The International Society for Ethical Psychology & Psychiatry ISEPP
- The International Center for the Study of Psychiatry and Psychology, Inc. (ICSPP) is a vast network of professionals and individuals concerned with the impact of mental health theories on public policy, and the effects these theories have on therapeutic practices, individual well-being, personal freedom, and family and community values. Our varied membership includes: psychiatrists, psychologists, professional clinical counselors, social workers, professors, researchers, educators, lawyers, psychiatric survivors, concerned family members, mental health professionals and advocates.
- All are welcome … (full text Homepage).
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About: The International Center for the Study of Psychiatry and Psychology (ICSPP) was founded in 1975 as a nonprofit (501-c3) research and educational network whose focus is the critical study of the mental health movement.
ICSPP is completely independent and at present our funding consists solely of individual membership dues, donations, minor reimbursement from book sales and conference attendance fees.
ICSPP’s professional Board of Directors, Advisory Council and membership list consists of psychiatrists, psychologists, social workers, philosophers, professors, researchers, medical practitioners, counselors, therapists, teachers, the « psychiatric survivors », journal editors, and interested lay people. Our membership spans over a dozen countries worldwide.
ICSPP is concerned with the impact of mental health theories on public policy and the effects of therapeutic practices upon individual well-being, personal freedom, and family and community values. For over 35 years ICSPP has been informing the professions, the media and the public about the potential dangers of psychiatric medications, electroshock, psychosurgery, new psychologically « advanced » interventions, and the biological theories of psychiatry and psychology. In many cases, we have been the lone organization opposing the march of the latest hazardous psychiatric and psychological invention, and alerting the media and the public to the dangers of treating social, interpersonal and personal problems as though they were just medical diseases. In an era when academic bullying and intimidation occurs, we serve to provide a supportive and safe place to support those brave individuals who critically analyze this work.
We have focused on critiques of the so-called medical model of mental suffering, that is, the theory that people who behave in ways neither understood nor approved by society at large simply have something wrong with their bodies or brains, requiring the physical intervention of doctors using such techniques as drugs, electroshock and lobotomy. We have studied the research, and documented the results of applying this theory, and we strongly believe the theory still lacks a scientific foundation, is limited, and remains unproven.
We have paid much attention to the fact that many psychiatric drugs, though approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, have been shown to be neither safe nor effective in the long term. We are not against the use of psychoactive drugs by competent adults who have been thoroughly informed of their value, potential side effects, and alternatives … (full text about).