CALENDAR OF EVENTS

A curated listing of international critical psychology conferences and events. Email us at [email protected] if you’d like to suggest an event.

Events in September 2025

  • How consultant pharmacist Dr. DeLon Canterbury helps patients safely go off psychotropic drugs

    How consultant pharmacist Dr. DeLon Canterbury helps patients safely go off psychotropic drugs


    September 10, 2025

    Wednesday, September 10, 2025
    10-11 am PST | 1-2 pm EST | 5-6 pm GMT
    Register today! Registration closes noon PST September 8, 2025

    Patients who want medically informed guidance in going off prescribed psychotropics often cannot find clinicians with that expertise. In this webinar, DeLon Canterbury, PharmD, BCGP, a pharmacist who has created a private deprescribing practice, will discuss:

    • Becoming a pharmacist offering consultation to patients and physicians about deprescribing
    • Helping patients design a taper schedule
    • Communicating with the treating physician (and how this advice is received)
    • Handling customized doses and orders for compounding
    • The success of his approach
    • Case study: Deprescribing benzodiazepine for an 80-year-old woman

    A short question-and-answer period will follow the presentation. Note that the speaker cannot advise on individual treatment.

    Reserve your place here. Donations are requested to support our webinar series. Registration closes noon PST September 8, 2025. A video of the webinar will be available for those who register but find they cannot attend.

    Consulting with the treating physician on individualized tapers

    DeLon will explore the technical aspects of customized dosing and the art of creating individualized taper schedules. His methodology for designing these schedules represents years of fostering collaborative relationships with physicians while advocating for patient-centered tapering and individualized dosages.

    This addresses a critical gap in protocols for deprescribing psychotropics: a customized prescription must be issued by a clinician licensed to write prescriptions. His insights into navigating the professional dynamics of being a deprescribing consultant will be especially valuable for pharmacists seeking to expand their scope of practice.

    He will present a case study of benzodiazepine deprescribing in an 80-year-old woman that illustrates the complexities involved in psychotropic deprescribing. This population presents unique challenges due to age-related pharmacokinetic changes, polypharmacy concerns, and increased vulnerability to withdrawal effects.

    An inappropriate antipsychotic endangered his grandmother

    DeLon has personal experience in addressing inappropriate psychotropic drug treatment in the elderly. He initially intended to dedicate his career to serving low-income and rural populations throughout North Carolina as a community pharmacist. But a devastating experience with his grandmother, Mildred, redirected his professional focus from traditional community pharmacy to trailblazing.

    While he was attending the University of North Carolina Eshelman School of Pharmacy, DeLon’s grandmother Mildred, who had mild dementia, was in an assisted-living facility. For months, the family watched helplessly as Mildred’s cognitive decline accelerated, manifesting in increased wandering, hiding of valuables, and severe memory loss. As it turned out, she had been inappropriately prescribed a sedating antipsychotic. During a medication refill, the community pharmacist pointed out the Black Box warning associated with antipsychotics for dementia patients. The pharmacist “advocated for our family by calling the doctor and having the medicine deprescribed over a few weeks, where Mildred returned to her baseline self,” DeLon has written. “She died my last day of pharmacy school, but lived to see 90 years old because of this pharmacist.”

    That was in 2014. This preventable medical error that endangered his grandmother set DeLon on an unusual path: to becoming the “Deprescribing Pharmacist” with a private practice.

    A private practice in deprescribing for patients

    To provide expert deprescribing consultation for patients, caregivers, and healthcare teams, in 2019 DeLon founded a concierge deprescribing telehealth service, GeriatRx. GeriatRx’s first patient was a 70-year-old woman taking 36 prescriptions involving numerous prescribing cascades, polypharmacy, and duplicate therapies. Due to severe memory loss and oversedation, she had been described as a “walking zombie” by her caregiving daughter.

    Working collaboratively with her primary care physician, DeLon strategically tapered her medications down to only 3 medications over time. She was able to remain at home rather than require costly memory care placement, saving the family the substantial cost of a nursing home while allowing the patient to age gracefully in place.

    An active member of the US Deprescribing Research Network (USDeN), DeLon recently received a mini-grant in partnership with Duke CERI and AME Zion HEAL for groundbreaking research focused on African-American communities. His current pilot study is the first African-American focused deprescribing initiative using faith-based communities and precision medicine.

    Make your reservation before noon PST September 8. If you cannot attend, a video of the webinar will be available later for those on our registration list.

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  • Psychology & the Other 2025 Conference

    Psychology & the Other 2025 Conference

    N/A
    September 19, 2025 September 21, 2025

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  • Psychology & the Other 2025 Conference

    Psychology & the Other 2025 Conference

    N/A
    September 19, 2025 September 21, 2025

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  • Psychology & the Other 2025 Conference

    Psychology & the Other 2025 Conference

    N/A
    September 19, 2025 September 21, 2025

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  • Navigating Complex Choices in Antipsychotic Reduction

    Navigating Complex Choices in Antipsychotic Reduction


    September 25, 2025

    Mad in America Presents a Special Webinar:

    Navigating Complex Choices in Antipsychotic Reduction 

    Join us on Thursday, September 25, 2025 at 9am PDT, 12pm EDT, 5pm BST, 7pm CEST

     

    Stopping or reducing antipsychotic medication raises tough ethical questions in both everyday care and research. One big issue is balancing safety with respect for the wishes of the person taking the medication.

     

    In clinical practice, tension arises when a service user asks to reduce or stop medication. If a doctor says no, the service user might go ahead and stop on their own, which can be more dangerous without support. But a doctor agreeing without clear evidence of safety can also carry risks. So who gets to decide what level of risk is okay—the doctor, or the service user?

     

    If the service user is capable of making decisions, most would agree they should have the power to decide. Ignoring that can be disrespectful, especially if we assume professionals always know best, without truly listening to lived experience. Research also runs into problems. In studies where people are meant to stick to certain treatment plans, many don’t, especially when it involves stopping medication. That makes it hard to tell what the results really mean. On top of that, most studies look at group averages, which may not reflect how any one person will actually respond. What works for some might harm others.

     

    So instead of one-size-fits-all answers, we need research and care that are flexible and focused on the individual. This includes using real-world data and creating more supportive, respectful ways for service users and professionals to make decisions together. Ways to accomplish this will be discussed in this webinar.

     

    Single Ticket: Attendees can pay what they wish, with a recommended donation of $10-40 USD. Funds will support Mad in America’s work as a non-profit organization. We understand that not everyone can afford the expense at this time. Please type in the code antipsychotics for a free ticket as needed.

     

    GET FREE ACCESS TO EVENTS! As an alternative to buying a single ticket, you may opt to become an MIA donor for $5 USD per month or $20 USD per year. All active MIA donors receive free access to our events and unrestricted access to our content. Please see our donate page to sign up. Once signed up as a donor, you will receive an automated email with your free event access code. You will enter this code at the Eventbrite checkout instead of a credit card.

     

    Ask a Question: If you'd like to submit a question for the panel, please email it to [email protected] at least 48 hours prior to the start of the event. We will review all questions and choose those most relevant to the audience and topic. There will also be an opportunity to ask questions during the discussion. Thank you!

     

    About the Presenter

    Dr. Helene Speyer is an associate professor at the Department of Clinical Medicine, University of Copenhagen, and senior researcher at the Mental Health Centre Copenhagen. Her research focuses on antipsychotic medication, particularly discontinuation strategies, shared decision-making, and ethical issues in psychiatric practice. She has a strong interest in using diverse methodological approaches, combining methods to explore complex clinical and ethical questions in mental health care.

     

    About the Host

    Ron Unger draws on his own experiences with extreme states of mind to guide his work as a therapist and educator specializing in humanistic approaches to “psychosis.” His special interests are in the intersection of trauma and psychosis, and in addressing cultural, spiritual, and philosophical issues and differences within treatment. He explores diverse perspectives on tricky mental states and possible pathways toward transformation, recovery, and healing, on his blog at recoveryfrompsychosis.org.

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  • Rethinking Psychiatric Medications: A Critical Conversation on Healing, Withdrawal, & Deprescribing

    Rethinking Psychiatric Medications: A Critical Conversation on Healing, Withdrawal, & Deprescribing


    September 27, 2025

    27 September 2025
    6:00 PM IST · 8:30 AM EST

    Have you ever wondered: Do psychiatric medications really work? How long should you stay on them? Are withdrawal symptoms just part of the illness coming back—or something else entirely?

    This event invites you into a candid, evidence-based conversation that challenges mainstream narratives around psychiatric medications. Whether you’re currently taking meds, supporting someone who is, or simply curious, this is a space for asking the difficult questions that rarely get asked in traditional healthcare settings.

    Led by a critical psychiatrist, this session explores deprescribing—the careful, informed process of reducing or stopping psychiatric medications when they no longer serve your wellbeing.

    What You’ll Learn

    • What science tells us (and doesn’t tell us) about long-term use of psychiatric medications
    • How to distinguish between withdrawal symptoms and relapse
    • The importance of gradual tapering and psycho-social support
    • Why recovery is about more than just symptom management
    • Navigating the healthcare system and advocating for yourself
    • Understanding the “dignity of risk” and making informed, personal choices
    • Risks of polypharmacy and how to have better conversations with providers

    Format

    A 40-minute talk followed by an extended Q&A session, where you can ask your own questions about psychiatric meds, alternatives, and what recovery can look like.

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