“Hearing Voices: The People Who Say Talking Back is the Only Answer”

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Journalist Emma Reynolds profiles Amanda Waegeli, Ron Coleman, Nathan Grixli and Lyn Mahboub about their experiences coming to the Hearing Voices Network (HVN). HVN was established 10 years ago in Australia and provided a support group that encouraged people to listen to their voices rather than trying to block them out. The group now operates in 25 countries.

An Essay on Finnish Open Dialogue: A Five-Year Follow-Up

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It has been five years since I traveled to Western Lapland in Finland to film my documentary “Open Dialogue” on their Open Dialogue Project—the program, as I stated in the film, presently getting the best long-term statistical results in the world for the treatment of first-episode psychosis. My film came out four years ago, and since then I have been screening it around the world, giving lectures about Open Dialogue and my experience in Finland, participating in regular conferences and Q&A sessions about it, receiving daily emails, Facebook messages, blog and Youtube comments about it (as it’s now been free on Youtube for a year), and keeping in regular contact with some of the folks who work there. But I haven’t shared many of my updated opinions in writing, so I wish to do so now.

Letters to the Editor: “The Treatment of Choice”

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Readers respond to the New York Times article, “The Treatment of Choice,” about innovative programs for psychosis and schizophrenia that involve patients and their families in treatment decisions. “Narratives of success counter a drumbeat of faulty links of mental illness and violence, inaccuracies which serve only to further stigmatize and isolate individuals with psychiatric illness.”

United Nations Report Calls for Revolution in Mental Health Care

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In a new report, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the right to health, Dr. Dainius Pūras, calls for a move away from the biomedical model and “excessive use of psychotropic medicines.”

How Does Mindfulness Work?

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A new study explores how mindfulness impacts self-compassion and meaning in life to increase mental health and wellbeing.

Research Finds Parents’ Trauma May Impact Children’s Health

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Study uncovers some of the intergenerational consequences of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs).

“Listen Up! Day 3: Take a Breather”

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Day 3 of WNYC Only Human’s radio show, called Listen Up, focuses on the importance of listening with empathy. They interview Ken Feinberg, a mediator who met with victims after the September 11th attacks, the Sandy Hook shootings, and the Boston marathon bombing.

Opening Doors in the Borderlands: An Interview with Liberation Psychologist Mary Watkins

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MIA’s Micah Ingle interviews Mary Watkins about reorienting psychology toward liberation and social justice.

More to Happiness Than Feeling Good, Study Finds

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Cross-cultural data suggest that happiness involves feeling the emotions one deems as right, in accordance with personal and cultural values.

Early Attention to Life Circumstances and Relationships Improves Outcomes for Psychosis

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Coordinated care with employment support and family therapy leads to superior outcomes for those diagnosed with psychotic disorders.

Existential Therapy Assists Patients Withdrawing From Psychiatric Drugs

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Confronting existential anxiety through “Basal Exposure Therapy” shows promising results in people withdrawing from psychotropic drugs.

“The Surprising Reason Psychotherapy Works”

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For Psychology Today, David Elkins writes that “psychotherapy's power to heal lies mainly in its human and relational aspects,” rather than any specific techniques...

A Conversation about Having Conversations about Psychiatry

In spite of constantly increasing opportunities to tell different stories to the canonical story of bio-psychiatry, it can be risky for academics to voice a different perspective than the mainstream model of mental illness. In this conversation, a communication professor and a psychology professor discuss their challenges and personal experiences with going against the grain, such as what it means to be labeled “anti-psychiatry” by colleagues and responding to students upset to learn their medications may not be all they thought they were.

Researchers Question the Utility of an ADHD Diagnosis

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A new article examines the usefulness of the ADHD diagnosis and suggests alternatives

“How We Label People with ‘Mental Illness’ Influences Tolerance”

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Honor Whiteman reports on a study in The Journal of Counseling & Development, which found that people may be less tolerant of an individual...

Does Psychotherapy Reproduce or Disrupt Neoliberal Capitalism?

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Researchers explore neoliberal influences on interactions in psychotherapy and question whether the radical potential of psychotherapy can counter prevailing social systems.

New Study Investigates Negative Side Effects of Therapy

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Researchers find that nearly half of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) patients experience treatment side effects.

Danish Study Finds Better 10-year Outcomes in Patients Off Antipsychotics

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Study finds that 74% of patients with a psychotic disorder off antipsychotics at end of 10 years are in remission.

In Praise of Patience as a Prescription for Trauma

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For Aeon, Samira Thomas writes that while resilience is attracting a lot of attention from psychology, patience in an underexplored and undervalued virtue in...

New Book Deconstructs Ideology of Cognitive Therapy

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CBT forwards a hyper-rational perspective of human suffering that complements a managerialist culture of efficiency and institutionalization in the Western world.

Study Highlights Importance of Social Interactions in Psychosis Recovery

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Study finds frequency of social interactions predicts long-term remission in first-episode psychosis.

Researchers Develop New Model for Understanding Depression

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Acknowledging that current depression treatments are failing many people, researchers from Michigan State and MIT have developed a new model for understanding how multiple psychological, biological, social and environmental factors contribute to depression.

Anyone Can Be Trained to Hallucinate

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From Flipboard: In a recent study on auditory hallucinations, all participants — not just those who had been diagnosed with psychosis — experienced conditioned hallucinations. The study...

“How Meditation Changes the Brain and Body”

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In the New York Times Well Blog, Gretchen Reynolds covers a study published in Biological Psychiatry showing that mindfulness meditation, unlike a placebo, “can change...

How Feedback Can Improve Psychotherapy Treatment

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Researcher examines the impact of client feedback and progress assessment on improvement in outcomes.