult(at)intar(dot)org and we will connect you with a qualified INTAR trainer or counselor in your area; counseling and consulting is also available world-wide by telephone or Skype video. … [Read More...]

… [Read More...]

INTAR member Will Hall is also host and producer of Madness Radio, a Pacifica Network FM radio show heard on several stations around the country. Madness Radio frequently features INTAR members and collaborators; you can listen to these shows online here. More shows at the Madness Radio website. … [Read More...]

INTAR member Will Hall is also host and producer of Madness Radio, a Pacifica Network FM radio show heard on several stations around the country. Madness Radio frequently features INTAR members and collaborators; you can listen to these shows online here: … [Read More...]

Listen to this hour-long audio documentary about INTAR interviewing 13 participants at the 2005 Killarney Ireland gathering. Produced by survivor-advocate Will Hall of www.MadnessRadio.net. You can also use right- or control-click/save as to download the audio file directly. [audio:http://freedom-center.org/audio/download/295/INTARVOICES2005.mp3] … [Read More...]

(October 2005) INTAR believes that the dignity and autonomy of the person in crisis are of the utmost importance, that full recovery from distressing/altered mental states is possible, and that these two convictions should shape the social response. For these reasons, we find established psychiatry and public mental health systems in which many of us work, seek (or have been forced to seek) treatment (for ourselves or our loved ones) and do research, to be deficient. Instead, we seek, and some of us provide, alternative settings where people in crisis can find the care, connectedness, respect, and interventions they need and elect to use. Our backgrounds range widely -- from peer/user organizing to biomedicine and psychoanalytic training to Eastern meditative disciplines to family advocacy to academic research. But we are, each of us, committed to building safe spaces and positive relationships, wherein the ordeal presented by extreme states of mind can be met … [Read More...]

Photo Gallery Photos taken by INTAR members at conferences over the years. … [Read More...]

The 2009 INTAR conference on “Rethinking Psychiatric Crisis” in New York City was a success. Volunteer photographers Brian MacKinnon, Will Hall, and Krista MacKinnon recorded the pre-conference retreat in Rye, NY, and the conference itself at NYU’s Kimmel Center. The harvest is shared online at Flickr./ Conference Presenters Included: Robert Whittaker, author of Mad in America Jan Wallcraft, co-editor of the Handbook of Service User Involvement in Mental Health Research Jaakko Seikkula, Professor of Psychotherapy in Norway and Finland; co-developer, Open Dialogue approach to family and network therapy in psychosis Alma Menn, former Co-Director of Soteria House Sue Estroff, author of Making It Crazy: An Ethnography of Psychiatric Clients in an American Community Kim Hopper, co-editor of Recovery from Schizophrenia: An International Perspective and author of Reckoning with Homelessness Ken Thompson, Associate Director of the Center for … [Read More...]

Since 2004 INTAR has hosted several international conferences bringing together more than a thousand participants. INTAR conferences are widely noted as forums where researchers, advocates, survivors, family members and professionals forge deep collaborative bonds around recovery alternatives, with wide-ranging influence for mental health policy reform. … [Read More...]

Press release about the gathering here: http://intar.org/files/INTAR2007-GabriolaIsland-PressRelease.pdf Read the Agenda here: http://intar.org/files/INTAR2007-GabriolaIsland-Agenda.pdf Read Chris Stevenson's INTAR 2007 conference report here: http://intar.org/2007/02/2007-intar-meeting-%E2%80%93-chris-stevenson-report/ Read Peter Stastny's History of INTAR from the 2007 meeting: http://intar.org/2010/09/history-of-intar-may-6-2007-from-peter-stastny/ Conference Notes from May 7, Opening Day: http://intar.org/files/INTAR2007-GabriolaIsland-ConfNotesMay7.doc Conference Notes from May 8: http://intar.org/files/INTAR2007-GabriolaIsland-ConfNotesMay8.doc Notes from discussion about potential INTAR online journal: http://intar.org/files/INTAR2007-GabriolaIsland-JournalDiscussion.doc Draft of INTAR by-laws prepared for possible non-profit … [Read More...]

Created with Admarket's flickrSLiDR. … [Read More...]

INTAR- May 6th 2007 History of INTAR History of Idea (Peter) The Italians in Austria taught us the first thing we had to do was close down the institutions and liberate the patients. This doesn’t solve the problem. It’s wasn’t the cure, The remedy. I became a psychiatrist, opening institutions, getting them out. I knew this wasn’t the answer. I knew people needed eachother. 1980, the idea that people who are locked up together are a natural group to become friends to live together, struggle together, work together. That was before I ever ran into any self help group or anything. People have each other more than anything else. In the 80’s the self help movement. Alternatives meeting. 1000 people in the room, talking about their experience x-patients. It was like a stadium. Diane Cox blew me away. People speaking about their experiences. These self help meetings were called alternatives. People wanted stuff that was different. It was … [Read More...]

Press release about the gathering here: http://intar.org/files/INTAR2007-GabriolaIsland-PressRelease.pdf Read the Agenda here: http://intar.org/files/INTAR2007-GabriolaIsland-Agenda.pdf Read Chris Stevenson's INTAR 2007 conference report here: http://intar.org/2007/02/2007-intar-meeting-%E2%80%93-chris-stevenson-report/ Read Peter Stastny's History of INTAR from the 2007 meeting: http://intar.org/2010/09/history-of-intar-may-6-2007-from-peter-stastny/ Conference Notes from May 7, Opening Day: http://intar.org/files/INTAR2007-GabriolaIsland-ConfNotesMay7.doc Conference Notes from May 8: http://intar.org/files/INTAR2007-GabriolaIsland-ConfNotesMay8.doc Notes from discussion about potential INTAR online journal: http://intar.org/files/INTAR2007-GabriolaIsland-JournalDiscussion.doc Draft of INTAR by-laws prepared for possible non-profit … [Read More...]

INTAR members include participants at our international conferences and gatherings, collaborators with INTAR's international networking, and partners in organizing. Each member is the gateway to a broader professional, survivor, and advocacy social network. This is a partial and growing list being revised as INTAR continues to pursue our work. Laurie Ahern Associate Director of Mental Disability Rights International, Ahern promotes human rights for psychiatric patients and people with intellectual disabilities in some of the world's most challenging situations. She is also a former director of the U.S. National Empowerment Center, an influential promoter of alternatives to psychiatry. Ron Bassman, Ph.D. A psychiatric survivor himself, Bassman is a psychotherapist and psychology instructor with a long history in private and hospital practice, selfhelp project development, and as a consultant to government agencies and educational institutions. He is … [Read More...]

Press release about the gathering here: http://intar.org/files/INTAR2007-GabriolaIsland-PressRelease.pdf Read the Agenda here: http://intar.org/files/INTAR2007-GabriolaIsland-Agenda.pdf Read Chris Stevenson's INTAR 2007 conference report here: http://intar.org/2007/02/2007-intar-meeting-%E2%80%93-chris-stevenson-report/ Read Peter Stastny's History of INTAR from the 2007 meeting: http://intar.org/2010/09/history-of-intar-may-6-2007-from-peter-stastny/ Conference Notes from May 7, Opening Day: http://intar.org/files/INTAR2007-GabriolaIsland-ConfNotesMay7.doc Conference Notes from May 8: http://intar.org/files/INTAR2007-GabriolaIsland-ConfNotesMay8.doc Notes from discussion about potential INTAR online journal: http://intar.org/files/INTAR2007-GabriolaIsland-JournalDiscussion.doc Draft of INTAR by-laws prepared for possible non-profit … [Read More...]

Read Chris Stevenson's INTAR 2007 conference report here: http://intar.org/2007/02/2007-intar-meeting-%E2%80%93-chris-stevenson-report/ Read the Agenda here: http://intar.org/files/INTAR2007-GabriolaIsland-Agenda.pdf Read Peter Stastny's History of INTAR from the 2007 meeting: http://intar.org/2010/09/history-of-intar-may-6-2007-from-peter-stastny/ Conference Notes from May 7, Opening Day: http://intar.org/files/INTAR2007-GabriolaIsland-ConfNotesMay7.doc Conference Notes from May 8: http://intar.org/files/INTAR2007-GabriolaIsland-ConfNotesMay8.doc Notes from discussion about potential INTAR online journal: http://intar.org/files/INTAR2007-GabriolaIsland-JournalDiscussion.doc Draft of INTAR by-laws prepared for possible non-profit incorporation: http://intar.org/files/INTAR2007-GabriolaIsland-DraftBylawsforIncorporation.doc … [Read More...]

INTAR Meeting, Pith, Pit, Pearls, Promise and Practice Chris Stevenson, June 2007 Instead of reporting on the specific workshops I attended (Structure), I have elected to speak about the overall INTAR experience, and processes. I believe attention to, and learning from, the processes is as important as reporting outcomes. In addition, much learning occurs in the gaps between workshops. INTAR consists of a loose collective of people from across the globe; some are friends some are acquaintances. This is important to stress, as it means that the group has a fluid consistency – new people arrive, some come and go, some stay. Each and every come from their own ‘place’ – with all that means in terms of ‘home’ commitments; but all embody a desire to difference – the pith of the group. The group is highly energised when together – positive and sometimes negative energy flows. It favours a ‘democratic’ approach (perhaps reacting against the … [Read More...]

Here you can download notes from the past INTAR meetings: INTAR 2005 in Killarney Ireland -- report draft INTAR 2004 in Sheffield MA USA -- report Chris Stevenson's 2007 INTAR report … [Read More...]

INTAR member Will Hall is also host and producer of Madness Radio, a Pacifica Network FM radio show heard on several stations around the country. Madness Radio frequently features INTAR members and collaborators; you can listen to these shows online here: … [Read More...]

INTAR member Will Hall is also host and producer of Madness Radio, a Pacifica Network FM radio show heard on several stations around the country. Madness Radio frequently features INTAR members and collaborators; you can listen to these shows online … [Read More...]

SEQ CHAPTER \h \r 1SUMMARY in QUOTES FIRST INTAR GATHERING November 13-16, 2004 Race Brook Lodge, Sheffield, MA GENERAL EXPECTATIONS LEON REDLER ...that we find our own ways, in our own ways, in our own time to being able to collectively create what I’d call a benign conspiracy...to undermine all that does harm and all the people and organisations and institutions that do a great deal of harm. PHIL THOMAS for decades debates and discourse around mental health have been incredibly inward looking and that in its sense is a victory for those who argue that there are absolute truths about the world that, and that we have, or rather that bio-medical science has the ultimate truth about the world. LAURA PRESCOTT The young women that I meet with and the men that I meet with in institutions have a lot to say about what the alternatives are, what they’d like to see, what works for them, what doesn’t work for them, and they’re very close to that experience … [Read More...]

Download the INTAR 2005 in Killarney Ireland -- report draft as a PDF file here. … [Read More...]

International Network of Treatment Alternatives for Recovery (INTAR) Second Meeting Killarney, Ireland 1st – 4th December 2005 Tributes to Kieran Crowe FOR KIERAN STILL. ‘Rock a bye baby On the treetop When the wind blows The cradle will rock When the bough breaks The cradle will fall Down will come baby Cradle and all’ One early winter morning, a matter of weeks after the terrible loss of our friend and colleague, I woke up with this old nursery rhyme in my head. The previous night had been a restless one, of concern for the wellbeing of a young man battling for months with suicidal thoughts. In sombre mood, I recall being struck by the somewhat sinister words of the lullaby and also wondering whether the rhyme wasn’t an intuitive response from my unconscious. So a few days later, with my young client slumped despondently in the chair in front of me, I found myself singing it to him. He sat bolt upright, as if he had an electric shock and assured me … [Read More...]

The 2009 INTAR conference on "Rethinking Psychiatric Crisis" in New York City was a success. Volunteer photographers Brian MacKinnon, Will Hall, and Krista MacKinnon recorded the pre-conference retreat in Rye, NY, and the conference itself at NYU's Kimmel Center. The harvest is shared online at Flickr . … [Read More...]

INTAR member Will Hall is also host and producer of Madness Radio, a Pacifica Network FM radio show heard on several stations around the country. Madness Radio frequently features INTAR members and collaborators; you can listen to these shows online … [Read More...]

INTAR member Will Hall is also host and producer of Madness Radio, a Pacifica Network FM radio show heard on several stations around the country. Madness Radio frequently features INTAR members and collaborators; you can listen to these shows online here: http://www.madnessradio.net/madness-radio-2007-04-11-peter-stastny [audio: … [Read More...]

INTAR member Will Hall is also host and producer of Madness Radio, a Pacifica Network FM radio show heard on several stations around the country. Madness Radio frequently features INTAR members and collaborators; you can listen to these shows online … [Read More...]

The International Network Toward Alternatives and Recovery gathers prominent survivors, professionals, family members, and advocates from around the world working for new clinical and social practices towards what is usually labeled as psychosis. Based in leading edge research and successful innovations, INTAR believes the prevailing biomedical overreliance on diagnoses, hospitals, and medications has failed to respect the dignity and autonomy of the person in crisis, and that full recovery must be at the center of ethical care. … [Read More...]

The International Network Toward Alternatives and Recovery gathers prominent survivors, professionals, family members, and advocates from around the world working for new clinical and social practices towards what is usually labeled as psychosis. Based in leading edge research and successful innovation, INTAR believes the prevailing biomedical overreliance on diagnoses, hospitals, and medications has failed to respect the dignity and autonomy of the person in crisis, and that full recovery must be at the center of ethical care. … [Read More...]

The International Network Toward Alternatives and Recovery gathers prominent survivors, professionals, and family members from around the world who are working for new clinical and social practices towards what is usually labeled as psychosis. Based in leading edge research and successful programs, INTAR believes the prevailing biomedical regime of diagnoses, hospitals, and medications has failed to respect the dignity and autonomy of the person in crisis, and that full recovery must be at the center of effective and ethical care. … [Read More...]

The International Network Toward Alternatives and Recovery gathers survivors, professionals, and family members from around the world who are working for new clinical and social practices towards what is usually labeled as psychosis. Based in leading edge research and successful programs, INTAR believes the prevailing biomedical regime of diagnoses, hospitals, and medications has failed to respect the dignity and autonomy of the person in crisis, and that full recovery must be at the center of effective and ethical care. … [Read More...]

The 2009 INTAR conference on “Rethinking Psychiatric Crisis” in New York City was a success. Volunteer photographers Brian MacKinnon, Will Hall, and Krista MacKinnon recorded the pre-conference retreat in Rye, NY, and the conference itself at NYU’s Kimmel Center. The harvest is <a href=”http://www.flickr.com/photos/intar/”>shared online at Flickr Conference Presenters Included: Robert Whittaker, author of Mad in America Jan Wallcraft, co-editor of the Handbook of Service User Involvement in Mental Health Research Jaakko Seikkula, Professor of Psychotherapy in Norway and Finland; co-developer, Open Dialogue approach to family and network therapy in psychosis Alma Menn, former Co-Director of Soteria House Sue Estroff, author of Making It Crazy: An Ethnography of Psychiatric Clients in an American Community Kim Hopper, co-editor of Recovery from Schizophrenia: An International Perspective and author of Reckoning with Homelessness Ken … [Read More...]

<p>The 2009 INTAR conference on “Rethinking Psychiatric Crisis” in New York City was a success. Volunteer photographers Brian MacKinnon, Will Hall, and Krista MacKinnon recorded the pre-conference retreat in Rye, NY, and the conference itself at NYU’s Kimmel Center. The harvest is <a href=”http://www.flickr.com/photos/intar/”>shared online at Flickr </a&Conference Presenters Included: â€¢Robert Whittaker, author of Mad in America â€¢Jan Wallcraft, co-editor of the Handbook of Service User Involvement in Mental Health Research â€¢Jaakko Seikkula, Professor of Psychotherapy in Norway and Finland; co-developer, Open Dialogue approach to family and network therapy in psychosis â€¢Alma Menn, former Co-Director of Soteria House â€¢Sue Estroff, author of Making It Crazy: An Ethnography of Psychiatric Clients in an American Community â€¢Kim Hopper, co-editor of Recovery from Schizophrenia: An International … [Read More...]

Please join INTAR for our 5th annual conference on November 23rd at New York University's Kimmel Center -- Rethinking Psychiatric Crisis: alternative responses to "first breaks" Register here. Presenters Include: â€¢Robert Whittaker, author of Mad in America â€¢Jan Wallcraft, co-editor of the Handbook of Service User Involvement in Mental Health Research â€¢Richard Warner, author of Recovery from Schizophrenia: Psychiatry and Political Economy â€¢Alma Menn, former Co-Director of Soteria House â€¢Sue Estroff, author of Making it Crazy: An Ethnography of Psychiatric Clients in an American Community â€¢Kim Hopper, co-editor of Recovery from Schizophrenia: An International Perspective and author of Reckoning with Homelessness â€¢Ken Thompson, Associate Director of the Center for Mental Health Services, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) Download the brochure here. Register … [Read More...]

To contact INTAR about this website, please contact seanaocall@gmail.com PRESS: please contact Nazlim Hagmann: nazlim@intar.org To donate to INTAR, please contact Nazlim Hagmann: nazlim@intar.org … [Read More...]

Please join INTAR for our 5th annual conference on November 23rd at New York University's Kimmel Center -- Rethinking Psychiatric Crisis: alternative responses to "first breaks" Register here. Presenters Include: â€¢Robert Whittaker, author of Mad in America â€¢Jan Wallcraft, co-editor of the Handbook of Service User Involvement in Mental Health Research â€¢Richard Warner, author of Recovery from Schizophrenia: Psychiatry and Political Economy â€¢Alma Menn, former Co-Director of Soteria House â€¢Sue Estroff, author of Making it Crazy: An Ethnography of Psychiatric Clients in an American Community â€¢Kim Hopper, co-editor of Recovery from Schizophrenia: An International Perspective and author of Reckoning with Homelessness â€¢Ken Thompson, Associate Director of the Center for Mental Health Services, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) Download the brochure here. Register … [Read More...]

The International Network Toward Alternatives and Recovery is an international summit of world renowned survivor leaders, psychiatrists, psychologists, family members, and other mental health professionals who meet annually to counter the belief that people with diagnoses such as schizophrenia or bipolar disorder can never completely recover. INTAR believes that the dignity and autonomy of the person in crisis are of the utmost importance, that full recovery from distressing/altered mental states is possible, and that these two convictions should shape the social response. For these reasons, we find established psychiatry and public mental health systems in which many of us work, seek (or have been forced to seek) treatment (for ourselves or our loved ones) and do research, to be deficient. Instead, we seek, and some of us provide, alternative settings where people in crisis can find the care, connectedness, respect, and interventions they need and elect to … [Read More...]

"After several years, there is a renewed focus on treatment for first psychotic episodes. An emphasis on early intervention and prevention of psychosis, with the goal of shortening the "duration of untreated psychosis" has obscured the view on the actual services that are being offered to individuals in the midst of a first episode. Recently, the National Institute of Mental Health challenged the psychiatric field to develop a new, state-of-the-art intervention for an "initial schizophrenic episode" (RAISE), realizing that the outcome of conventional treatment leaves a lot to be desired. Read more... … [Read More...]

Please join INTAR for our 5th annual conference on November 23rd at New York University's Kimmel Center -- Rethinking Psychiatric Crisis: alternative responses to "first breaks" Register here. Presenters Include: â€¢Robert Whittaker, author of Mad in America â€¢Jan Wallcraft, co-editor of the Handbook of Service User Involvement in Mental Health Research â€¢Richard Warner, author of Recovery from Schizophrenia: Psychiatry and Political Economy â€¢Alma Menn, former Co-Director of Soteria House â€¢Sue Estroff, author of Making it Crazy: An Ethnography of Psychiatric Clients in an American Community â€¢Kim Hopper, co-editor of Recovery from Schizophrenia: An International Perspective and author of Reckoning with Homelessness â€¢Ken Thompson, Associate Director of the Center for Mental Health Services, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) Download the brochure here. Register … [Read More...]

PARTICIPANT … [Read More...]

Please join INTAR for our 5th annual conference on November 23rd at New York University's Kimmel Center -- Rethinking Psychiatric Crisis: alternative responses to "first breaks." Read more about the conference at MIWatch.org. Download the brochure here. For electronic registration with credit card, click here. You can also call the conference information line for more information: (212)-780-1400 x7801. Conference Presenters Include: â€¢Robert Whittaker, author of Mad in America â€¢Jan Wallcraft, co-editor of the Handbook of Service User Involvement in Mental Health Research â€¢Jaakko Seikkula, Professor of Psychotherapy in Norway and Finland; co-developer, Open Dialogue approach to family and network therapy in psychosis â€¢Alma Menn, former Co-Director of Soteria House â€¢Sue Estroff, author of Making It Crazy: An Ethnography of Psychiatric Clients in an American Community â€¢Kim Hopper, co-editor of Recovery from … [Read More...]

PARTICIPANT … [Read More...]

Please join INTAR for our 5th annual conference on November 23rd at New York University's Kimmel Center -- Rethinking Psychiatric Crisis: alternative responses to "first breaks." Read more about the conference at MIWatch.org. Download the brochure here. For electronic registration with credit card, click here. You can also call the conference information line for more information: (212)-780-1400 x7801. Conference Presenters Include: â€¢Robert Whittaker, author of Mad in America â€¢Jan Wallcraft, co-editor of the Handbook of Service User Involvement in Mental Health Research â€¢Jaakko Seikkula, Professor of Psychotherapy in Norway and Finland; co-developer, Open Dialogue approach to family and network therapy in psychosis â€¢Alma Menn, former Co-Director of Soteria House â€¢Sue Estroff, author of Making It Crazy: An Ethnography of Psychiatric Clients in an American Community â€¢Kim Hopper, co-editor of Recovery from … [Read More...]

INTAR is a labor of love bringing together professionals, advocates, and survivors from around the world. To continue this innovative work we need your support. To make a tax-deductible donation, please email nazlim@intar.org … [Read More...]

General inquires: intar@intar.org Consulting, counseling, and training: consult@intar.org Mailing address: For donations, please email: intar@intar.org … [Read More...]

Please join INTAR for our 5th annual conference on November 23rd at New York University's Kimmel Center -- Rethinking Psychiatric Crisis: alternative responses to "first breaks" Register here. Presenters Include: â€¢Robert Whittaker, author of Mad in America â€¢Jan Wallcraft, co-editor of the Handbook of Service User Involvement in Mental Health Research â€¢Richard Warner, author of Recovery from Schizophrenia: Psychiatry and Political Economy â€¢Alma Menn, former Co-Director of Soteria House â€¢Sue Estroff, author of Making it Crazy: An Ethnography of Psychiatric Clients in an American Community â€¢Kim Hopper, co-editor of Recovery from Schizophrenia: An International Perspective and author of Reckoning with Homelessness â€¢Ken Thompson, Associate Director of the Center for Mental Health Services, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) Download the brochure here. Register … [Read More...]

The First INTAR Gathering November 13-16, 2004, at the Race Brook Lodge, in Sheffield, MA brought together more than thirty advocates, professionals, family members, researchers and survivors to initiate the INTAR network, as well as share research, clinical experience, personal recovery stories and family struggles in a forum of collaborative learning. Download the official notes taken by a notetaker during the gathering. … [Read More...]

Download the INTAR 2005 in Killarney Ireland -- report draft as a PDF file here. … [Read More...]

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