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November 8, 2022
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November 8, 2022
Time: Weekly, Tuesdays from 6:00 pm to 7:30 pm, U.S. Mountain time (5:00 pm Pacific, 7:00 pm Central, 8:00 pm Eastern). Next meeting: June 21, 2022
A space where families can exchange information and share experiences to foster a dialogue that goes beyond the predominant mainstream medical treatment model. Welcome! This Mad in America (MIA) forum hosts online parent support groups. We have started these groups in response to the many inquiries we get from parents who are skeptical of conventional drug-based treatments for children struggling with mental health issues and are now looking for alternatives. We currently offer two groups—one in Europe and one in the United States/Canada; all are conducted in English. This initiative, begun in the fall of 2018, has generated strong interest, and we hope to accommodate as many people as possible. Therefore, the U.S./Canada group now operates on a weekly, drop-in basis, as your schedules and needs allow.
The support groups, which last 90 minutes, are moderated and provide a confidential space where people can share information and experiences that foster a dialogue about psychiatric diagnosis, the use of psychiatric medications, and non-drug alternatives. We hope these groups will help parents and other family members to feel less alone as they struggle to best help the children in their lives. Everyone in the group has the opportunity to speak, and everyone is expected to be respectful of others. The moderators occasionally invite guest speakers to the meetings. Although MIA is hosting these forums, the moderators do not represent MIA. Their opinions and suggestions are their own.
Please write to me with any questions you may have about the support groups. You may also want to visit our Family Resources section, which provides information about drugs, blogs written by both professionals and parents, Q&As, research news, and other informational links. To sign up for a support group, please click “sign up here” at the bottom of the page and then complete the form. –Miranda Spencer, Parent Resources Editor
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November 9, 2022
1:00 pm - 4:00 pm ET
Soteria is a residential home-like environment for supporting people experiencing extreme states / psychosis. In this workshop, we’ll cover the history of Soteria and its place in the larger history of mental health reform movements dating back to the 1950s. We will discuss modern updates to the original Soteria and how we have integrated new schools of thought and practice into a program that also conforms to the expectations of licensing and funding while maintaining the critical elements of the original model.
We will also focus on the power of human connection in non-coercive settings. This workshop invites us all to meet people in exciting and rewarding ways. At Pathways Vermont, we want to explore genuine, dynamic relationships that are healing for all of us.
Participants will explore:
Audience:
Soteria: The Power of Human Connection - Learning from Pathways Vermont's Soteria House
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November 10, 2022
Time: Monthly. Every second Thursday of the month. For parents of children of all ages. 18:00 to 19:30, Berlin Time (UTC+1), 12:00 to 13:30, Eastern Time (EDT) Next meeting July 14, 2022
A space where families can exchange information and share experiences to foster a dialogue that goes beyond the predominant mainstream medical treatment model. Welcome! This Mad in America (MIA) forum hosts online parent support groups. We have started these groups in response to the many inquiries we get from parents who are skeptical of conventional drug-based treatments for children struggling with mental health issues and are now looking for alternatives. We currently offer two groups—one in Europe and one in the United States/Canada; all are conducted in English. This initiative, begun in the fall of 2018, has generated strong interest, and we hope to accommodate as many people as possible. Therefore, the U.S./Canada group now operates on a weekly, drop-in basis, as your schedules and needs allow.
The support groups, which last 90 minutes, are moderated and provide a confidential space where people can share information and experiences that foster a dialogue about psychiatric diagnosis, the use of psychiatric medications, and non-drug alternatives. We hope these groups will help parents and other family members to feel less alone as they struggle to best help the children in their lives. Everyone in the group has the opportunity to speak, and everyone is expected to be respectful of others. The moderators occasionally invite guest speakers to the meetings. Although MIA is hosting these forums, the moderators do not represent MIA. Their opinions and suggestions are their own.
Please write to me with any questions you may have about the support groups. You may also want to visit our Family Resources section, which provides information about drugs, blogs written by both professionals and parents, Q&As, research news, and other informational links. To sign up for a support group, please click “sign up here” at the bottom of the page and then complete the form. –Miranda Spencer, Parent Resources Editor
N/A
November 11, 2022
Join our video chat Friday, November 11
11 a.m. PST/2 p.m. EST
on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/survivingantidepressants/
on SurvivingAntidepressants new YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCLiZ9jubF92Zj6TxoPwLwhQ
Brooke's short video about her book is here https://youtu.be/tTz5P_vp3mc
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November 13, 2022
12:00 pm - 3:00 pm ET
One synonym for crisis is “crossroads.” This moment offers us a significant opportunity to transform what crisis is, and what care can look like. The number of innovative programs and services (e.g. respite centers, psychiatric advance directives) that nurture autonomy and self-determination is growing, as is the understanding our trauma has multiple roots. We ask: What could happen if our crises were widely understood not as a personal failure, but as a symptom of a world that is suffering? What if our care systems prioritized resourcing communities, rather than “outsourcing” to professionals? What if we met these global inflection points with a vast spectrum of collective care tools and networks?
IDHA’s Fall 2022/Spring 2023 Training Series, Crossroads of Crisis, reimagines the crisis continuum – interrogating what crisis is, where it comes from, how to respond to it with curiosity and compassion, and the role of providers and communities. Building on former IDHA offerings Crisis as Catalyst and Cultivating Community, we will ground our learning in the voices of lived experience and approach the theme of crisis from multiple lenses and dimensions. Drawing inspiration and lessons from current community-based efforts, we will practice how to disrupt paradigms of coercion, create personal codes of ethics, and attune to the needs of those we support in professional and nonprofessional roles. We hope you will join us in building a world beyond 988.
Crossroads of Crisis: Dreams & Strategies for Collective Care
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November 13, 2022
Mark Lipman’s newest musical offering comes from a decades-long mental health journey of trying to make sense of the strange and unusual experiences of his early twenties—falling in love, spiritually awakening, the dangerous power of hubris and the stark disillusionment that followed. He describes the collection as “songs I wish my 23-year-old self could have heard.” In his first full-length album, Mark peers through the eyes of Icarus, his own dream characters, and other voices in an effort to find more humanizing stories than those he was told to believe by much of the Western psychological world, the world in which he also happens to work as a therapist. His album asks us to suspend our preconceived notions within the pathologizing language of Western psychiatry and to see the healing value that comes from supporting someone in their journey to fully integrate their experiences into their own story—and in their own words.
As much as we can find a sense of empowerment within ourselves, it also helps to have a community of people support and encourage us on that journey, witnessing and reflecting what we value, even when we have a hard time seeing it. The Hearing Voices Network (HVN) has played a key role in Mark’s journey, and because of that, this album release show will be a benefit show for their cause. You can find out more about the HVN’s work at www.hearingvoicesusa.org.