National Empowerment Center

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

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

Dr. Fisher had the opportunity to thank the Senator on behalf of the mental health community for his work on health care reform and parity, which has helped the recovery of consumers.

NEW AT THE NEC WEBSITE:

For adults with severe psychiatric problems, consumer-managed residential programs may be the way to go, a new study suggests. A recent American Journal of Community Psychology study compared the effectiveness of an unlocked, mental health consumer-managed, crisis residential program (CRP) to a locked, inpatient psychiatric facility (LIPF) for adults for severe psychiatric problems. Participants in the CRP experienced significantly greater improvement on interviewer-rated and self-reported psychopathology than did participants in the LIPF condition; service satisfaction was dramatically higher in the CRP condition.

Additional Information:

Article announcing the study: www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/118619.php

Click to view the index of current issue on self-help for the American Journal of Community Psychology:

Click to view free articles from the American Journal of Community Psychology

Jonathan Delman Receives Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Prize for Local Innovation in Improving Health and Health Care

Jonathan Delman, Executive Director, Consumer Quality Initiatives, Roxbury, Massachusetts and nine others were selected because they "dedicated themselves to tackling some of the most intractable problems affecting the health of their communities". They join a distinguished list of 150 previous award recipients. [Click for more including links to articles at Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Boston Globe]

Mental-health parity law a big win for Kennedys - [Click to view article at Boston Globe]

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation is sponsoring: Ladder to Leadership: Developing the Next Generation of Community Health Leaders. [More info at www.laddertoleadership.org]

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

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. View archived 9/25/2007 Webcast, Brochure (pdf).  (Click to view details of this and links to other webcasts)

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)

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

American Association of Community Psychiatrists advocates for recovery

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

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:

Terrific Interview with two of our heroes, Sally Zinman and Jay Mahler

Hope and Recovery in Australia

I spent three very busy, exciting days in Melbourne, Australia, in connection with a conference on recovery. From May 7 through May 9, 2008, I was immersed in the world of the Australian consumer movement as it is gaining its voice of recovery.
[More on Dan Fisher's trip to Melbourne]

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]

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]