Page 11 - ReAwaken Ebook 1st Ed

Foreword

Now five months post our first ReAwaken gathering in Adelaide, Australia, it still feels

quite present and even a part of me. But before I get in to ReAwaken, I’d like to take a
step back and reflect on how a few of us ended up on the other side of the world

reawakening our connection and compassion for each other, and leading to so many
meaningful actions.

For me it began 20 years ago, when I experienced my first altered state that some term

“psychosis.” Looking for alternatives to a western medical view that views these
experiences as meaningless and pathological, I found a vibrant mental health consumer/

survivor/ex-patient movement, what I like to call the Mad Pride Movement here in the
United States. It has been a privilege to work in this movement for over two decades

now, and during that time I have seen thousands of people, including myself, make
amazing transformations in their lives. People who have been written off by the rest of

society as “severely and chronically mentally ill,” who have reclaimed their lives and

identities, and are now activists, employees, healers, community leaders, home owners,
spouses, and loving parents. Witnessing and living this untold story of hope and healing,

and seeing how this flies in the face of the popular belief of chronic disease,
deterioration, and early death, I began to get interested in film, particularly

documentaries, as a medium that can convey such alternative narratives to a wide
audience. So when I met, PJ Moynihan, a professional filmmaker who had similar values,

but at the time was unfamiliar with our movement, it was like it was meant to be. Over
the course of about six years we produced a film called Healing Voices, which has been

opening up new, more hopeful ways of looking at mental health for tens of thousands of
people across the globe in a few short years since it was released.

In one small corner of the world in South Australia, Healing Voices has had perhaps its

largest impact with several screenings and inspiring the development of local initiatives,

including an alternative to emergency rooms, which is now becoming a reality. PJ and I
have been blessed to be able to befriend two of the principal leaders of these initiatives,

Matt Ball and Stephanie Mitchell of the Humane Clinic. And it is through this connection
that the meaningful action of the ReAwaken Conference was born.

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