We are excited to learn about the Withdrawal Project, a new non-profit effort off the traditional mental health grid.

The Withdrawal Project provides knowledge online about psychiatric drug dependence and withdrawal. But it is much more than another online resource. The project hosts “a detailed layperson’s guide” to safely tapering from these drugs and supports a meaningful and evolving exchange of “anecdotal wisdom” on the subject. In addition, the Withdrawal Project offers a social space for registered members to connect locally and share experiences and information.

The Withdrawal Project is the first effort for the new Inner Compass Initiative, a non-profit organization “that provides information and resources to help people make more informed choices regarding all things ‘mental health’ and to support people who wish to leave, bypass, or build community beyond the mental health system.” Inner Compass is founded and directed by trailblazer Laura Delano (pictured above), who generously shares her own story of psychiatric treatment, withdrawal from psychiatric drugs, and awakening from her identity as a patient, here. She writes:

Honestly, coming off the drugs so quickly was a nightmarish experience that I’d never wish on anyone. And I am acutely aware that the circumstances of my life afforded me access to many opportunities, gifts, and resources that facilitated my departure from psychiatric patienthood. I’m also aware that many people are born into a different set of circumstances that leave them without financial stability, reliable food and shelter, access to “free” time and safe spaces in which they cry and scream and rage and curl up into a ball for as long as they need to without fear of being incarcerated or medicated against their wills, and so much more that I’d been lucky enough to have access to. So in large part, my vision for Inner Compass Initiative arose as a response to these stark realities. As I grappled with how many resources and supports I’d needed to make my way out of the mental health system, I wondered, What would an organization look like that could help people find what they truly need once they begin seeking pathways out of, detours around, and alternatives to the mental health system?

In the common mission of creating and sustaining stable, collaborative, not-for-profit alternatives to traditional mental health care, we are thrilled about the launch of the Withdrawal Project and Inner Compass Initiative.

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Visit Inner Compass Initiative and the Withdrawal Project

Photograph of Laura Delano speaking at UCLA by Bryce Carrington/Flickr

From time to time, Open Path Psychotherapy Collective features organizations with parallel missions on this blog. Open Path bears no liability for the practice of these organizations. Please refer to the featured organization’s website for complete information and full disclaimer.