Peer Respites: Redefining Crisis – Sep 5, 2018

Posted on August 23, 2018 by | Comments Off on Peer Respites: Redefining Crisis – Sep 5, 2018

Peer Respites

Redefining Crisis

Presented by Sharon Kuehn, Braunwynn Franklin
and Kevin Fitts

  • Why we want Peer-Run Respites
  • Share personal experiences of using a Peer-Run Respite
  • Peer Respites as a community movement
  • Leveraging legislation to support Peer-Run Respites in Oregon

Sharon Kuehn

Sharon Kuehn (sharontrose@gmail.com) – Sharon leads the David Romprey Oregon Warmline and the new Oregon Senior Peer Outreach Service for Community Counseling Solutions. Both programs are firmly rooted in the practice of Intentional Peer Support (IPS). Sharon facilitates IPS training and serves as an advocate for Peer Delivered Services on the Oregon Consumer Advisory Council (OCAC). Sharon is also passionate about the healing power of nature and working to create new structures for our human family to find balance with nature, which she explores at http://lifeforcelearning.net.

Braunwynn Franklin

Braunwynn Franklin (braunwynn@live.com) – Braunwynn has been a peer specialist and advocate for over 10 years. She has a heart for social justice change in the prison/justice system and supporting people to gain a better quality of life: mentally, spiritually and physically. She has a Bachelors’ Degree in Healthcare Administration and is a native of Detroit, Michigan. Braunwynn facilitates NAMI Peer-to-Peer and is a Master Trainer in the Living Well with Chronic Disease from Stanford. Braunwynn is the Co-Champion of the Trauma-Informed Systems Committee of the Oregon Consumer Advisory Council.

Kevin Fitts

Kevin Fitts – Kevin is a passionate human and civil rights advocate. He is deeply ingrained in the mental health/addictions and consumer/survivor communities in the Portland Metro area. He is well informed on health and social policy, not only at the state, but also at the federal level. Kevin has served on many initiatives, boards, councils and committees as a public mental health consumer and peer advocate.

Wednesday, September 5, 2018, 7 – 9 PM
Unite Oregon 
700 N. Killingsworth St., Portland, OR
(across from PCC Cascade Campus)
Click here for map

FREE! (Donations Welcome $0 – $20 suggested)
For questions, contact RethinkingPsychiatry@gmail.com or message us on our Facebook Page.

Click here to download flyer.

Update! Watch the YouTube Video of this presentation:

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Sources of Madness – June 6, 2018

Posted on May 19, 2018 by | Comments Off on Sources of Madness – June 6, 2018

Sources of Madness

Why did I lose my mind and what did I gain in the process?

Presented by John Herold, MA

Using personal lived experience as well as ideas from Process Work, John Herold will explore different possible causes of an extreme state of consciousness that landed him in a hospital involuntarily and was diagnosed as bipolar disorder. He will address big and important questions:

  • Where did this experience come from?
  • Why did it happen?
  • What does it mean?
  • Was it just a brain thing or are there additional factors to consider?
  • What were the benefits?

We will explore multiple perspectives, including:

  • Biochemical: Extreme states are caused by imbalances in our brains — brought about by factors like overdoses, genetics and diseases.
  • Psychological: Extreme states happen when marginalized experiences, sensations and feelings refuse to be ignored any longer.
  • Field/Physics: Extreme states occur when mainstream society won’t acknowledge its own sense of madness.
  • Teleological: Extreme states are purposeful and are here for the benefit of the broader culture.

John Herold

John Herold is a facilitator, advocate, speaker and trainer from Gig Harbor, Washington. He is the founder and director of Puget Sound Hearing Voices, now in its third year of weekly meetings. John is passionate about spreading non-pathologizing ways of understanding experiences that often get called mental illness. He completed his master’s in Process Work last July and recently received an Inspirational Person Award from Intervoice: The International Hearing Voices Network. Learn more about John at www.johnherold.net and www.pugetsoundhearingvoices.org.

Wednesday, June 6, 2018, 7 – 9 PM
Unite Oregon
700 N. Killingsworth St., Portland, OR
(across from PCC Cascade Campus)
Click here for map

FREE! (Donations Welcome $0 – $20 suggested)
For questions, contact RethinkingPsychiatry@gmail.com or message us on our Facebook Page.

Click here to download flyer.

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A Couple’s Healing Journey – May 2, 2018

Posted on April 15, 2018 by | Comments Off on A Couple’s Healing Journey – May 2, 2018

A COUPLE’S HEALING JOURNEY

1 Story, 2 People,
8 No Psychiatric Drugs

Natural, science-backed approaches
to taming psychiatric symptoms

Meghan D. and her partner, Todd O., will share their remarkable journey through a dizzying maze of medical doctors, naturopathic doctors, psychiatric hospitals and criminal justice institutions to discover the physical roots of Meghan’s psychiatric diagnoses while learning how to bloom with the help of science and spirit.

In less than a year, Meghan went from experiencing debilitating chronic fatigue and rapid-cycling mania with psychosis to resuming an independent life including full-time work, college coursework, and regular exercise.  This remarkable turnaround started with a belief that there were identifiable physiological causes for her symptoms, and that it would be possible to heal the sources of illness once they were known.

Inspired by their naturopathic doctor’s insightful diagnosis of several underlying conditions, Todd began a deep dive into cutting edge neuroscience, immunology, and herbalism.  The research-backed remedies he discovered allowed Meghan to regain her full and active life.  Along the way, Todd discovered numerous studies revealing a form of neuropathology common to severe psychiatric symptoms such as schizophrenia, psychosis, bipolar mania, depression, and dementia, as well as ongoing research into treatable drivers of this condition.

Join us as Meghan and Todd share their stories, insights, and tools that have helped them regain and maintain health and vitality.

Wednesday, May 2, 2018, 7 – 9 PM
Unite Oregon
700 N. Killingsworth St., Portland, OR
(across from PCC Cascade Campus)
Click here for map

FREE! (Donations Welcome $0 – $20 suggested)
For questions, contact RethinkingPsychiatry@gmail.com or message us on our Facebook Page.

Click here to download flyer.

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Posted in Alternatives, Events, Psychotropic drugs

Truth & Transformation Follow-Up Meeting – Apr 11, 2018

Posted on April 11, 2018 by | Comments Off on Truth & Transformation Follow-Up Meeting – Apr 11, 2018

We will be having a follow-up to last week’s Truth and Transformation meeting tonight, Wednesday April 11, at Unite Oregon (the same place we had last week’s meeting) at 7 p.m. This will be a chance to debrief from last week’s event and to share ideas and hopes for the future.

We hope to see you there!

Wednesday, April 11, 2018, 7 – 9 PM
Unite Oregon
700 N. Killingsworth St., Portland, OR
(across from PCC Cascade Campus)
Click here for map

FREE! (Donations Welcome $0 – $20 suggested)
For questions, contact RethinkingPsychiatry@gmail.com or message us on our Facebook Page.

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Truth & Transformation – Apr 4, 2018

Posted on March 28, 2018 by | Comments Off on Truth & Transformation – Apr 4, 2018

Truth & Transformation

Based on our much-loved Truth & Reconciliation events from last year.
We invite you to listen and share!

Family and friends of people who experience extreme states share the positives and challenges with the mental health system.

Plant the seeds for transformation of mental health services in our community!

When we live in a community where we listen to each other’s true stories, we remember our capacity to lean in and love each other back to wholeness. ~ Christina Baldwin

Wednesday, April 4, 2018, 6:30 – 9:30 PM
Unite Oregon
700 N. Killingsworth St., Portland, OR
(across from PCC Cascade Campus)
Click here for map

FREE! (Donations Welcome $0 – $20 suggested)
For questions, contact RethinkingPsychiatry@gmail.com

Click here to download flyer

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Cindi’s Story – A Mother’s Journey to Resilience

Posted on March 12, 2018 by | Comments Off on Cindi’s Story – A Mother’s Journey to Resilience

Cindi’s Story as a Mother of a Son with Mental Health Struggles.

Cindi shares her experience navigating the mental health system for her son. Cindi was recently honored by NAMI Southwest Washington for her resilience in the face of mental health hurdles she has dealt with when advocating for her son.

View the video on YouTube at youtu.be/o70oFVmPUH4.

Visit NAMI SW WA at namiswwa.org and their Facebook at facebook.com/namiswwa.

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Open Dialogue – Mar 7, 2018

Posted on February 21, 2018 by | Comments Off on Open Dialogue – Mar 7, 2018

Open Dialogue
Rethinking Psychiatry presents a screening of Open Dialogue.
A documentary film on the Western Lapland Open Dialogue Project, the program presently getting the best results in the developed world for treating first-break psychosis. Approximately 85% of those treated achieve full recovery, and a huge majority remain off antipsychotic drugs.

Filmed in Finland. Directed by Daniel Mackler. With Jaakko Seikkula, Robert Whitaker, Mia Kurtti, Markku Sutela, Birgitte Alakare.

Wednesday, March 7, 2018, 7 – 9 PM
Unite Oregon
700 N. Killingsworth St., Portland, OR
(across from PCC Cascade Campus)
Click here for map

FREE! (Donations Welcome $0 – $20 suggested)
For questions, contact RethinkingPsychiatry@gmail.com

Click here to download flier

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Ron Unger: Conversations About Psychosis
Mar 15, 2018

Posted on February 20, 2018 by | Comments Off on Ron Unger: Conversations About Psychosis
Mar 15, 2018

Finding Meaning and a Path to Recovery

When people hear distressing voices or become lost in an altered sense of reality, it’s easy to feel helpless, especially if drugs don’t work very well or don’t feel acceptable. But new, practical methods are emerging that help people to make sense of these experiences, and to regain control of their lives.

Ron Unger, LCSW

Ron Unger, LCSW

Ron Unger, LCSW will introduce some of these approaches, drawing from his work as a therapist specializing in CBT for Psychosis and as a facilitator of Hearing Voices groups.

Thursday, March 15, 2018, 7 – 9 PM
Unite Oregon
700 N. Killingsworth St., Portland, OR
(across from PCC Cascade Campus)
Click here for map

FREE! (Donations Welcome $0 – $20 suggested)
For questions, contact RethinkingPsychiatry@gmail.com

Click here to download flier

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Mar 15, 2018

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Rethinking Love – Feb 7, 2018

Posted on January 27, 2018 by | Comments Off on Rethinking Love – Feb 7, 2018

Rethinking Love

Learning from each other’s experiences with:

  • Valentine’s Day?!
  • Honoring Loneliness
  • Loving someone in crisis
  • Love

Wednesday, February 7, 2018, 7 – 9 PM
Unite Oregon
700 N. Killingsworth St., Portland, OR
(across from PCC Cascade Campus)
Click here for map

FREE! (Donations Welcome $0 – $20 suggested)
For questions, contact RethinkingPsychiatry@gmail.com

 

Photo credit: Louise Docker from Sydney, Australia, CC BY 2.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

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Healing Voices – Jan 3, 2018

Posted on December 22, 2017 by | Comments Off on Healing Voices – Jan 3, 2018

Healing Voices

film followed by group discussion


Healing Voices (2016) is a feature-length documentary examining experiences commonly labeled as ‘psychosis’ or ‘mental illness’ in society, and a critical look at America’s broken mental health care system.

Wednesday, January 3, 2018, 7 – 9 PM
Unite Oregon
700 N. Killingsworth St., Portland, OR
(across from PCC Cascade Campus)
Click here for map

FREE!  (Donations Welcome $0 – $20 suggested)
For questions, contact RethinkingPsychiatry@gmail.com

Click here to download flyer.

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Posted in Lecture Series, Uncategorized