Bay Area Radical Mental Health Collective Cafe Nights!

Sunday, January 8, 7pm : Join us for the film "Asylum" and speaker Elazar Friedman

“In 1971, filmmaker Peter Robinson and a small crew entered a world of anarchic madness and healing compassion unlike any other. The resulting film, Asylum, records their seven week stay in radical psychiatrist R. D. Laing’s controversial Archway Community -- a London row-house where the inmates literally run the asylum. Laing’s conviction that schizophrenics can only heal their shattered ‘self’ where they’re free and yet are held responsible for their actions, challenged patients, doctors and, in Asylum’s incredible document, the filmmakers, to live communally and peacefully.”
(The New York Times)

The film will be followed bya presentation and discussion facilitated by Elazar Friedman who was a member of a Laing commune in this country, and will share his experiences with us.


Sunday, February 12, 7pm : Join us for a Workshop on Radical Love with Wendy-O Matik
author of Redefining Our Relationships: Guidelines for Responsible Open Relationships

“At a time when our nation is determined to keep us on the warpath, what better time to raise our voices against intolerance, hatred, and violence? At a time when our government propels us into a new dark age of fascism, what better time to talk about radical love, or the right to love who we want, how we want, and as many as we want? Loving openly and freely in these times, whether you are straight or queer, is a brave political act. We have been conditioned by outdated social norms that limit our perceptions and shackle us to unhealthy cycles of dissatisfying relationships. Yet we also live in a time when we can choose our gender and redefine our sexual identities. Don’t we then have the right to decide what kind of relationship best suits our lifestyle? Declare yourself a revolutionary of the heart. Find out how you can expand your potential to love, transform your lifestyle, and together we can threaten the social forces of patriarchy!”
http://www.wendyomatik.com