About Freedom Center

Freedom Center is a support and activism community run by and for people labeled with severe 'mental disorders.' We call for compassion, human rights, self-determination, and holistic options. We create alternatives to the mental health system's widespread despair, abuse, fraudulent science and dangerous treatments. We are based in pro-choice harm reduction philosophy regarding medical treatments, and include people taking or not taking medications.

"Freedom Center is a valuable option for many of our residents. It is a welcome addition to services available to citizens of our city."

Mary Clare Higgins, Mayor of Northampton

"The Freedom Center is one of a collection of grassroots organizations springing up across the country in reaction to the prevalance of medication in America. It alerts people to the downside of psychiatric drugs but does not try to force people off them: it seeks instead to help sufferers find the best methods of coping, even if their solution is unconventional by the standards of the medical establishment."
Forbes magazine, Sept. 6, 2004 p.122

Freedom Center's goals are:

to end all force and coercion, including involuntary treatment and forced drugging;
to ensure access to resources such as housing is without strings and not conditional on treatment "compliance;"
to defend human rights and ensure protective laws and regulations are enforced;
to ensure all treatment decisions are based on true informed consent and accurate information about risks;
to change drugging as the medical standard of care for psychosis;
to end all psych drugging of children and offer alternatives instead;
to support effective alternatives such as nutrition, exercise, holistic health care, nature and animals;
to provide voluntary, non-paternalistic social supports such as peer-run programs, housing, income, and individual and family therapy;
to create Soteria House-style options;
to expose psychiatric and pharmaceutical industry myths, propaganda, and corruption;
to end wasteful bureaucracies and expensive professional elites;
to break the silence around trauma and abuse;
to end fear and misunderstanding of "madness" and extreme states of consciousness;
and to make common cause with progressive movements for social justice and ecological balance.

Also, download our general brochure (legal size paper) for info about us.

Origins, History, and Vision

Submitted by admin on Tue, 02/20/2007 - 12:14.

Written in March '03, this summary looks at how we got started and what we stand for. Also check out our brochure on the Resources page.

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Media Coverage of Freedom Center

Submitted by admin on Sun, 02/18/2007 - 19:17.

Media coverage of Freedom Center including local and national press and articles written by Freedom Center members.

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Email Lists

Submitted by admin on Wed, 02/21/2007 - 03:34.

Read our open discussion list (FC-Discuss) here for all kinds of forwarded emails, news items, announcements, and discussions:

http://lists.riseup.net/www/arc/fc-discuss

Read our Announcement list (FC-Announce) archive:

https://lists.riseup.net/www/arc/fc-announce

You can also subscribe to the great links in the "Madness News Network" feed in a weekly digest form. Just click this link and enter your email address. http://feedburner.google.com/fb/a/mailverify?uri=MadnessNewsNetwork&loc=en_US

Read more about subcribing to our email lists.

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Welcome

Submitted by admin on Wed, 02/21/2007 - 04:21.

Freedom Center is a support and activism community run by and for people labeled with severe 'mental disorders.' We call for compassion, human rights, self-determination, and holistic options. We create alternatives to the mental health system's widespread despair, abuse, fraudulent science and dangerous treatments. We are based in pro-choic harm reduction philosophy regarding medical treatments, and include people taking or not talking medications.

"Freedom Center is a valuable option for many of our residents. It is a welcome addition to services available to citizens of our city."

Mary Clare Higgins, Mayor of Northampton

Freedom Center's goals are:

to end all force and coercion, including involuntary treatment and forced drugging;
to ensure access to resources such as housing is without strings and not conditional on treatment "compliance;"
to defend human rights and ensure protective laws and regulations are enforced;
to ensure all treatment decisions are based on true informed consent and accurate information about risks;
to change drugging as the medical standard of care for psychosis;
to end all psych drugging of children and offer alternatives instead;
to support effective alternatives such as nutrition, exercise, holistic health care, nature and animals;
to provide voluntary, non-paternalistic social supports such as peer-run programs, housing, income, and individual and family therapy;
to create Soteria House-style options;
to expose psychiatric and pharmaceutical industry myths, propaganda, and corruption;
to end wasteful bureaucracies and expensive professional elites;
to break the silence around trauma and abuse;
to end fear and misunderstanding of "madness" and extreme states of consciousness;
and to make common cause with progressive movements for social justice and ecological balance.

Also, download our general brochure (legal size paper) for info about us.

Download our three-in-one acupuncture, yoga, support group flyer ready to print on cardstock, cut, and distribute.

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Peer Educator Guidelines working draft

Submitted by admin on Wed, 03/15/2006 - 21:03.

Our 02-26-07 draft of the

Freedom Center Peer Educators Guidelines:

Overview and Working Guidelines For Representatives, Organizers, and Peer Counselors, Including our Mission Statement and Preramble

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Creative Commons Site Copyright, Sharing, and Fair Use

Submitted by admin on Wed, 02/15/2006 - 22:03.

Want to copy anything on our site and distribute it or put it on your own website or otherwise share it around? Sounds good, we want you to! Just read this first.

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Want to Volunteer?

Submitted by heather on Tue, 05/29/2007 - 10:30.

If you would like to volunteer with Freedom Center, here are a few suggestions that would make a big difference!

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contact us

Submitted by admin on Sat, 06/23/2007 - 17:06.

You can phone us at 877 677 6424, or write: Freedom Center Box 623 Northampton, MA 01062 or email contact freedomcenterinfo (at) gmail (dot) com. Please note: we are all volunteer, if you do not hear back from us right away please be patient and try again. The best way to reach us is in person at our groups classes and events. Thanks!

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Make a Tax-Deductible Online Donation To Freedom Center

Submitted by admin on Thu, 07/28/2005 - 00:00.

Freedom Center relies on the donations and volunteer energy of many people near and far to keep our innovative wellness and advocacy programs going. We have been supported by individual donors, small grants, and limited support from the City of Northampton Community Development Block Grant and Resist, Inc., but we receive no money from pharmaceutical companies.

We need your help to continue our important work!

You can make a tax-deductible donation by clicking the Donate Online button above. It will take you to a secure credit card donation page on Pay Pal for making your donation. You can also make checks payable to Freedom Center/CHOICES and mail to Freedom Center, P.O. Box 623, Northampton, MA 01061. or go to our Cause on Facebook to make a tax-deductible donation: http://apps.facebook.com/causes/288347

All donations are tax-deductible. Our tax information is Freedom Center/CHOICES Inc., EIN= 75-3149780.

Thanks for helping make Freedom Center grow and flourish!

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Freedom Center Healing Voices Video

Submitted by admin on Sat, 11/29/2008 - 15:30.

Freedom Center Healing Voices

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Lee Hurter's Hampshire Thesis On Freedom Center

Submitted by admin on Tue, 12/16/2008 - 21:01.

Longtime organizer Lee Hurter wrote her Hampshire College thesis on Freedom Center, including interviews with several Freedom Center organizers. Download and read the thesis at the link below.