Involuntary Outpatient Commitment (IOC) is more commonly referred to as Assisted Outpatient Treatment (AOT). We do not use that term because it essentially operates as a marketing term for IOC, […]
Publications
Overview with links to articles, films, books, youtube, etc.
Survey Results: Do Aggressive Signs Reduce Aggression?
Over the last handful of months, we’ve been requesting that people fill out a survey on signage popping up in healthcare facilities warning people against “violence” and “aggression.” 75 people […]
Club Q & Anti-LGBTQIA+ Hate
Late on November 19, a man wearing body armor entered Club Q – considered a safe haven for LGBTQIA+ folks – in Colorado Springs, Colorado and immediately began shooting. He […]
SAMHSA’s National Recovery Summit, 2022
In August, 2022, people from across the country gathered both in person and virtually to attend the first recovery summit (or similar) to be held by the Substance Abuse and […]
Checking In about COVID & Our Community
The COVID pandemic has presented a lot of change, chaos, uncertainty, and challenge within our communities and beyond. We’ve had to make a lot of difficult decisions along the way, […]
Involuntary Outpatient Commitment & The Fight to Keep It Out of Massachusetts
On Wednesday, June 15, alarms were sounded across the state by disability rights groups when proposed amendments were published as a part of a response to a House version of the […]
Power, Control, & Bathrooms: A Local and National Issue
Sera Davidow, Wildflower Alliance Director An increasing number of schools have begun restricting bathroom access for kids in their care during the school day. This is a serious issue that […]
A Certification Board for Peer Specialists is Coming To Massachusetts: What Will That Mean For Us?
In July, 2021, we raised alarms about proposed legislation to create a Certification Board for Peer Specialists. (You can see details of that alert here: http://tiny.cc/PSBOD) The legislation came as […]
Solidarity with the family and community of Miguel Estrella
The Wildflower Alliance stands in solidarity and support of the family and community of Miguel Estrella, 22, who was killed by Pittsfield police on Friday. Witnesses say that just before […]
Jeffrey Lieberman, Psychiatry, Racism & The Tweet that was His Undoing
In 2015, Jeffrey Lieberman—infamous psychiatrist who briefly headed up the American Psychiatric Association (APA) — memorably called Robert Whitaker (investigative journalist and founder of Mad in America) a “menace to […]
The Ukraine & Reflections on Racism
We are living through some extraordinarily challenging times. The pandemic, police brutality, and now, the potential beginnings of another World War courtesy of the devastating Russian invasion of the Ukraine, are […]
What We’re Still Getting Wrong About What Happened to Orlando Taylor III
By Sera Davidow, Wildflower Alliance Director On January 9th, 2022, Orlando Taylor III was shot and killed by police in Springfield, Massachusetts. When we first wrote about what happened, video had yet to […]