Changing Our Consciousness

In The News

October 18, 2009

Sheryll Franko, independent filmmaker and director of our documentary feature How To Touch A Hot Stove™ has been honored with a 2009 Voice Award for her independent film, Crazy Enough To Care. At the 'red carpet' Hollywood ceremony, Franko's film received an Honorable Mention in the Documentary Category. Other honorees included the documentary Boy Interrupted, and episodes from television's The Mentalist, Law & Order SVU, and Greys Anatomy — good company!

The Voice Awards are sponsored by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) and honor writers and producers who have given a voice to people with mental health problems by incorporating dignified, respectful, and accurate portrayals of these individuals into film and television productions.

Learn more about Sheryll Franko>>

October 4, 2009

Filming of our documentary feature, How To Touch A Hot Stove™, has begun. How To Touch A Hot Stove™ is a project of Campaign They 'R Us™, which advocates the de-stigmatization of mental illness through an understanding of feeling and thought process differences. Our watchword is "Don't Turn Away™!"

Against the backdrop of the legacy of Chestnut Lodge, a beacon for the psychodynamic treatment of severe mental illness, we filmed a compelling series of conversations in Rockville, Maryland, with Changing Our Consciousness Founder and Director, Dr Alice L Maher. Joining Dr Maher in an informal interview setting were Joanne Greenberg, author of the autobiographical novel I Never Promised You A Rose Garden, Warren Schwartz, Psy.D., Marilyn Charles, PhD, ABPP, and her daughter Devon King, PhD,Martin Cosgro, PhD, and Ann-Louise S. Silver, MD.

Accompanying Alice Maher was the creative team of C.O.C. Communications Director Susan Dansker, filmmaker Sheryll Franko and her assistant Vanessa Laine Montesano. Reflecting our vision of the film as an organic process of exploration and discovery, rather than simply the reporting of current thinking on the de-stigmatization of mental illness, the film-making team participated in the conversations from behind and in front of the camera.

Our thanks to The International Society for the Psychological Treatments of the Schizophrenias and Other Psychoses, U.S. Chapter, for its generosity in allowing us to film at their Tenth Annual Meeting venue. ISPS promotes the humane, comprehensive, and in-depth treatment of psychotic disorders, and reaches across the boundaries of the mental health professions to integrate a psycho-bio-social approach promoting secure attachment.

Click here for behind-the-scenes photos of How To Touch A Hot Stove™, in progress>>

September 23, 2009

We congratulate our Advisory Board Member, Dr. Elyn Saks, on her selection as a 2009 MacArthur Foundation Fellow. Dr. Saks currently serves as Orrin B. Evans Professor of Law, Psychology, and Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences at the University of Southern California Gould School of Law in Los Angeles. A noted legal scholar and mental health policy advocate, Dr. Saks is the author of The Center Cannot Hold: My Journey Through Madness.

In announcing the 2009 awards, the MacArthur Foundation praised Dr Saks for "expanding the options for those suffering from severe mental illness through scholarship, practice, and policy informed by a life story that adds uncommon depth and insight." (http://www.macfound.org)

January 28, 2009

We are pleased to announce the participation of award-winning actor, John Turturro, as spokesperson for Campaign "They 'R Us™."

John Turturro has earned wide recognition for films ranging from Do the Right Thing in 1989 to The Taking of Pelham 1-2-3 In 2009, and the television series The Bronx is Burning in 2007. In 1991 Mr. Tururro won the award for Best Actor for his work in Barton Fink at the Cannes Film Festival. In 1995 he received a Golden Globe nomination for Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role for Quiz Show.