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.

A two-page handout on what emotional trauma is and how to work to heal it, written by Will Hall and based on Peter Levine, Hakomi, Judith Herman, and Process-Oriented Psychology.

 

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.

MIND is the leading UK mental health charity. This is their excellent guide to coming off psychiatric drugs, available at http://www.mind.org.uk/Information/Booklets/Making+sense/Making+sense+of+coming+off+psychiatric+drugs.htm http://snipurl.com/MINDComingOffGuide

Paula Caplan: 'If you wanted to make someone feel helpless, hopeless, even crazy, one good way to do it would be this: ...give them a pill that may calm them down or pep them up but will have a good chance of increasing their weight. This has been the fate of women in untold numbers but certainly in the millions, and women’s position in American society makes them more likely than men to feel ashamed for their part in what is being called this country’s obesity epidemic."

This succinct summary of the basic approach of Gestalt therapy offers an innovative approach to personal growth that resonates with Zen and spiritual practices. 

Feminist professor Paula Caplan on the need to not focus on therapy and drugs to help US war in Iraq vets. From Tikkun magazine. http://paulajcaplan.net/files/Vets_are_not_cr.pdf http://paulajcaplan.net/ and www.psychdiagnosis.net