International

Is a 'psychotic' crisis inside one person's mind -- or does it happen between people, in their relationship? Can therapy untangle the web of madness by addressing the family, providers, and entire social network? Smith College social worker and Fullbright scholar Mary Olson discusses the innovative work of Jaakko Seikkula's Open Dialog Approach in Finland, which has achieved dramatic success helping people through extreme states labeled 'psychosis' and 'schizophrenia' -- while relying much less on medication and hospitalization. http://bipolarblast.wordpress.com/2010/01/04/alternative-for-psychosis/, brassworks.millriver(at)gmail(dot)com

What is it like to hear voices? How do people learn to live with their voices, and are voices sometimes positive and helpful? What is the connection between voices and trauma? Jacqui Dillon, voice hearer and director of the UK Hearing Voices Network, discusses how the movement of people who hear voices is creating self-help alternatives to traditional and often abusive mental health care. www.intervoiceonline.org, www.caslcampaign.com.

Warsaw Poland psychologist Bogna Szymkiewicz discusses "wounded states of consciousness," what the mind and body do when trauma is activated, as well as how trauma affects our relationships and what we can do to recover. www.bogna.info.

Capetown South Africa survivor activist Moosa Salie talks about mental health organizing in Africa and beyond, and work to establish the Ubuntu Center for alternative support. Check out Moosa's blog and the World Network of Uses and Survivors of Psychiatry at www.wnusp.net