Portland Hearing Voices is sponsoring three events with Robert Whitaker on Thursday Aug 19:

Robert Whitaker

Pulitzer Finalist Author of Anatomy of An Epidemic: Magic Bullets, Psychiatric Drugs, and the Astonishing Rise of Mental Illness in America,

At Powell's Books
A Special Benefit Lecture Sponsored by Portland Hearing Voices

Thursday, August 19
7:30 pm
Powells City of Books Downtown
1005 W Burnside
Portland, OR

Download the flyer for the event here: www.portlandhearingvoices.net/files/RobertWhitakerPowellsAug19.pdf

Join Portland Hearing Voices at this special benefit lecture at Powell's featuring Robert Whitaker, Pullitzer finalist journalist and author of Anatomy of an Epidemic: Magic Bullets, Psychiatric Drugs, and the Astonishing Rise of Mental Illness in America.

How beneficial are psychiatric medications for depression, anxiety, bipolar, schizophrenia, and psychosis in the long term? What does the record of research actually show about drug effectiveness? Do medications reduce the rate of mental illness -- or fuel its dramatic rise? Are the adverse effects of medications often worse than the benefits? What can be done to change the current pharmaceutical driven regime of mental health care?

Pulitzer finalist and George Polk Award winning journalist Robert Whitaker's new book Anatomy of an Epidemic: Magic Bullets, Psychiatric Drugs, and the Astonishing Rise of Mental Illness in America recognizes the usefulness of medications for some people but reveals a consistent and disturbing pattern from half a century of medication effectiveness research: over the long term psychiatric drugs create far more serious problems than they first address.

Join Portland Hearing Voices in this benefit lecture at Powells as we take an honest look at what works and what does not work in medication policy and shine light on the disturbing human cost of a failed mental health system. Whitaker will be available to sign books at the event.

More info about Anatomy of An Epidemic at Robert Whitaker's website: www.madinamerica.com/.

About Portland Hearing Voices: Founded by schizophrenia survivor Will Hall, Portland Hearing Voices organizes support groups, educational events, training, and counseling resources for people who experience voices, extreme states, visions, and different realities often labeled as psychosis, bipolar, and schizophrenia. (Fiscally sponsored by Mental Health Association of Portland.) www.portlandhearingvoices.net

"Medications & the Recovery Movement"
A Dialog for Consumers / Survivors / People with Mental Health Diagnosis
and
Pulitzer Finalist Author
Robert Whitaker

Thursday August 19
9:30-11:30 am
Empowerment Initiatives
3941 SE Hawthorne St.
Portland

Download the flyer for the event here: http://www.portlandhearingvoices.net/files/WhitakerConsumerSurvivorForumAug19-2010.pdf

As people who take medications, have been hospitalized, have diagnoses of severe mental illnesses, and have experienced emotional crisis that gets called psychosis, how can consumers/survivors best support each other and build a strong and effective recovery movement while staying honest and truthful about the nature of psychiatric medications? What does Robert Whitaker's research have to teach us as a recovery movement? Join us for an open discussion with Robert Whitaker on this subject. (Consumer/survivors/people with mental health diagnoses are invited to this forum, and those without this experience are asked to take a role of listening and learning during this event.)

Sponsored by Portland Hearing Voices www.portlandhearingvoices.net, Empowerment Initiatives www.chooseempowerment.com, & Mental Health Association of Portland www.mentalhealthportland.org

"Ethical Psychiatric Medication Policy In Clinical Settings"
Forum for Professionals and Providers

with Pulitzer Finalist Author
Robert Whitaker

Thursday August 19
2-4 pm
First Congregational Church
1126 Southwest Park Ave.
Portland www.uccportland.org

Download the flyer for the event here: http://www.portlandhearingvoices.net/files/WhitakerEthicalMedicationPolicyClinicalForumAug19-2010.pdf

In an era of widespread overmedication, pharmaceutical company corruption, research bias, and coverups of drug risks, how should therapists, social workers, case managers, health practioners, social agency staff and other professionals approach psychiatric medications? Can medication issues safely and ethically be left to doctors, or is there an urgent need for wider understanding about medications and efforts to change the way their are used? What is an ethical response to the confusing and complex situation with psychiatric medications today?

In this forum professionals involved in the policies and practices of clinical and social service settings are invited to learn from Whitaker's insightful research and develop sound approaches to medication, while articulating larger goals for institutional and policy level change.

Sponsored by Portland Hearing Voices www.portlandhearingvoices.net & Mental Health Association of Portland www.mentalhealthportland.org

Ongoing Groups

Voices And Extreme States Support Group

led by Will Hall. Open to people who have these experiences.

6-730 pm NEW LOCATION 3941 SE Hawthorne St., Empowerment Initiatives

Tuesday July 6
Tuesday July 20
Tuesday Aug 3
Tuesday Aug 17
Tuesday Sept 7
Tuesday Sept 21

What is it like to live with voices, visions, wild energy, and extreme states of consciousness? What do these experiences mean to you? How can we learn to accept and live with who we are? What are ways to cope with fear, trauma, isolation, and overwhelming responses? Are there positive, creative, and spiritual sides to what we go through? What is mental diversity all about?

Will Hall was diagnosed with schizophrenia and is an internationally recognized mental diversity educator, advocate, and counselor. www.willhall.org

Open to people who hear voices, see visions, and have unusual beliefs, including mental health diagnosis of bipolar, schizophrenia, and psychosis. Inclusive, non-judgmental, pro-treatment choice and pro-diversity. Donation requested, no one turned away for lack of funds.

For information contact
portlandhearingvoices@gmail.com
www.portlandhearingvoices.net
413.210.2803

Download the Voices And Extreme States Support Group Flyer here: www.portlandhearingvoices.net/files/VoicesVisionsDifferentRealitiesGroupFlyer07-09.pdf

Past Events

Poetry And Madness:
A Reading To Benefit Portland Hearing Voices

Tuesday, July 13th 7pm

Featuring Emily Kendal Frey, Zachary Schomburg, James Gendron, and Sara Guest reading

Someday Lounge 125 NW 5th Avenue (at Davis) Portland

Download the flyer / poster for the event here: www.portlandhearingvoices.net/files/Madness-PoetryJuly13SomedayLoungePHVoicesBenefit.pdf

$10 donation - no one turned away for lack of funds

Info - www.portlandhearingvoices.net, portlandhearingvoices(at)gmail.com

Listen to complete audio of the event courtesy of Kent Bye here: http://www.madnessradio.net/audio-extra/PoetryAndMadnessSomedayLoungeJuly13-2010PDXVoices.mp3

Join Portland Hearing Voices for an evening of poetry featuring prominent poets, in a benefit reading for support groups, education, and community building for mental diversity in Portland.

Emily Kendal Frey, http://www.inknode.com/people/emilykendalfrey, lives in Portland, Oregon and teaches at Portland Community College. She is the author of Airport (Blue Hour 2009), Frances (Poor Claudia 2010), and The New Planet (Mindmade Books 2010).

Zachary Schomburg, http://lovelyarc.blogspot.com, is the author of The Man Suit (Black Ocean 2007), Scary, No Scary (Black Ocean 2009), and a dvd collection of poem-films, Little Blind Thing (Poor Claudia 2010). Three collaborative chapbooks co-written with Emily Kendal Frey have recently been published by Futuretense, Small Fires Press, and Cinematheque Press. With Mathias Svalina, he co-edits a small press, Octopus Books, and an online poetry magazine, Octopus Magazine. He teaches at Portland State University and Portland Community College.

Sara Guest is a poet, novelist and William Stafford Writing Fellow. She works as a program coordinator for Write Around Portland and is a Delve guide for Literary Arts. Recent work is available online at www.inknode.com and Sir! www.sir-magazine.org.

James Gendron, http://www.lafovea.org/La_Fovea/james_gendron.html, was born and raised in Portland, Maine. He was the Lou Reed/Delmore Schwartz Scholar at Syracuse University, and his poems have appeared in The Indiana Review and The Brooklyn Review.

About Portland Hearing Voices: Founded by schizophrenia survivor Will Hall, Portland Hearing Voices organizes support groups, educational events, holistic alternatives, training, and counseling resources for people who experience voices, extreme states, visions, and different realities often labeled as psychosis, bipolar, and schizophrenia. (Fiscally sponsored by Mental Health Association of Portland.) www.portlandhearingvoices.net.

Trauma Healing And Process Work
Research Discussion on a Workshop-In-Progress

Monday April 19 2010

6:30 - 8:30
Process Work Institute
2049 NW Hoyt St. Portland OR.

Free and Open to the Public

Co-Sponsored by Portland Hearing Voices and the Mental Health Association of Portland

Presented by Will Hall, Process Work diploma student & Director of Portland Hearing Voices

I recently returned from leading a 3-day training for 35 peer mental health workers in Alaska on healing emotional trauma. The training drew on my studies in somatic psychotherapy, process oriented psychology, meditation, and dance, as well as my own healing experience.

My workshop was experimental and wove together basic ideas from trauma theory and process work into simple and useful tools. Please join me for a presentation about the training, and be part of a collaborative dialog on how to use Process Work concepts for teaching a broad audience about trauma.

This is a work in progress and your ideas will help us all learn how to teach about trauma healing.

Some of the elements of the Alaska workshop I'll present:

working with the felt sense in the body as a counterbalance to dissociation
a somatic model of trauma based in the work of Peter Levine and Pat Ogden
how this model converges with and differs from process work
multiple levels of the brain as a way to understand traumatic experience
intrusive memories as organismic attempts to complete and resolve trapped traumatic energy
exploring how trauma survivors lose the capacity to say "no"
supporting a congruent "yes" in the person we are supporting
how to strengthen our sense of grounding and resourcing in our bodies before we explore trauma
adding felt sense and grounding awareness to active listening skills in helping others
contacting proprioceptive trauma memories creatively to "melt" dissociation
using the 'magical helper' exercise without retraumatizing or overwhelming
the force behind trauma pushing transformation and new identity

Handouts, slides, and resources for the training are found on my website, http://www.willhall.net, especially books by Peter Levine, Judith Herman, and Pat Ogden, as well as Arnold Mindell.

Location: Process Work Institute, 2049 NW Hoyt St. Portland

The 23rd and Marshall Portland Streetcar stops at 21st St.; there are bus stops on the 15-Belmont and 17-Holgate lines.

Meditation Practice Day - Zen Peacemaker Circle
Especially for People With Extreme States / Experience of Psychosis (bipolar, schizophrenia, etc - everyone is welcome)
with Ed Daigu Knight & Will Hall

Saturday, April 10, 10am-3pm
$50 donation - deli lunch included
(no one turned away for lack of funds)

The Grotto Conference Center
8840 NE Skidmore
Portland,OR 97294
Directions: http://www.thegrotto.org/index.php/about-us/location/

Dowload event flyer: www.portlandhearingvoices.net/files/April10MeditationDayEdKnight.pdf

Pre-registration is optional, but we recommend it to hold your place. Email portlandhearingvoices(at)gmail.com or 413.210.2803

contact:
Portland Hearing Voices
portlandhearingvoices(at)gmail.com
413-210-2803
www.portlandhearingvoices.net

Join Ed Daigu Knight and Will Hall for a day of sitting and walking meditation and contemplation practice -- especially for people who have had extreme states of consciousness diagnosed as psychosis, bipolar, schizophrenia, and other labels (everyone is welcome).

How are "crazy" minds also part of the spiritual path? Is there wisdom in our madness? Meditation can show us the true nature of our minds. Join us as we embrace the depths of who we are and honor what we have been through as survivors of extreme states of consciousness.

The day will consist of sitting meditation (chairs available), walking meditation, dharma talks led by Ed Daigu Knight, and group reflection. Our location is the beautiful Grotto Retreat in Portland, a wonderful place to begin the spring.

Be part of this historic event. No meditation practice day has ever been offered especially for people who have experienced psychosis. (Many retreats do not welcome such people.) So join us for this innovative opportunity to affirm our paths as meditators.

Ed Daigu Knight is dually labeled with "schizophrenia" and alcoholism, the Steward of The Healing Circle, a Zen Peacemaker Circle, and a Senior in the Buddhist Zen Peacemaker Sangha. A widely recognized researcher and teacher in "mental illness" recovery and mutual support, Ed is Vice President of Recovery, Rehabilitation and Mutual Support at Valueoptions, as well as a mentor in the Prison Dharma Network. www.professored.com

Will Hall is labeled with "schizophrenia" and his advocacy work includes Portland Hearing Voices, Mental Disability Rights International, The Icarus Project, and hosting Madness Radio, heard on KBOO FM. A longtime meditator and yoga practitioner, Will is currently studying Process Oriented Psychology. Will was featured in the Newsweek magazine article "Listening to Madness." www.willhall.net

Directions: http://www.thegrotto.org/index.php/about-us/location/

Map:

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Falling In Love With Portland...
Is Our Hometown As Diverse As We Want It To Be?

A Community Open Forum on Diversity in Portland

Sunday, February 14th 7-9pm

This event is free and open to All.

Is Green Portland a final destination or a train stop to a truly diverse Portland? Who cares for a diverse Portland? Please join us for a two hour Open Forum. Listen and speak on how you as an individual or your community want and need more inclusion in our hometown.

Read the full description and get more information here: http://bit.ly/91Yau5.

Mental Illness Or Spiritual Awakening?
New Visions of Mind and Crisis
with
Ed Knight and
Will Hall

Wednesday, November 18th 2009, 6pm-8:30pm

Bamboo Grove Salon (www.bamboogrovesalon.com)
134 SE Taylor (on 2nd street between SE taylor and SE Salmon), Portland OR - Map-http://snipurl.com/bamboogrovemap
$8-$15 donation (no one turned away) benefits Portland Hearing Voices
Physical mobility accessible; call with other access needs.

Download the flyer for printing and distributing here

Info: Portland Hearing Voices 413 210 2803, portlandhearingvoices@gmail.com, www.portlandhearingvoices.net

Two spiritual practitioners diagnosed with schizophrenia ask, Is "mental illness" spiritual? How does trauma relate to enlightenment? What do Eastern religious traditions tell us about madness? Are there holistic treatment alternatives? Can we acknowledge spirit without romanticizing crisis?

Join us for a presentation and discussion to discover new perspectives in mental health.

With:

Ed Knight is dually diagnosed with schizophrenia and alcoholism, the Steward of The Healing Circle, a Zen Peacemaker Circle, and a Senior in the Buddhist Zen Peacemaker Sangha. A widely recognized researcher and teacher in mental illness recovery and mutual support, Ed is Vice President of Recovery, Rehabilitation and Mutual Support at Valueoptions, as well as a mentor in the Prison Dharma Network. www.professored.com

Will Hall is diagnosed with schizophrenia and his advocacy work includes Portland Hearing Voices, Mental Disability Rights International, The Icarus Project, and hosting Madness Radio, heard on KBOO FM. A longtime meditator and yoga practitioner, Will is currently studying Process Oriented Psychology. Will was featured in the Newsweek magazine article "Listening to Madness." www.willhall.net

Tendremos una mini-presentacion en espanol para participantes hispanohablantes.

Radio interviews with Ed Knight and Will Hall here:
http://www.madnessradio.net/madness-radio-buddhist-meditation-and-schizophrenia-ed-knight
http://www.madnessradio.net/madness-radio-2004-04-14-ed-knight-recovery-and-transformation

About Portland Hearing Voices:
Founded by schizophrenia survivor Will Hall, Portland Hearing Voices organizes support groups, educational events, holistic alternatives, training, and counseling resources for people who experience voices, visions, and different realities often labeled as mental disorders. (Fiscally sponsored by Mental Health Association of Portland.) www.portlandhearingvoices.net.

Co-sponsored by: Portland Hearing Voices (www.portlandhearingvoices.net)
and
Mental Health Association of Portland (www.mentalhealthportland.org)
Mental Health Association of Oregon (www.mhaoforegon.com)
ValueOptions (www.valueoptions.com)
Great Vow Zen Monastery (www.greatvow.org)
Portland Evolver (http://evolver.net/group/evolver_portland)
Portland Padmasambhava Buddhist Center (anitad335@aol.com)
Process Work Institute (www.processwork.org)

Music Benefit for Mental Diversity at Backspace June 11th 2009 Thursday 8pm!

On Thursday, June 11, 8pm join Portland Hearing Voices at a Launch Celebration Music Show at Backspace (115 NW 5th Ave/Couch in Portland)!

At the benefit show you'll have a chance to listen to some great local music, learn more about Portland Hearing Voices, discover a little about voice-hearing and non-ordinary sensory experiences, raise some seed money to get us off the ground -- and have some fun!

Come hear performers The Reed Sea, Reclinerland, and Gavin Castleton -- sweet and soulful musicians. Listen at their websites, and thanks to their generosity in performing for mental diversity in Portland:

The Reed Sea http://www.thereedsea.com/

Reclinerland: http://www.myspace.com/reclinerland

Gavin Castleton http://www.myspace.com/gavincastleton

Please spread the word and join us June 11th at 8pm at Backspace (115 NW 5th Ave)! We're asking $5-15 at the door (our policy is that no one will ever be turned away for lack of funds). We also need a couple of volunteers to help with event logistics, and we really want you to invite your friends, colleagues, and community to come as well - word of mouth is key.

A wonderful opportunity to hear some great music, hang out, and connect.

Portland Hearing Voices is a new education and support effort to promote mental diversity. We create public education, discussion groups, and other community support related to hearing voices, seeing visions, and having unusual beliefs and sensory experiences. Portland Hearing Voices aims to reduce fear and misunderstanding, question stereotypes, overcome isolation, and create a more inclusive and supportive community. Check out http://www.portlandhearingvoices.net for more information, to join our Facebook and follow us on Twitter.

Hearing Voices Video and Discussion:

Public Screening of "Hearing Voices" Documentary and Discussion of New Educational Project

Tuesday, March 31 2009 6-7:45pm

Downtown Multnomah County Public library meeting room
801 S.W. 10th Avenue @ Yamhill
Portland, Oregon

contact:
Portland Hearing Voices
portlandhearingvoices@gmail.com
413-210-2803
www.portlandhearingvoices.net

On Tuesday, March 31 2009 at 6pm the hour-long BBC documentary video "Hearing Voices" will be screened at the downtown Multnomah County library in Portland, at 801 S.W. 10th Avenue. The 1995 documentary interviews a number of voice hearers and presents many different points of view on this little-understood phenomenon. The video will be followed by a community discussion.

A small percentage of people hear voices no one else hears and have other unusual sensory experiences. Sometimes these voices and sensations can be painful and terrifying, but sometimes they are creative and even spiritual. Throughout history the mysterious meaning of hearing voices has defied any final explanation.

What is it like to hear voices and have unusual sensory experiences? How do people learn to live with their voices? Are voices always part of pathology and disorder, or are they related to sensitivity and creativity or have other meaning? How are Hearing Voices Groups in England and Europe providing ways for voice-hearers to gain greater control of their lives?

This event is sponsored by Portland Hearing Voices, a new community learning partnership dedicated to education around hearing voices, unusual sensory experiences, and mental diversity. The discussion will be led by Will Hall, a voice hearer diagnosed with schizophrenia and the program director of Portland Hearing Voices.

This event is free and open to the public, on public transit, and wheelchair accessible. Because of chemical sensitivities, please do not wear scented body products.

For information, contact
Jess Jinkies, Outreach Director
Portland Hearing Voices

portlandhearingvoices@gmail.com
413.210.2803
www.portlandhearingvoices.net

Please consider emailing and contacting your friends and colleagues to invite them to the showing, and putting up a notice in your community or workplace. You can find the press release for the event here, and the poster/flyer here.

Upcoming Events

"Medications & the Recovery Movement" A Dialog for Consumers / Survivors / People with Mental Health Diagnosis and Pulitzer Finalist Author Robert Whitaker Thursday August 19 9:30-11:30 am Empowerment Initiatives 3941 SE Hawthorne St. Portland

"Ethical Psychiatric Medication Policy In Clinical Settings" Forum for Professionals and Providers with Pulitzer Finalist Author Robert Whitaker Thursday August 19 2-4 pm First Congregational Church 1126 Southwest Park Ave. Portland www.uccportland.org

Ongoing Groups

Voices And Extreme States Support Group

Past Events

Trauma Healing And Process Work Research Discussion on a Workshop-In-Progress

Monday April 19 2010

6:30 - 8:30 Process Work Institute 2049 NW Hoyt St. Portland OR.

Location: Process Work Institute, 2049 NW Hoyt St. Portland

Meditation Practice Day - Zen Peacemaker Circle Especially for People With Extreme States / Experience of Psychosis (bipolar, schizophrenia, etc - everyone is welcome) with Ed Daigu Knight & Will Hall

Saturday, April 10, 10am-3pm $50 donation - deli lunch included (no one turned away for lack of funds)

The Grotto Conference Center 8840 NE Skidmore Portland,OR 97294 Directions: http://www.thegrotto.org/index.php/about-us/location/

Falling In Love With Portland... Is Our Hometown As Diverse As We Want It To Be? A Community Open Forum on Diversity in Portland

Sunday, February 14th 7-9pm This event is free and open to All.

Mental Illness Or Spiritual Awakening? New Visions of Mind and Crisis with Ed Knight and Will Hall