The Scourge of Biopsychiatry: Its Nature, Ecology, and Impact, and What Are We Going to Do About It?

The presenters will define “biopsychiatry” and the “biopsychiatric belief system" (BBS), describing ways in which both biopsychiatry and the BBS can be harmful to people. Examples include depriving people of the opportunity to get to know themselves and to begin developing a good relationship with themselves, as well as disempowering people by taking away agency. By locating mental health conditions inside the individual and calling them "illnesses," the BBS obfuscates the harm that is done by social forces, cultural myths, and various forms of “othering.” The presenters will describe the hist...Read moreorical, cultural and psychological forces behind biopsychiatry and the BBS. Finally, in breakout groups of 3 or 4 participants, attendees will have an opportunity to discuss what they have heard from the presenters and what it means for their lives and practices. Participants will be encouraged to identify areas of agreement and disagreement with the critical perspective the presenters provide and also to discuss suggestions for modifying clinical practice to foster agency and empowerment. Less...

Learning Objectives

Define biosychiatry and the Biopsychiatric Belief System (BBS).
Identify the historical, cultural and psychological forces behind biopsychiatry and the BBS.
Describe various approaches to counteracting biopsychiatry and the BBS.

Target Audience

This educational activity is intended for behavioral health professionals, including Psychologists, Social Workers, Counselors, and MFT's.

Saturday, June 28, 2025

Live Interactive Webinar

12:00 PM EDT - 02:00 PM EDT

EARN 2 CE Credit Hours

About the speakers

Al Galves, PhD

Psychologist in private practice

Dr. Galves is a psychotherapist in Las Cruces, New Mexico. He has worked as a psychotherapist in community mental health centers, in health clinics, and as a school psychologist in public schools. He is the President of MindFreedom International and the author of Harness Your Dark Side: Mastering Jealousy, Rage, Frustration and Other Negative Emotions. Dr. Galves was the ISEPP Executive Director from 2011 to 2013.

Joe Tarantolo, M.D.

Psychiatrist in private practice

Dr. Tarantolo has been in the private practice of psychiatry for over 40 years. He discovered the uselessness of antidepressants in 1987, therefore edging him on to help wean patients off of psychiatric drugs. He’s been an expert witness for plaintiffs who have had family members with antidepressant induced suicide. He’s written a psychological study of why doctors prescribe useless and dangerous drugs such as neuroleptics. He made a cameo appearance in the film "Thank you For Your Service" explaining the need for national grieving over the moral injury of war. He has explained that PTSD is a political diagnosis.

David Walker, Ph.D.

Psychologist, Author of Coyote's Swing: A Memoir and Critique of Mental Hygiene In Native America

Dr. David Edward Walker accepted a position as sole professional psychologist serving the Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama Nation with the Indian Health Service in 2000 and relocated with his family to central Washington. Over the years, David has developed his own scholarship on a lesser-known perpetrator of cultural oppression in Native America — the U.S. mental health movement itself. He first began seeing the fruits of this system's troubling history in his everyday work. For example, some Native youth and young adults felt convinced their lack of success in school and other places came from an underlying genetic inferiority, being "born Indian," an internalized racism traceable to the biases of psychologists working in American Indian boarding schools in the first half of the twentieth century. Coyote's Swing: A Memoir & Critique of Mental Hygiene in Native America (Washington State University Press, 2023) is his first nonfiction book, and the only comprehensive history and critique of the U.S. mental health system in Indian Country.

CE Information - Earn 2 CE Credit Hours

CE Approvals

New York State Education Department's State Board for Social Work

CE Learning Systems SW CPE is recognized by the New York State Education Department's State Board for Social Work as an approved provider of continuing education for licensed social workers #0060.

New York Education Department for Licensed Mental Health Counselors

CE Learning Systems, LLC is recognized by the New York State Education Department's State Board for Mental Health Practitioners as an approved provider of continuing education for licensed mental health counselors. #MHC-0072.

New York State Education Department's State Board for Marriage and Family Therapy

CE Learning Systems dba CE-Credit.com & AddictionCounselorCE.com is recognized by the New York State Education Department's State Board for Marriage and Family Therapy as an approved provider of continuing education for licensed marriage and family therapists #MFT-0045.

Joint Accreditation

In support of improving patient care, CE Learning Systems is jointly accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME), the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE), and the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC), to provide continuing education for the healthcare team.

American Psychological Association

Continuing Education (CE) credits for psychologists are provided through the co-sponsorship of the American Psychological Association (APA) Office of Continuing Education in Psychology (CEP). The APA CEP office maintains responsibility for the content of the programs.

New York State Education Department's State Board for Psychology (NYSEDPSY)

CE Learning Systems dba CE-Credit.com & AddictionCounselorCE.com is recognized by the New York State Education Department's State Board for Psychology as an approved provider of continuing education for licensed psychologists #PSY-0016.

CE Process Info

Each professional is responsible for the individual requirements as stipulated by his/her licensing agency. Please contact your individual licensing board/regulatory agency to review continuing education requirements for licensure renewal. Please note: You must attend "live" (in real-time) for the duration of the training to earn CE credits.

After the event, you will receive access to your evaluation and continuing education certificate via a personalized "attendee dashboard" link, hosted on the CE-Go website. This link will be sent to the email account you used to register for the event.

Upon accessing the CE-Go "attendee dashboard", you will be able to:

Complete evaluation forms for the event
Download your continuing education certificate in a PDF format

If you have any questions or concerns regarding the CE-Go platform, please contact CE-Go at 888-498-5578 or by email at support@ce-go.com Please Note: Emails for this event will come from "support@ce-go.com".

If you have any continuing education related questions, please contact your event organizer.

Please make sure to check your spam/junk folder in case those emails get "stuck". We'd also suggest "Allowlisting" support@ce-go.com. This tells your email client that you know this sender and trust them, which will keep emails from this contact at the top of your inbox and out of the junk folder.

Disclosure

DISCLOSURE OF RELEVANT FINANCIAL RELATIONSHIPS
CE Learning Systems adheres to the ACCME’s Standards for Integrity and Independence in Accredited Continuing Medical Education. Any individuals in a position to control the content of a CE activity ― including faculty, planners, reviewers, or others ― are required to disclose all relevant financial relationships with ineligible entities (formerly known as commercial interests).

The following relevant financial relationships have been disclosed by this activity’s planners, faculty, and the reviewer:

PLANNERS AND REVIEWER
The planners of this activity have reported that they have no relevant financial relationships.

FACULTY
The faculty of this activity have reported that they have no relevant financial relationships.