Communities and Anti-Oppressive Mental Health Paradigms: April 2

Please join us at the Beacon Hill Friends House for a workshop at 7:30pm on Wednesday, April 2, with Matthew Cohen.

The systems currently in place to help people who experience emotional distress are often damaging and oppressive toward those they hope to serve. Cooperatives and other communities of mutual aid have the potential to eschew harmful interventions and to provide intentional, effective support for those experiencing problems. In this interactive workshop we will explore how to identify psychiatric oppression, and what practical steps your community can take to become safer and more healing spaces for all their members.

Matthew has been involved in both alternatives to psychiatry and the cooperative movement since 2007. Recently, he has served at a non-medical recovery home in Northampton, MA, and helped to manage the website and community of Mad In America for its first two years. Matthew currently offers education to community groups, mental health advocacy, blogging, and private sessions for individuals seeking personal change and healing via Flock Forward (http://flockforward.com).