Action Groups

Alternatives 2022 Action Groups will be November 2 and 3, 2022 from 4:00-5:30 p.m. and November 4, 2022 from 2:00-3:30 p.m. All times are listed in EDT. Follow this link for time zone convertor.

What is the difference between a workshop and an action group?

A workshop is a 45-minute presentation on a specific topic, given by workshop leader(s). Alternatives 2022 will not have workshops. The 2021 conference had over 60 workshops from 7 topic areas participants could choose from.

Alternatives 2022 will have Action Groups which are an opportunity to actively participate in developing strategic plans in certain key priority areas. Action groups will meet for 90 minutes each day: at 4 pm EDT Wednesday, Nov. 2, and Thursday, Nov. 3, and 2 pm Friday, Nov. 4. This will be a chance to roll up your sleeves and dive in to help make change in an area you may be passionate about.

The three Action Groups will each have short 15-minute presentations at the beginning of each day and then the rest of the time will be for those attending to plan potential actions.

action group 1: Nothing about us without us: Advocacy at the federal and Statewide levels

Day 1: Kevin Fitts will briefly cover his work with the Oregon Legislature to obtain funding for multiple Peer Respites throughout the state, and discuss a recently published article: “20 Concrete Steps to Achieving System Change.”

Day 2: Anthony Fox will briefly outline the steps for advocacy initiatives that have been used successfully to meet with legislators.

Action group 2: Joining Our Struggle for Justice to the Hard-Fought Efforts of Diverse Marginalized Groups

Day 1: "Guardianships: Back Door to Psychiatric Imprisonment and Forced Drugging" Jim Gottstein will begin with a brief explanation of guardianships/conservatorships, which are used to strip people of their rights in a psychiatric context and other contexts as well, making guardianship opponents and mental health reform advocates natural allies. Jim Gottstein is the founder and president of the Law Project for Psychiatric Rights (PsychRights), whose mission is to mount a strategic litigation campaign against forced psychiatric drugging and electroshock, and to educate the public about these practices. Jim is the author of The Zyprexa Papers, which covers subpoenaing testimony about, and releasing, secret documents showing that Eli Lilly hid the fact that Zyprexa caused diabetes and massive weight gain, and that the company illegally marketed Zyprexa to children and older adults. Jim’s work resulted in a series of New York Times articles and Lilly threatening Jim with criminal contempt and trying to get his license to practice law revoked.

Click here for Jim’s presentation.

Click here for Jim’s slideshow.

Day 2: How the Model Minority Myth Hurts Asian Americans: Just because we are quiet, it doesn’t mean that everything is all right. Many Asians struggle in silence.
Since 2010, Emily Wu Truong has been an award-winning motivational speaker and suicide prevention advocate, encouraging others to know they are not alone in their struggles and to advocate for themselves. She has been featured in the California Mental Health Movement (“Each Mind Matters”) and on Good Morning America and NBC Asian America, as well as in World Journal (世界日報) and elsewhere. Among her honors is California’s 2015 Woman of Achievement Award and 2018 Make a Difference Award. In 2017, the Los Angeles County Supervisors honored Emily's request to establish May 10th as "Asian and Pacific American Mental Health Day." You can contact Emily at emilywutruong168@gmail.com.

Action group 3: Alternatives to coercion with an emphasis on peer services

Day 1: Riley Cushing from Wildflower Alliance will speak about Afiya Peer Respite and what Peer Respites are. Riley (he/him) has worked at Afiya Peer Respite for several years. He works to sustain and co-create non-violent, non-coercive sources of support because that is what he needs to survive in this society. He believes that the relationships that form at Afiya are essential to breaking cycles of violence and to healing from the trauma that is perpetuated by systems of violence, such as white supremacy and patriarchy. Riley struggles to find enough space to express himself and to meet his needs, but he does his best. Playing banjo and baking bread are helpful.

Day 2: Cherene Caraco, founder and CEO of Promise Resource Network (PRN) in North Carolina, will outline the variety of Peer Services that PRN offers. Cherene presented a comprehensive series of webinars on the variety of peer services available (click here). The webinars cover Peer-Run Crisis Alternatives: Warm Lines, Respites, Wellness Centers, Community Response Teams, and Psychiatric Advance Directives (PADs).

Cherene Caraco’s presentation of Peer Services is available here.

Do I have to sign up ahead of time for an action group?

You may choose to go to whatever action group you wish during the conference. Just go to the link for the group you would like to participate with each day.

Do I have to stay in the same action group throughout the entire conference?

Participation in the action groups is entirely voluntary. You may choose to stay with one action group the entire conference, or you may wish to have input in several areas and choose a different action group each day.

What do you hope to accomplish through the action groups?

We hope to be able to report back at the end of the conference with a concrete plan of action in each of the action group areas. This plan may include steps and strategic plans to carry the work forward beyond the conference. The hope is to excite passion and energy toward advocacy in its many forms: making your voice heard by becoming members of advisory boards and committees, understanding how decisions are made for block grant funds and going after it for peer-run programs, and taking state and federal legislative action. Besides reporting back at the conference, our hope is that some of you may have a desire to continue with this work beyond the conference – to actually carry out the action plans your group developed. What that looks like will be up to you to determine.

How is the National Coalition for Mental Health Recovery (NCMHR) supporting this work?

Each action group will have a member of the NCMHR board as part of the group. The NCMHR board will ensure ongoing work beyond the conference by securing organizational support from peer-run entities for hosting and organizing future meetings of those action groups that choose to move forward.

The virtual Alternatives 2022 will provide an opportunity to join an action group focused on the NCMHR policy priorities, among other topics.