National Empowerment Center

"We envision a future when everyone
with a mental illness will recover"

-- New Freedom Commission on Mental Health, 2003 --

NEW AT THE NEC WEBSITE:

ALTERNATIVES 2008 will be held at the Adams Mark Hotel in Buffalo, New York! Socialize and learn in a diverse and supportive environment designed especially for you! Make sure to mark your calendars for October 29 through November 2!  Application for Scholarships is now available.

The first International Conference on Self-Determination will be May 27-29, 2008 in Detroit, Michigan.  [Click for more]

How Consumers STEP UP to Design a Truly Recovery-based Mental Health System - Dan Fisher's article published in National Council Magazine

Consumer Leaders from Around the World Unite in Canada - Dan Fisher's report on August meeting

Forgotten Suitcases, Emotional Baggage - A history of mental-health treatment, told through lost souls, at the New York Public Library. A New York Times Article, December 7, 2007.  The Lives They Left Behind - Suitcases from a State Hospital Attic, View online exhibit from the Community Consortium.

Supportive Housing for People with Mental Illness: Regaining a Life in the Community.  Webcast scheduled for 9/25/2007 3:30 - 5:00 PM EST.  Brochure (pdf), or at www.nga.org/mentalhealth (direct link)

Connectedness and Citizenship: Redefining Social Integration by Norma Ware et al (pdf- 81 kb, 6 pages)

Bazelon Offers Model Policy for Addressing Student Mental Health - The Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law has released a model policy to help colleges and universities develop a non-discriminatory, non-punitive approach to students in crisis because of mental health problems.  It is available as a free download at www.bazelon.org/pdf/SupportingStudents.pdf (518 kb, 10 pages)

Intervoice launches new web site about hearing voices - www.intervoiceonline.org.  Intervoice is an international organization dedicated to changing society's perception of people who hear voices.

National Coalition of Mental Health Consumer/Survivor Organizations (NCMHCSO.org) is launched...

Dan Fisher's Presentations on Recovery

Reducing the use of seclusion and restraint (pdf 246KB, 35 pages)

NCD Report recommends that peer support by people with psychiatric disabilities be included in disaster planning, (July 7, 2006)

Dr. Fisher's article - Recovery From Schizophrenia: From Seclusion to Empowerment now available on Medscape (Free membership required.  Valid for CME/CE Credits through March 10, 2007)

Revisiting Schizophrenia: Are Drugs Always Needed? New York Times article, March 21, 2006

2/16/06 SAMHSA Issues Consensus Statement on Mental Health Recovery

Meds Alone Couldn’t Bring Robert Back –  Experts like to debate the effectiveness of new drugs, but they overlook a key element of recovery.  February 6, 2006 issue of Newsweek, by Jay Neugeboren

12/15/05 Peer Support: Disaster Preparation for People with Psychiatric Disabilities - Self Direction in Mental Health Broadcast Series [webcast]

11/16/05 National Public Radio (NPR) sound portrait of 'My Lobotomy': Howard Dully's Journey.  - Via NPR, Via Sound Portraits

The Campaign for Mental Health Reform released a Roadmap for Federal Action on America's Mental Health Crisis, 7/26/05

SAMHSA released its plan to implement the New Freedom Mental Health Commission Report: Federal Action Agenda: First Steps, 7/22/05

NEC Trains California Consumer Leaders

American Association of Community Psychiatrists advocates for recovery

"Psychiatrist to Discuss Recovery"
Hartford Courant Article, April 6, 2005

Recovery Through Empowerment - An Interview with Dr. Fisher published online by Medscape, January 20, 2005

Dr. Fisher’s Presentations at a Conference for VA and non-VA Clinicians and Administrators, October 28-30, 2004

• Principles of Recovery (video)
• Implementation of Peer Support Programs (video)
• Handout (pdf)

Free SAMHSA Training Series on Mental Health Self-Direction Web-casts

Hurricane Katrina/Rita Aftermath Resources

NEC's work on the White House New Freedom Commission on Mental Health

Recovery Through Recognition of the History of Consumers and Survivors

Catherine Penney and Dan Fisher Discuss Recovering From Schizophrenia

IN THE NEWS:

Kennedy Center staff learns about hallucinations - The voices were distracting her. O'Rourke, counseling services coordinator at the Kennedy Center, was one of many center employees who participated in "Hearing Voices," a workshop designed to show the center's staff what life is like for someone with auditory hallucinations. [Click for more on Hearing Voices]

Daniel Fisher on Hope and Recovery - A series of radio programs recorded May 2008, in Australia [Click for links and transcript]

We are the Light, We are the Change - Somos la luz, somos el cambio. Dan Fisher's reflections on Alternatives 2007

“We are the light, we are the change,” summarized my feelings about this excellent Alternatives. These are the words that our institute ended with. As those of us on the panel spoke the words, “we are the light, we are the change,” we reached out to the audience and one by one they reached back and held our hands.  [More on Alternatives 2007]

Anne Beales Receives Member of the British Empire for Services to Mental Health - [more on Anne Beales]

Mental patients find understanding in therapy led by peers - Years ago, Jess Zaller came to the Pathways mental health program as a day patient. In and out of institutions, he had fought mental illness since childhood. His life felt like a nightmare of chaos and despair.

Zaller, 45, was back in a Pathways therapy group last week, but this time as a leader, listening carefully as members laid bare the pain of their fears and compulsions. When he delicately pointed the way, it was often in the first person, using his own hard lessons learned:

"Our lives are at stake," he told members. "It takes a lot of courage to walk a path of recovery, and each one of us develops our own path."

[View full text of Boston Globe article, June 8, 2007]

The New Vermont Story - Vermont was a great innovator in community mental health in the 50's and 60's. That was described as the Vermont Story. Now with the appointment of a new commissioner, Mr. Micheal Hartman and deputy commissioner , Beth Tanzman, with deep roots in community mental health and the recovery movement, we may be seeing the dawn of the New Vermont Story. They both are outstanding leaders with excellent values and should greatly assist Vermont in its historic shift to a recovery-based, consumer- and family-driven system as advocated by the New Freedom Commission for Mental Health.  [more]

The evidence base for consumer-run services - "Grading the Evidence for Consumer-Driven Services." The UIC National Research and Training Center is offering this workshop as part of its National Web-Based Education Program.  [more]

Judi Chamberlin debates E. Fuller Torrey, MD on Involuntary Treatment [more]

Hoyer Received Award at the National Council on Disability's 15th Anniversary Observance of the ADA [more]

State Mental Health Commissioners Say Seclusion and Restraint are Safety Interventions, Not Treatment Interventions [more]

More News

The National Empowerment Center is funded in part by:

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration
Center for Mental Health Services
www.samhsa.gov