Know a health care practitioner -- mainstream, alternative, or otherwise -- who shares the Icarus perspective on experiences labeled mental illness? Add them to our list of Recommended Providers.

Here is a list of guidelines for what qualifies them for including in the directory; email supportATtheicarusproject.net with the details and we will include them on the list.

Icarus Project Recommended Provider Guidelines

About The Icarus Project
The Icarus Project is a grassroots support network formed in 2002 by and for people labeled with bipolar disorder and other "mental illnesses" who understand our experiencs outside th mainstream medical model. We operate a beloved and strikingly creative community website with several thousand dedicated users, publish and distribute alternative literature on community-based mental health support, conduct workshops and outreach on these topics in diverse communities, and work with a network of local support and activism groups around the country.

Our membership is comprised primarily of people who have been diagnosed bipolar but also includes people with other mental health struggles and/or psychiatric labels. We are determined to take charge of our own mental health and have empowered relationships with healthcare providers. Many of our members use traditional treatments like psychiatric medications and therapy as part of managing our care, and many of our members use alternative treatments like nutrition, acupuncture, and spiritual practice as adjuncts to or replacements for conventional therapies. We do not judge people's choices and we respect each person's decision to define their experience in the way that works best for them.

Personal experience has made us acutely aware of the enormous and sometimes tragic potential for damage and dysfunction that comes with the kinds of extreme emotions and thought patterns that our culture labels as "mental illness." Nonetheless, we see a level of sensitivity, creativity, and thirst for life among so many people labeled with these conditions that we believe treating us as 'broken' or disorded is a a mistake. We propose a more nuanced and hopeful understanding of "mental illness" that recognizes the gifts and positive aspect of our experience while also being realistic about the dangers we face. If we don't learn to take care of ourselves we can cause tremendous suffering, but if we find ways to heal and understand ourselves, both as individuals and as communities, we have the potential to change the world.

The Icarus Project Recommended Provider Directory
One of the most demoralizing and discouraging parts of seeking help is encountering health providers, both mainstream and alternative, who are only able to view mental health struggles in terms of the dehumanizing paradigm of disease and dysfunction, and who are not open to any alternative ways of understanding or treating these problems. The Icarus Project is therefore compiling a directory of health care providers recommended by our members as open to, or even inspired by, our approach to conditions labeled as mental illness. This directory will be used to help current and future members locate compatible providers in their area, and will become a source of referrals and guidance.

The directory is based on recommendations by people involved with the Icarus Project but does not reflect any official endorsement or approval - only that people have personal experience with these providers and can affirm theat they resonate with and are compatible with our vision and approach.

To add a provider to the list, please email details to supportATtheicarusproject.net.

Recommended providers should reflect respect the following basic principles:

1.Don't impose diagnostic labels. While psychiatric labels like "bipolar disorder" and "schizophrenia" can sometimes be useful in for some people, these labels can also be misleading and even harmful. Some of us feel that these labels can get in the way of our healing. Recommended providers should respect the choice of clients to define our experience any way we choose, and should not impose pathological diagnostic categories on clients.

2.Accept alternatives to medication. We recognize that psychiatric drugs and psychotherapy can be useful forms of treatment for many people, but we do not believe they are the only possible forms of treatment. In addition, we believe that the potential for serious negative effects and trade-offs in quality of life must be honestly investigated each time medication is considered. Pharmaceutical companies have not given honest information about their products, and sometimes psychiatric drugs can make people worse. Recommended providers must ensure that clients have accurate information about psychiatric drug risks and the potential effectiveness of alternatives. Providers should be open to using medication in decreased dosages, exploring alternative therapies, supporting clients who choose to reduce or go off medications, and finding other creative ways to address our problems.

3.Collaborate with us as equal partners in care. We want to be involved in figuring out ways to take charge of our mental health and improve our lives. We want to be included in all decision-making about our treatment as much as possible. We ask to be respectd as competent, intelligent individuals who should be well-informed about all aspects of our treatment. We do not consider ourselves passive "consumers" of mental health and treated as markets with problems to b bought and sold. We are individual human beings struggling to make sense of our experiences.

4.Don't impose mainstream values on us. We expect respect for our alternative cultures or unusual gender/sexual/racial/class identities. We are not interested in working with providers who automatically consider our cultural, lifestyle, or identity choices to part of our mental health 'symptoms,' or who feel a need to get us more in line with mainstream values. We should not be judged if we don't fit into the career and work standards of the mainstream; instead, our uniqueness and creativity should be supported as intrinsic to who we are.

5.Provide low-income access to your services. We strongly believe that mental health care should be accessible to as many people as possible, and we find it problematic that the American health care system is a for-profit enterprise that leaves many without options. Recommended providers should offer sliding scales, public assistance, barter, pro-bono (free) services to at least a portion of their clients to promote greater access to services.

If you want to recommend a provider, fill send the following info to supportATtheicarusproject.net.

Your Name ________________________________ Your Email_____________________________
Provider's Name:_____________________________________________________________________
Field (Psychiatry, Acupuncture, Clinical Ecology, etc.): _______________________________________
Description of practice: ____________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
Provider Phone: _________________ Provider Email/website: _______________________
Location / Address: ___________________________________City__________________________
Does the provider fulfill all of the principles listed above? ____________
Does the provider offer low-income access (sliding scale, free/barter, public insurance)? ___

PROVIDERS

Full Spectrum Progressive Mental Health

http://www.fullspectrum.c

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