Freedom Center (mental health organization)
Encyclopedia
Founded by Oryx Cohen and Will Hall
, the Freedom Center is a Northampton, Massachusetts
-based support, activism, and human rights community run by and for people diagnosed with severe mental illness, such as schizophrenia
, bipolar disorder
, borderline personality disorder
and obsessive-compulsive disorder.
It is part of the international psychiatric survivors movement
and was founded to provide mutual aid and support to people facing emotional distress who have not been helped by mainstream hospital and professional care. The Freedom Center works to defy stereotypes of helplessness, break the silence around psychiatric abuse, expose the corruption of pharmaceutical companies and work for change in mental health care.
Freedom Center exposes psychiatric abuse experiences locally and challenges the 'disease and disorder' medical model of mental illness
. It favors a recovery model
approach and creating dialog that encourages personal exploration of the uniqueness of individual experiences of "madness" instead of diagnostic categories. Freedom Center does not present one interpretation of what gets labeled as "psychosis" or mental illness, and its members reflect a diversity of explanations, such as trauma and abuse, holistic health, spirituality, cultural difference, and social oppression.
By presenting the work of journalists, scholars, and scientists such as Elliott Valenstein, Robert Whitaker, and Paula Caplan at public forums, Freedom Center works to educate about the lack of scientific consensus behind biological, "chemical imbalance" and genetic theories of what gets labeled as mental illness. Its educational work emphasizes the social and political nature of diagnosis, how medical interpretations are driven by profit and professional power, and how the biomedical view has limited the range of possibilities for recovery and often worsened treatment outcomes. Freedom Center has been vocal about the failure of medication based treatments for many people, and the recurring trauma that many people experience from their hospitalizations. While working to create alternatives to mainstream treatments and alert people to the dangers of medications and hospitalization, Freedom Center welcomes participation by anyone with mental health experience, including those taking or not taking medication or those who use hospitalization and therapy. Despite hosting prominent psychiatrists and welcoming people taking medications, opponents have sought to discredit the organization as "anti-psychiatry" and "anti-medication."
Viewing current options for treatment as too narrow and "one size fists all," the Freedom Center has been the first in the Pioneer Valley to promote a range of holistic therapies for people who have experienced what gets labeled as "psychosis," including acupuncture, yoga, support groups, hearing voices groups, writing groups, helping people reduce and come off medications and working for system-wide change, such as non-hospital programs like Soteria House and trauma-informed care. The group's support and activism work has helped pave the way to establishing peer recovery-based alternatives in Massachusetts, including the Recovery Learning Community.
The charity
has co-published a Harm Reduction Guide To Coming Off Psychiatric Drugs to help those who want to do so. The Guide has been published in several languages and widely distributed, and includes an Editorial Advisory Board of 14 healthcare professionals.
The center undertakes educational work and public events, and hosts a radio show that is also broadcast globally over the internet. Projects include a weekly support group, writing group, free community acupuncture clinic, and yoga class, as well as responding to information and resource requests from around the local area and beyond. In 2008 it was featured by Forbes
business magazine.
Will Hall
Will Hall , is a mental health advocate, writer, and counselor. Diagnosed with schizophrenia, he is recognized internationally as a leading organizer with the psychiatric survivors movement. In 2001 he co-founded the Freedom Center and in 2005 became a co-coordinator of The Icarus Project...
, the Freedom Center is a Northampton, Massachusetts
Northampton, Massachusetts
The city of Northampton is the county seat of Hampshire County, Massachusetts, United States. As of the 2010 census, the population of Northampton's central neighborhoods, was 28,549...
-based support, activism, and human rights community run by and for people diagnosed with severe mental illness, such as schizophrenia
Schizophrenia
Schizophrenia is a mental disorder characterized by a disintegration of thought processes and of emotional responsiveness. It most commonly manifests itself as auditory hallucinations, paranoid or bizarre delusions, or disorganized speech and thinking, and it is accompanied by significant social...
, bipolar disorder
Bipolar disorder
Bipolar disorder or bipolar affective disorder, historically known as manic–depressive disorder, is a psychiatric diagnosis that describes a category of mood disorders defined by the presence of one or more episodes of abnormally elevated energy levels, cognition, and mood with or without one or...
, borderline personality disorder
Borderline personality disorder
Borderline personality disorder is a personality disorder described as a prolonged disturbance of personality function in a person , characterized by depth and variability of moods.The disorder typically involves unusual levels of instability in mood; black and white thinking, or splitting; the...
and obsessive-compulsive disorder.
It is part of the international psychiatric survivors movement
Psychiatric survivors movement
The psychiatric survivors movement is a diverse association of individuals who are either currently clients of mental health services , or who consider themselves survivors of interventions by psychiatry, or who identify themselves as ex-patients of mental health services...
and was founded to provide mutual aid and support to people facing emotional distress who have not been helped by mainstream hospital and professional care. The Freedom Center works to defy stereotypes of helplessness, break the silence around psychiatric abuse, expose the corruption of pharmaceutical companies and work for change in mental health care.
Freedom Center exposes psychiatric abuse experiences locally and challenges the 'disease and disorder' medical model of mental illness
Mental illness
A mental disorder or mental illness is a psychological or behavioral pattern generally associated with subjective distress or disability that occurs in an individual, and which is not a part of normal development or culture. Such a disorder may consist of a combination of affective, behavioural,...
. It favors a recovery model
Recovery model
The Recovery Model as it applies to mental health is an approach to mental disorder or substance dependence that emphasizes and supports each individual's potential for recovery...
approach and creating dialog that encourages personal exploration of the uniqueness of individual experiences of "madness" instead of diagnostic categories. Freedom Center does not present one interpretation of what gets labeled as "psychosis" or mental illness, and its members reflect a diversity of explanations, such as trauma and abuse, holistic health, spirituality, cultural difference, and social oppression.
By presenting the work of journalists, scholars, and scientists such as Elliott Valenstein, Robert Whitaker, and Paula Caplan at public forums, Freedom Center works to educate about the lack of scientific consensus behind biological, "chemical imbalance" and genetic theories of what gets labeled as mental illness. Its educational work emphasizes the social and political nature of diagnosis, how medical interpretations are driven by profit and professional power, and how the biomedical view has limited the range of possibilities for recovery and often worsened treatment outcomes. Freedom Center has been vocal about the failure of medication based treatments for many people, and the recurring trauma that many people experience from their hospitalizations. While working to create alternatives to mainstream treatments and alert people to the dangers of medications and hospitalization, Freedom Center welcomes participation by anyone with mental health experience, including those taking or not taking medication or those who use hospitalization and therapy. Despite hosting prominent psychiatrists and welcoming people taking medications, opponents have sought to discredit the organization as "anti-psychiatry" and "anti-medication."
Viewing current options for treatment as too narrow and "one size fists all," the Freedom Center has been the first in the Pioneer Valley to promote a range of holistic therapies for people who have experienced what gets labeled as "psychosis," including acupuncture, yoga, support groups, hearing voices groups, writing groups, helping people reduce and come off medications and working for system-wide change, such as non-hospital programs like Soteria House and trauma-informed care. The group's support and activism work has helped pave the way to establishing peer recovery-based alternatives in Massachusetts, including the Recovery Learning Community.
Programs
Freedom Center seeks to provide people space to find their own pathway to recovery and let them explore, with support, a variety of wellness resources, which may or may not include psychiatric medications.The charity
Charitable organization
A charitable organization is a type of non-profit organization . It differs from other types of NPOs in that it centers on philanthropic goals A charitable organization is a type of non-profit organization (NPO). It differs from other types of NPOs in that it centers on philanthropic goals A...
has co-published a Harm Reduction Guide To Coming Off Psychiatric Drugs to help those who want to do so. The Guide has been published in several languages and widely distributed, and includes an Editorial Advisory Board of 14 healthcare professionals.
The center undertakes educational work and public events, and hosts a radio show that is also broadcast globally over the internet. Projects include a weekly support group, writing group, free community acupuncture clinic, and yoga class, as well as responding to information and resource requests from around the local area and beyond. In 2008 it was featured by Forbes
Forbes
Forbes is an American publishing and media company. Its flagship publication, the Forbes magazine, is published biweekly. Its primary competitors in the national business magazine category are Fortune, which is also published biweekly, and Business Week...
business magazine.
Goals
The Freedom Center's stated goals include to:- end all force and coercion, including involuntary treatmentInvoluntary treatmentInvoluntary treatment refers to medical treatment undertaken without a person's consent. In almost all circumstances, involuntary treatment refers to psychiatric treatment administered despite an individual's objections...
and forced drugging; - ensure access to resources such as housing is without strings and not conditional on treatment "compliance;"
- defend human rights and ensure protective laws and regulations are enforced;
- ensure all treatment decisions are based on true informed consentInformed consentInformed consent is a phrase often used in law to indicate that the consent a person gives meets certain minimum standards. As a literal matter, in the absence of fraud, it is redundant. An informed consent can be said to have been given based upon a clear appreciation and understanding of the...
and accurate information about risks; - change drugging as the medical standard of care for psychosis;
- end all psych drugging of children and offer alternatives instead;
- support effective alternatives such as nutrition, exercise, holistic healthHolistic healthHolistic health is a concept in medical practice upholding that all aspects of people's needs, psychological, physical and social should be taken into account and seen as a whole. As defined above, the holistic view on treatment is widely accepted in medicine...
care, nature and animals; - provide voluntary, non-paternalistic social supports such as peer-run programs, housing, income, and individual and family therapy;
- support reducing and coming off psychiatric medication to improve health and as a personal right;
- create Soteria House-style options;
- to expose psychiatric and pharmaceutical industry myths, propaganda, and corruption;
- end wasteful bureaucracies and expensive professional elites;
- break the silence around trauma and abuse;
- end fear and misunderstanding of "madness" and extreme states of consciousness; and
- make common cause with progressive movements for social justiceSocial justiceSocial justice generally refers to the idea of creating a society or institution that is based on the principles of equality and solidarity, that understands and values human rights, and that recognizes the dignity of every human being. The term and modern concept of "social justice" was coined by...
and ecological balance.
See also
- Harm reductionHarm reductionHarm reduction refers to a range of public health policies designed to reduce the harmful consequences associated with recreational drug use and other high risk activities...
- Hearing Voices MovementHearing Voices MovementHearing Voices Movement is a philosophical trend in how people who hear voices are viewed. It was begun by Marius Romme, a professor of social psychiatry at the University of Limburg in Maastricht, the Netherlands; and Sandra Escher, a science journalist, who began this work after being challenged...
- MindFreedom
- National Empowerment CenterNational Empowerment CenterThe National Empowerment Center is an advocacy and peer-support organization in the United States that promotes an empowerment-based recovery model of mental disorder. It is run by consumers/survivors/ex-patients in recovery....
- Paula Caplan
- Psychiatric survivors movementPsychiatric survivors movementThe psychiatric survivors movement is a diverse association of individuals who are either currently clients of mental health services , or who consider themselves survivors of interventions by psychiatry, or who identify themselves as ex-patients of mental health services...
- Recovery modelRecovery modelThe Recovery Model as it applies to mental health is an approach to mental disorder or substance dependence that emphasizes and supports each individual's potential for recovery...
- Robert WhitakerRobert WhitakerRobert Whitaker or Whittaker may refer to:*Robert Whitaker , American author*Robert Whitaker , British photographer*Robert Whitaker , British showjumper*Robert Whittaker, American vegetation ecologist...
- SoteriaSoteriaSoteria is a community service that provides a space for people experiencing mental distress or crisis. Based on a recovery model, common elements of the Soteria approach include primarily non-medical staffing; preserving resident's personal power, social networks, and communal responsibilities;...
- The Icarus Project
- Will HallWill HallWill Hall , is a mental health advocate, writer, and counselor. Diagnosed with schizophrenia, he is recognized internationally as a leading organizer with the psychiatric survivors movement. In 2001 he co-founded the Freedom Center and in 2005 became a co-coordinator of The Icarus Project...