Roots Up

ACTION ALERT: Urgent need for letters to the MA Senate Ways & Means Committee

**Letters needed by Thursday, July 16 @ 9am**

**Send a letter and share with your networks**

tinyurl.com/S3171H4767

S.3171, An Act requiring health care employers to develop and implement programs to prevent workplace violence, has a goal we stand behind: Hold employers accountable for creating safer work environments for healthcare workers.

HOWEVER, the bill is written in a way that puts people with psychiatric histories, as well as individuals with intellectual & other disabilities at risk in the process.

The Senate will be discussing this bill in formal session on Thursday, 7/16 @ 11am, including recent proposed amendments.

WE DON'T NEED TO CHOOSE.

It's possible to support healthcare workers without harming people receiving services.

We need as many people as possible to speak up on this issue.

Some concerns include:

* An overly broad definition of assault
* Increased police powers to arrest patients without a warrant and without considering 'assaults' related to altered or extreme states, trauma responses, or self-defense responses to forced treatment.
* Lack of input from current and former patients and advocacy groups in annual assessment or training plans
* Establishment of a list of people deemed 'dangerous' that is shared inter-agency, with police, etc.
* A proposed amendment that would re-introduce a previously removed provision turning all assaults into felonies*

You will also find a letter campaign at the same link for members of the House Ways and Means. We anticipate the bill passing the Senate which will mean the House and Senate go to conference committee to establish a final version of the bill.

The House version still includes the felony provision. We are asking them to go with the Senate version instead.

*Turning assaults into felonies could result, for example, in someone in an extreme state, who is scared or confused and defending themself against a restraint, being charged with a felony that prevents them from accessing public housing and other basic needs resources for the rest of their life.

https://youtu.be/bj3JnNJS-lk?si=VuTg-aawzgA2sahO

Finally Asking the Right Kinds of Questions Questions people ask in Hearing Voices Network groups. Skills from ...

We live in a society that privileges formal, published research often to the exclusion of all else. Yet, there is no denying that this serves to uplift people with connections and money and perpetuates the marginalization of already marginalized voices. There are many ways of knowing and they all have their strengths and weak spots. Scientific research is just one example. Ancestral knowledge and community-grown knowledge built on real life experiences are some of the others. If you aren’t doing anything to recognize this and make a shift then you are part of the problem.



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On Su***de...

"I still struggle with feeling suicidal every day, but it's something I've learned how to be able to manage living with...I've gotten to this different point where i can feel that but still live and still have joy; To have the darkness and light at the same time instead of just being consumed by the darkness."

- Estelle Collins

***deprevention ***de

Image description: Apple green background with the above quote in black text and an image of Estelle along the left side (Estelle is a white woman with shoulder length pink hair, wearing glasses, a yellow beanie-style hat, a pink shirt, jeans, white sneakers and a black, knit sweater with color blocks down the front and colorful lines along the lower parts of the sleeves. Her body is turned 3/4 toward the camera and she is looking straight ahead and smiling.

Juneteenth is a day of celebration... But it is also a reminder that even when the laws on the books say one is free, it can take awareness, persistence and accountability to truly achieve liberty.



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An Introduction to the Power Threat Meaning (PTM) Framework

A trauma-informed alternative to psychiatric diagnosis with internationally recognized trainer & PTM co-developer, Jacqui Dillon

August 6, 2026, 12-3pm EDT

This is a free virtual event open to clinicians and other providers, peer supporters and anyone interested in learning more about PTM and a different way to make meaning of human experiences.

Register now at tinyurl.com/PTM086

Explore a trauma-informed alternative to psychiatric diagnosis that focuses on understanding people's experiences rather than categorizing symptoms.

The Power Threat Meaning (PTM) Framework is an alternative to psychiatric diagnosis built around four key questions:

* What happened to you?
* How did it affect you?
* What sense did you make of it?
* What did you have to do to survive?

This event represents the official launch of Roots Up's work to support the PTM Framework to grow roots in the United States.

Jacqui Dillon will be offering a webinar through Roots Up in August - Talking about The Power, Meaning, Threat Framework, which takes a nonpathologizing approach to understanding human variation, including hearing voices, seeing visions, and extreme

people Can and Do recover! Jacqui Dillon is an internationally renowned leader in the Hearing ...

We lost a Hearing Voices Movement legend last week: Co-founder and psychiatrist, Marius Romme

January 17 '1934-June 4, 2026

Marius Romme was well known over the last 40 years as a psychiatrist who reconsidered his own beliefs and education based on input from voice hearer, Patsy Hage, and became a co-founder of the Hearing Voices Movement. from there, he was responsible for co-authoring core movement texts including 'Making Sense of Voices' a topic he spoke on publicly many times. His interest in learning from voice hearers and others with similar experiences was present for the remainder of his years. His wife and fellow co-founder, Sandra Escher, died a few years prior in May of 2021. Patsy also died around the same time, leaving Marius as the only surviving co-founder until his death this month.

Memorial Service Livestream:

Thursday, June 11, 10:30am (Amsterdam time! Check worldtimebuddy.com or time in your location!)

An on-line memorial page where anyone can leave their memories or thoughts has also been established!

For on-line memorial & livestream: tinyurl.com/MariusRomme26

Self-Injury: My Why

"I used to feel like I was not quite in the world, moving through work almost invisible, like I could disintegrate in a moment. Self-injury (I used safety pins, paper clips…) brought me back into my surroundings, helped restore focus. Other times when I was alone and felt dark and numb, cutting showed me was still alive. It was not about su***de. It was about knowing it was my body and my body was alive. There were also times when the anxiety and tension was so strong self- harm would release the tension, then I could breathe again."

-Koleen

This post is a part of Roots Up's 'Project Why' project on self-injury. You can learn more about the project at rootsup.info/project-why.

If you would like to submit your why, you can do that here: tinyurl.com/WhySI26



Image description: A gray silhouette is beginning to disintegrate at the hands and lower legs in the lower left corner of the image. The background is white except for the image and a gray mottled line around the bottom and right border. The black text reads as above.