There is another option"” it's called Theatre of the Oppressed (T.O.). For over forty years Brazilian director and legislator, Augusto Boal, has been leading groups through more than 600 games designed to confront internal and external oppression. This "two-way theatre" is used all over the world by activists, teachers, mental health workers and artists who value personal experience as a reflection of universal issues.

The scope of this kaleidoscopic piece ranges across so many territories that it belongs on just about every page of our website. Caty's personal story of discarding the role of patient and the identity of a "mood disorder with legs" leads her from anger and alienation to The Freedom Center, where she finds true solidarity and discovers that engaging with her problems at the level of social activism can help her to heal herself and change the world.

1st edition, a comprehensive look at how society both breeds and condemns madness. Keep checking http://www.freewebs.com/joeyonly for a second edition which when finished will have more statistics and quotes.

Outside this corporate medical culture, there is another way, an ancient way found in all societies across history. Tribal societies put the authority to heal in the hands of people who've struggled through illness and survived it. You become qualified to help others because you've been mad or sick yourself. Illness is a painful initiation into your calling as a wounded healer.

By keeping an art journal you can empower yourself to develop your intuition & creative superpowers - your innate ability to communicate effectively to yourself & to the world - your art journal may contain the expression of your personal thoughts & feelings - once visualized you can confront inner conflicts & fears & realize that they need not be so overwhelming.

This essay draws on traditional biblical and greek texts and argues for the equivalence between prophecy and genius. We explore the connections between madness and prophecy, and madness and genuis and everything in between.

An overview of different confidentiality policies for groups, from our support manual.

A critique of Icarus by a Bay Area anti-authoritarian activist. Check the forums for a dialog on this article.

It is Spring 2006, 2 years after Sascha and Ashley self-published the first 1000 copies of this barely-proofread zine/book, threw them in the back of my truck, and launched into a guerrilla speaking tour of bookstores, infoshops, colleges, community centers, mental health clinics, and activist houses across the country. Looking back at how the Icarus Project has changed with fresh eyes and new perspectives, this is Ashley's Re-Introduction to the latest edition of the Navigating the Space reader.

An interview with Arnold Mindell, a physicist who trained in Jungian psychology and then drew on many different influences, especially Gestalt therapy, to develop Process Work, an awareness practice with applications to mental health/extreme states of consciousness, bodywork, therapy, organizational development, and conflict resolution.

Excerpt from process work creator Arnold Mindell's book The Shaman's Body.

Despite the intimidating title, this is a very clearly written report, with input from people who've been through the system, of what is know and not known about 'mental illness.' Though it doesn't recognize the dangers of the 'atypical' drugs, the report is a great, solid-research antidote to biased info coming from Big Pharma and mainstream medical model psychiatry.