The Pacific Northwest branch welcomes members from Oregon and Washington states.
Meeting Others and Learning Together
Are you interested in learning more about innovative ways of understanding and helping people who are experiencing psychosis or extreme states? Would you like to network with others in the Pacific Northwest who share that interest? If so, please consider joining our branch! We meet periodically in a hybrid format, both online and in person in Eugene, Oregon. To join our branch and be notified of these meetings, email the branch leader Ron Unger at pnw@isps-us.org
(Branch meetings may also be organized in the future in other cities, such as Portland or Seattle: let us know if you are interested in helping to organize such meetings.)
Resources
Organizations and initiatives in the PNW related to psychological and social approaches to psychosis and extreme states:
Hearing voices groups: These groups help people explore experiences and get support in finding their own way of making sense of experiences of voices and other realities. The website lists groups organized by state.
Early intervention in psychosis programs: These programs offer psychological and social support mixed in with more traditional medical interventions and frameworks.
Oregon: Early Assessment and Support Alliance (EASA)
Washington: New Journeys
UW SPIRIT Lab “Supporting Psychosis Innovation through Research, Implementation, & Training.” They offer a number of programs, including the Psychosis REACH program, or “Recovery by Enabling Adult Carers at Home” which modifies CBT for psychosis to be usable by caregivers.
Rethinking Psychiatry, based in Portland, OR, champions alternative approaches, such as those discussed in their Soteria Summit. They are currently most active on their Facebook page.
Various peer-led organizations do not focus specifically on “psychosis” or “extreme states” but champion an approach to various mental and emotional issues based on personal connection and mutual lived experience. Examples are Project Able in Salem, OR, Folktime in Portland, OR, Consumer Voices Are Born (CVAB) in Vancouver, WA, and United Peers of Washington in Vashon, WA.
