Beyond the Stereotypes: Homelessness, Community Coercion, and Extreme Cases
From the ISPS description: “The International Society for Psychological and Social Approaches to Psychosis brings together investigative journalist Rob Wipond, author of “Your Consent is Not Required,” Philip Yanos, PhD, professor, researcher, ACT team clinician, and author of “Written Off: Mental Health Stigma and the Loss of Human Potential,” along with Patrick Mureithi, a father, musician, and documentary filmmaker who will discuss his personal journey through self-medication, psychiatric abuse, and homelessness, and eventual recovery through spirituality, focus on physical health, and community support. In an era marked by increasing uses of coercive mental health laws, particularly concerning homelessness, our speakers will explore the alarming trends, challenges, and potential solutions from their unique vantage points. This
Lori Ashcroft Interviews Rob for Viva La Evolution
Lori Ashcroft of Recovery Resilience Solutions hosts a podcast called Viva La Evolution that’s “not just a place to receive information, but a place where together we can make authentic connections and feel safe enough to talk about the real things that help and hinder our mutual goals of creating opportunities for people to recover. We want to talk about the approaches that really work and bring us and those we serve hope, joy, resilience, and recovery. And we also want to examine the hard things that we are often hesitant to discuss. In other words, let’s get real about what IS working and what ISN’T working. Let’s learn to
Rob with The Explorer Poet, Josh Mortensen
In his Explorer Poet podcast, Josh Mortensen and I discuss a wide range of topics related to my book, including as he describes it on his website “theater, poetry, acting, Canada, the United States, journalism, involuntary commitments, Carl Jung, Stanislav Grof, Robert Whitaker, psychology, North America, money, fraud, forced psychiatric intervention, difficult times, electric shock therapy, psychiatric drugs, depression, mortality, stories, transference, projection, frame of references, pathology, numbing out, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, authority, authoritarianism, politics, polarization, resistance, forced injections, fear mongering, educational systems, schools, institutions, mental health laws, policing, control, nursing homes, long-term care, economic equity, wages, housing costs, the World Health Organization, acknowledging there is a problem, mutual aid, and human connection.”
Rob with Gina Cavalier on The Liberated Healer
Gina Cavalier is working on a series and book about moving through suicidal feelings, and interviewed me for her Liberated Healer podcast.
Intuitive Public Radio Hosts Rob
Mack Morris was one of the first people to educate me about the challenges faced by people with multiple disabilities and sensitivities, especially in relation to mental health care systems from which they alternately seek assistance or get threatened. Now, she interviews me for Intuitive Public Radio. Listen or watch here.
From the Intuitive Public Radio page: “There is deep pain in the world, especially for those who are most vulnerable and without resource access. When flawed systems fail us during critical moments, it affects not only our own lives but the lives and livelihoods of family and community members all around us…. Rob’s work and this conversation help anchor pro-active compassion — to expand access and choice while
Upcoming Talks in New Jersey, Connecticut & Massachusetts
I’ll be speaking in New Jersey, Connecticut and Massachusetts in April. Come join us!
(Download this list of events as a PDF.)
Rob Wipond in Conversation in NJ, CT and MA
Thursday, April 11
Ocean Place Resort & Spa, Long Branch, NJ
Coalition of Mental Health Consumer Organizations
Click here for Conference Info
Monday, April 15
Connecticut Legal Rights Project (Private)
Tuesday, April 16
9am to 11am @
the Holyoke Public Library,
250 Chestnut St, Holyoke, MA
Tuesday, April 16, 12:30pm to 2pm
Community conversation @
Wildflower Alliance’s Bowen Center
235 Chestnut Street, Springfield, MA.
Tuesday, April 16
5:30pm to 7:30pm @
Franklin County Co-Op
Community Room,
170 Main St, Greenfield, MA
Wednesday, April 17
10am to 1pm @
Toivo
1477 Park St. Hartford, CT
Thursday, April 18
2pm to 4pm @
Advocates,
1881 Worcester Rd, Framingham,
Hunter Keegan Talks to Rob on the Bipolar Recorder Podcast
Hunter Keegan is an artist, musician, podcaster, author, and activist, and was diagnosed with bipolar disorder in 2015 shortly after graduating from Penn State University with his bachelor’s degree in Psychology. Hunter and I had a lively and probing conversation on his Bipolar Recorder podcast! Listen to it here.
Rob on Depth Work with Jazmine Russell
Jazmine Russell interviewed me for her Depth Work podcast: “DEPTH Work is a podcast for those who love to dive into transformative healing practices. We talk about mental health, madness, trauma, mind-body practices, energy work, ancestry, spirituality, societal change, somatics, and more. As a complex trauma survivor, holistic counselor, and co-founder of a transformative mental health training institute (IDHA-NYC.org), I believe that our deepest pain is guiding us towards our greatest transformation. Let’s dive in!”
Jeff Brown Interviews Rob on The Enrealment Hour
Jeff Brown interviewed me for his podcast The Enrealment Hour: “Join author and sacred activist Jeff Brown, as he cuts through the denials, deceptions, and distractions that prevent us from living our truest lives. Let’s talk about dismantling the oppressive structures of today, and co-creating a world that honors our inherent magnificence. It’s time. Welcome to the Enrealment Hour.”
Jeff is a strong critic of the pharmaceutical industry, and also a popular advocate for holistic approaches to health and well-being, and these perspectives informed our discussion.
Click here to listen, or here on Spotify,or here on Apple podcasts.
Rob on Changing Crisis Care Podcast
Jessica (Watson Miller) Ocean interviewed me for Changing Crisis Care: The Psych Crisis Podcast. Jessica lost her brother after he had a brutal experience with involuntary psychiatric interventions.
“psychcrisis.org is working to change the system that responds when someone has a mental health crisis so it actually helps. On this podcast, we interview people with deep knowledge about some part of the system to ask ‘what needs to change?’ and ‘what is in the way?'”
Political Uses of Mental Health Laws in the U.S. and Canada Today
After our talk got bombed by online trolls and forced to shut down, the Institute for Development of Human Arts kindly hosted me and Kelechi Ubozoh discussing “Political Uses of Mental Health Laws in the U.S. and Canada Today.” Unlike in my other talks, in this one I focus on how we understand “political” uses of involuntary detention and forced treatment, and show a range of important examples to consider. By the way, Kelechi is an amazing speaker and psychiatric survivor and well worth the listen in herself!
Rob Discussing 988 in Canada on Rethreading Madness
Bernadine Fox interviewed me for Rethreading Madness after my most recent article about covert call tracing by the new 988 line in Canada. Bernadine received the Breaking Barriers award at the 2023 National Community Radio Awards — that’s her in the picture!
988: Is it Harming More than Helping?
988: Is it harming more than helping? Wildflower Alliance hosted a discussion with me, psychiatric survivor and 988 victim Emily Wu Truong, and 988 consultant Jess Stohlman-Rainey about the latest known and still-not-known about 988 in the U.S.
Rob Presents Seminar for Georgetown University Health & the Public Interest
I presented a talk on involuntary psychiatric treatment and discussed the issues with students as part of Georgetown University’s fascinating Health and the Public Interest series. Click here to watch it on YouTube.
Psychiatrist Awais Aftab and Rob Discuss Forced Treatment
Psychiatrist Awais Aftab read my book Your Consent Is Not Required and reviewed it for his “Psychiatry at the Margins” substack series, and then he and I engaged in an email discussion about different perspectives on forcing psychiatric interventions on people. Click to read part one and part two of our exchange.