About the Treatment Advocacy CenterSince its founding in 1998, The Treatment Advocacy Center has grown to be a respected, independent voice for reforming treatment laws nationwide. We engage in a wide range of activities and projects aimed at increasing treatment for people with severe mental illness. Twenty-two states have made important changes to their civil commitment standards and treatment laws as a direct result of our advocacy since we were founded, and more progress is on the horizon. This website is designed to provide the public and policy makers with a reliable source of information about state treatment laws and family members with information and resources for helping loved ones with severe mental illness. We focus on the sub-population of people whose brain disorders are the most severe and debilitating because this group is largely under-served by the mental health advocacy community at large and is most likely to benefit from tools like assisted outpatient treatment (AOT).Treatment Advocacy CenterTAC_d3aa10e8-738e-11e4-b081-81c64a380387The Treatment Advocacy Center is a national nonprofit organization dedicated to eliminating barriers to the timely and effective treatment of severe mental illness. The organization promotes laws, policies and practices for the delivery of psychiatric care and supports the development of innovative treatments for and research into the causes of severe and persistent psychiatric illnesses, such as schizophrenia and bipolar disorder.E. Fuller Torrey, M.D.E. Fuller Torrey, M.D., is a research psychiatrist specializing in schizophrenia and bipolar disorder (also known as manic-depressive illness). He is founder of the Treatment Advocacy Center and executive director of the Stanley Medical Research Institute, which supports research on schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. He is also a professor of psychiatry at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences.From 1976 to 1985, Dr. Torrey was on the clinical staff of St. Elizabeths Hospital in Washington, D.C., where he specialized in the treatment of severe psychiatric disorders. From 1988 to 1992, Dr. Torrey directed a study of identical twins with schizophrenia and severe bipolar disorder. His work at the Stanley Medical Research Institute currently includes participating in ongoing collaborative research on viruses and other infectious agents as a cause of these diseases. He has also carried out research in Ireland and Papua New Guinea.TAC StaffDoris A. FullerExecutive DirectorJohn SnookDeputy Director for Governmental AffairsSharron DayChief of OperationsFrankie BergerSenior Policy and Legislative AdvisorHeather CarrollSenior Communications AssociateKathryn CohenLegislative and Policy CounselJamie MondicsCommunications DirectorAmy ProffittAdministrative AssociateBrian StettinPolicy DirectorTAC Board of DirectorsStephen SegalPresident -- Business ExecutiveHonorable James CayceVice President -- King County Superior Court Justice; Former Presiding Judge, King County Mental Health Court, Seattle, WashingtonFrederick J. Frese, PhDSecretary -- Former NAMI board member; Psychologist; Advocate; Hudson, OhioBarbara Boyle TorreyTreasurer -- National Academy of Sciences, retired,Washington DCChief of Police Michael BiasottiNew Windsor, New York,Immediate Past President,New York State Association of Chiefs of PoliceJeffrey Geller, MD, MPHProfessor of Psychiatry,Director of Public Sector Psychiatry, University of MassachusettsJordan HymowitzBusiness Executive,San Francisco, CaliforniaCarla JacobsBusiness Executive,Former NAMI board member, Tustin, CaliforniaH. Richard Lamb, MDEmeritus Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CaliforniaCameron "Cam" Quanbeck, MDPsychiatric Specialist - San Mateo Medical Center, San Mateo, CaliforniaJonathan Stanley, JDFort Lauderdale, FloridaGerald Tarutis, Esq.Tarutis & Baron, Inc., P.S., Seattle, WashingtonE. Fuller Torrey, MDFounder - Treatment Advocacy Center; Executive Director - Stanley Medical Research Institute, Chevy Chase, MarylandRobert H. Yolken, MDPediatrician and Director of Development Neurovirology, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MarylandTAC Psychiatric Advisory BoardDr. Michael KnableDr. Michael Knable, DO, DFAPA, is the executive director of the Sylvan C. Herman Foundation and medical director of Clearview Communities. After receiving undergraduate and medical degrees at Ohio University, he trained in psychiatry at St. Elizabeth’s Hospital, and in neurology at George Washington University Hospital. He is certified by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology.From 1992 to 1998, Dr. Knable was a clinical associate at the National Institute of Mental Health, where his research focused on severe mental illnesses. He also served as medical director or executive director of The Stanley Medical Research Institute (SMRI) from 1998-2008. Dr. Knable is the author of more than 70 publications on various aspects of neuropsychiatric disease, including Surviving Manic Depression: A Manual on Bipolar Disorder for Parents, Families and Providers.Dr. Knable currently holds several other leadership roles:* Chairman of the Department of Psychiatry at Suburban Hospital, Johns Hopkins Medicine* Assistant Clinical Professor at George Washington University* Adjunct Professor at the Uniformed Services University School of Medicine.He was recently elected as a Distinguished Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association (DFAPA) and as a member of the American College of Psychiatrists.E. Fuller Torrey, MDE. Fuller Torrey, MD, is a research psychiatrist specializing in schizophrenia and bipolar disorder (also known as manic-depressive illness). He is founder of the Treatment Advocacy Center and executive director of the Stanley Medical Research Institute, which supports research on schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. He is also a professor of psychiatry at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences.From 1976 to 1985, Dr. Torrey was on the clinical staff of St. Elizabeths Hospital in Washington, D.C., where he specialized in the treatment of severe psychiatric disorders. From 1988 to 1992, Dr. Torrey directed a study of identical twins with schizophrenia and severe bipolar disorder. His work at the Stanley Medical Research Institute currently includes participating in ongoing collaborative research on viruses and other infectious agents as a cause of these diseases. He has also carried out research in Ireland and Papua New Guinea.Dr. Torrey was educated at Princeton University (B.A., Magna Cum Laude), McGill University (MD), and Stanford University (MA in anthropology). He trained in psychiatry at Stanford University School of Medicine. He practiced general medicine in Ethiopia for two years as a Peace Corps physician, in the South Bronx in an O.E.O. Health Center, and in Alaska in the Indian Health Service. From 1970 to 1975, he was a special assistant to the Director of the National Institute of Mental Health.Dr. Torrey is a frequent expert guest on national radio and television and has written innumerable guest opinions for national and regional newspapers and magazines. He received two Commendation Medals from the U.S. Public Health Service, a 1984 Special Families Award from the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), a 1991 National Caring Award, a research award from the International Congress of Schizophrenia, a humanitarian award from NARSAD, and a 2005 tribute included in NAMI's 25th Anniversary Celebratory Donor Wall. Born in Utica, New York, in 1937, he is married with two children.Dr. Torrey has authored 20 books and more than 200 lay and professional papers. His work has been translated into Italian, Japanese, Polish, Russian, Spanish, Portuguese, Dutch, German and Chinese.John M. Davis, MDJohn M. Davis, MD, is interested in the biologic basis of major mental illness and its treatment with medication. He and his colleagues introduced the paradigm to psychiatry that major mental illness may be caused by biochemical abnormalities. His group was among the first to do studies on the pharmacodynamics and pharmacokinetics of psychotropic drugs. His educational film to teach the recognition of certain side effects to physicians won a Telly award, the equivalent of an Academy Award for education industry films. He was among the first several physicians to introduce meta-analysis as a tool to pool scientific data.He is interested in nutrition’s effect on mental and physical health, including work on how a mother’s diet during pregnancy influence a child’s intellectual capacity and mental health. As a result of this work, the FDA’s revised its guidelines for diet during pregnancy and the US Government’s changed its recommendations on nutrition. Dr. Davis is also interested in the role of nutrition in preventing heart attacks and strokes.Interests:Clinical trials, meta-analysis, biochemical and epigenetic basis of mental illness, child development, obesity, the role of nutrition in mental illness, heart attacks and strokes.Projects:The ALSPAC longitudinal study of children of the 1990s, the clinical trials program of The Stanley Medical Research Institute, a collaborative US and China investigation into the prodrome of schizophrenia.Jeffrey Lieberman, MDJeffrey Lieberman, MD, is the Lawrence C. Kolb Professor and Chairman, Department of Psychiatry, Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons; Director, New York State Psychiatric Institute; and Psychiatrist-in-Chief, New York Presbyterian Hospital- Columbia University Medical Center. His work has advanced our knowledge of the natural history, pathophysiology and treatment of schizophrenia and related psychotic disorders. This research has fundamentally contributed to our current standards of care, the development of novel therapeutic drugs and the transformative mental health care strategy for the early detection and prevention of schizophrenia.Dr. Lieberman has authored more than 500 papers and articles published in the scientific literature and written and/or edited ten books on mental illness and psychiatry. He is the recipient of many honors and awards, including the Lieber Prize for Schizophrenia Research from the Brain and Behavior Research Association, the Adolph Meyer and Research Awards from the American Psychiatric Association, the Research Award from the National Alliance on Mental Illness, and the Neuroscience Award from the International College of Neuropsychopharmaology. He is a member of numerous scientific organizations and in 2000 was elected to the National Academy of Sciences Institute of Medicine.Dr. Lieberman is the immediate past President of the American Psychiatric Association.He resides with his wife and two sons in New York City.Mark R. Munetz, MDMark R. Munetz, MD is Professor and the Margaret Clark Morgan Endowed Chair of Psychiatry at Northeast Ohio Medical University (NEOMED) and Senior Clinical Consultant of the County of Summit Alcohol, Drug Addiction and Mental Health Services Board. Dr. Munetz received his B.A. from the University of Pennsylvania and is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. Dr. Munetz was an intern in psychiatry and internal medicine at the Lafayette Clinic and Hutzel Hospital in Detroit and completed his psychiatry residency at Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic, University of Pittsburgh. He has held faculty positions at the University of Pittsburgh, University of Massachusetts, and Case Western Reserve University. Dr. Munetz has been the Director of Community Psychiatry at NEOMED since 1992. Dr. Munetz helped plan and implement the first Crisis Intervention Team training program in Ohio and was involved in the planning for the first Mental Health Courts in the state. A past president of the Ohio Psychiatric Association, Dr. Munetz has been recognized with an Exemplary Psychiatrist Award from the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI).Roger Peele, MD, DLFAPARoger Peele, MD, DLFAPA, has been in the public sector in the District [St. Elizabeths], Virginia [Northern Virginia Mental Health Institute], and has been the Chief Psychiatrist, Montgomery County since 2001. In 1972, he was directing the Anacostia Community Mental Health Center at Saint Elizabeths when that Center decided to initiate outpatient commitment instead of inpatient commitment for many who had been admitted to St. Elizabeths on an emergency basis. By the end of the 1970s, outpatient commitment had become more common than inpatient commitment at Saint Elizabeths. While a Member of the Group for Advancement of Psychiatry, he chaired a committee that wrote the book, 1994, FORCED INTO TREATMENT: THE ROLE OF COERCION IN CLINICAL PRACTICE. Should Maryland come to allow outpatient commitment, he will be striving to assure that very comprehensive care is available to all who are so committed in Montgomery County.Dr. Jody M. RawlesDr. Jody M. Rawles has been practicing medicine for 16 years. Dr. Rawles graduated from the Albany Medical College in 1998 and completed his residency in Psychiatry in 2002. He is Board Certified in Psychiatry. He has been on faculty at UC Irvine since 2002 where he specializes in acute care Psychiatry. He is currently Associate Professor and Interim Chair of the Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior at UC Irvine, School of Medicine.Dr. Rawles has been recognized for his community involvement:1. Edward Rudin Award, For Excellence in Government Affairs, from the California Psychiatric Association, 20112. Community Service Award, Orange County Mental Health Association, 2014.3. Advocacy Award, Orange County Psychiatric Association, 2014.Professional Societies: * American Psychiatric Association* California Psychiatric Association* Orange County Psychiatric SocietyAugustus John RushProfessor Augustus John Rush is an internationally-renowned clinician-scientist and mentor who has developed innovative programmes for clinical research and training in both the US and Singapore.Professor Rush’s research focus is on the development and clinical evaluation of innovative treatments for depression, bipolar and other psychiatric disorders, and on the early detection and treatment of these patients. His outstanding research achievements have garnered him numerous awards, notably the Gold Medal Award from the Society of Biological Psychiatry in 2006 and other awards from the American Psychiatric Association, the US National Alliance on Mental Illness, and the Society of Biological Psychiatry. Professor John Rush has authored close to 600 papers and 100 books and chapters; he sits on editorial boards of several leading psychiatry journals and has received numerous invitations to speak at conferences around the globe.On top of his illustrious research achievements, Professor John Rush played a pioneering and pivotal role in developing training programs for clinician-scientists at the Duke-NUS Graduate Medical School. Professor Rush joined Duke-NUS in 2008 as Vice Dean of Clinical Sciences. In 2012, Professor Rush established the Academic Medicine Research Institute and served as its inaugural Executive Director.Under his leadership, the Institute has successfully developed education, training and career development programmes to mentor and groom emerging clinician-scientists. These include the Khoo Clinical Scholars, Khoo Mentored Research Award, and the Khoo Student Research Award programmes. Professor John Rush also created the Research Seminar Programme that links third-year medical students of Duke-NUS with quantitative experts and faculty mentors for their third-year patient-oriented research projects. In the past three years, students from the Research Seminar Programme have published over 100 articles in international journals. This is an impressive achievement.Sally Satel, MDSally Satel, MD, is a practicing psychiatrist and lecturer at the Yale University School of Medicine, examines mental health policy as well as political trends in medicine. Her publications include PC, MD: How Political Correctness Is Corrupting Medicine (Basic Books, 2001); The Health Disparities Myth (AEI Press, 2006); When Altruism Isn't Enough: The Case for Compensating Organ Donors (AEI Press, 2009); and One Nation under Therapy (St. Martin's Press, 2005), coauthored with Christina Hoff Sommers. Her recent book, Brainwashed - The Seductive Appeal of Mindless Neuroscience (Basic, 2013) with Scott Lilienfeld, was a 2014 finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize in Science.Steven S. SharfsteinSteven S. Sharfstein is President and Chief Executive Officer of the Sheppard Pratt Health System, where he has worked for 21 years. He is also Clinical Professor and Vice Chair of Psychiatry at the University of Maryland. A practicing clinician for more than 30 years, he is best known for his research and writing on the economics of practice and public mental health policy. Over a period of 13 years, he held a variety of positions at the National Institute of Mental Health, including Director of Mental Health Service Programs, as well as positions in consultation/liaison psychiatry and research in behavioral medicine on the campus of the National Institutes of Health. He has written on a wide variety of clinical and economic topics and has published more than 140 professional papers, 40 book chapters, and ten books, including (as coauthor) Madness and Government: Who Cares for the Mentally Ill?: a history of the federal community mental health centers program.A graduate of Dartmouth College and the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, he trained in psychiatry at the Massachusetts Mental Health Center in Boston from 1969 to 1972. Dr. Sharfstein also received a Masters in Public Administration from the Kennedy School of Government in 1973 and a certificate from the Advanced Management Program at the Harvard Business School in 1991. He was Secretary of the American Psychiatric Association from 1991-95, its Vice President from 2002-2004, and President from 2005-2006. Dr. Sharfstein also received the Human Rights Award from the American Psychiatric Association in 2007.At times, Dr. Sharfstein takes on patients at The Retreat as an attending psychiatrist.Dr. Alan A. StoneDr. Alan A. Stone is a graduate of Harvard University and Yale Medical School. He trained in adult and child psychiatry and is a graduate of the Boston Psychoanalytic Institute. Dr. Stone is the Touroff-Glueck Professor of Law and Psychiatry in the Faculty of Law and the Faculty of Medicine, Harvard University. He has been a Guggenheim Fellow, a Fellow at the Center for Advanced Study in Behavioral Sciences, and the Tanner Lecturer at Stanford University. At Harvard, he has been a Fellow of the Interfaculty Mind Brain and Behavior Group. He served on the Board of Trustees and as President of the American Psychiatric Association. Dr. Stone is the author of several books, many book chapters, and numerous articles. His first book was The Abnormal Personality through Literature (Prentice Hall) his latest book is titled Movies and the Moral Adventure of Life (The MIT Press, 2007).Dr. John TalbottDr. John Talbott is a founding member of the Scientific Council. Dr. Talbott’s career over four decades has embraced many important subjects and causes, beginning with his influential research and writing about trauma treatment for Vietnam War veterans and the phenomenon of PTSD. In 1978, he published a groundbreaking book critiquing what he viewed as the mindless deinstitutionalization of mental health patients. He has advocated a balanced service system of hospital and community care to serve the needs of the severely and chronically mentally ill. He led commissions appointed by the American Psychiatric Association (APA) and President Jimmy Carter to investigate deinstitutionalization.As President of the APA in 1984-85, Dr. Talbott focused attention on the chronically mentally ill. He designed the State-University Collaboration Project, which sought to marry public and academic resources so that states and universities could multiply their efforts to train and recruit high-quality psychiatrists. He is currently involved in curriculum reform at the University of Maryland’s School of Medicine.Dr. Gary TsaiDr. Gary Tsai is the Medical Director of the County of Los Angeles Substance Abuse Prevention and Control, and a former APA / SAMHSA Minority Fellow. He is also the founder of Forgotten Films, a film production company focusing on social issue projects, specializing in mental health. He is the producer and co-directer of an award-winning documentary film called Voices that focuses on human and untold stories of psychosis. Having experienced the stigma and criminalization that often accompanies serious mental illness as the son of a mother with schizophrenia, Dr. Tsai is a passionate advocate for improving our mental health systems. His clinical and research interests include public psychiatry, mental health policy, early intervention for severe mental illness, addiction, cultural psychiatry, and media/technology in mental health.Stanley Medical Research InstituteThe Stanley Medical Research Institute (SMRI) is a supporting organization of The Treatment Advocacy Center._d3aa1430-738e-11e4-b081-81c64a380387To eliminate barriers to the timely and effective treatment of severe mental illness._d3aa15ac-738e-11e4-b081-81c64a380387Conflict of Interest PolicyThe Treatment Advocacy Center is funded by a host of individual donors, foundations and grants. The Treatment Advocacy Center does not accept funding from companies or entities involved in the sale, marketing or distribution of pharmaceutical products. This stance is unusual in the mental health advocacy field.Assisted TreatmentThe public's association of mental illness with violence is probably the major cause of stigma against people with mental illness. This association remains strong despite spreading awareness that mental illness is a medical condition and that violence is associated only with untreated mental illness. Therefore, the most effective way to decrease stigma is to reduce the incidence of such violent crimes. This can be done by making various forms of assisted treatment available to those whose mental illness is untreated.EducationEducate policymakers and judges about the true nature of severe brain disorders, advanced treatments available for those illnesses, and the necessity of court-ordered treatment in some cases_d3aa16ce-738e-11e4-b081-81c64a3803871PolicymakersJudges_d3aa17fa-738e-11e4-b081-81c64a380387State LawsAssist individuals who are working in their own states to promote laws that enable individuals with the most severe brain disorders to receive assisted treatment_d3aa1912-738e-11e4-b081-81c64a3803872_d3aa1a20-738e-11e4-b081-81c64a380387Innovative ApproachesPromote innovative approaches to diverting individuals with severe mental illness away from the criminal justice system and into appropriate treatment_d3aa1b4c-738e-11e4-b081-81c64a3803873_d3aa1c64-738e-11e4-b081-81c64a380387Psychiatric Services & Medication ComplianceEnsure that individuals receive adequate psychiatric services and maintain medication compliance upon release from hospitals_d3aa1d72-738e-11e4-b081-81c64a3803874_d3aa1ea8-738e-11e4-b081-81c64a380387Innovative TreatmentsSupport the development of innovative treatments for and research into the causes of severe and persistent psychiatric illnesses, such as schizophrenia and bipolar disorder_d3aa1fc0-738e-11e4-b081-81c64a3803875_d3aa20d8-738e-11e4-b081-81c64a3803872014-11-23http://www.treatmentadvocacycenter.org/about-usOwenAmburOwen.Ambur@verizon.net