National Mental Health Consumers’ Self-Help
Clearinghouse
Technical Assistance Catalog
2014
The Clearinghouse is supported by a grant from the
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services,
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration,
Center for Mental Health Services.
National Mental Health Consumers’ Self-Help Clearinghouse
The Clearinghouse Technical Assistance Catalog
The National Mental Health Consumers’ Self-Help Clearinghouse is a national consumerrun technical assistance center. The Clearinghouse’s technical assistance services and
resources emerged to serve the national consumer movement as the first national
program of the Mental Health Association of Southeastern Pennsylvania (MHASP),
which is an advocacy, service and education association founded in 1951 to help
improve the lives of people with mental illnesses. Joseph A. Rogers, MHASP’s
President and Chief Executive Officer, started the Clearinghouse in 1986 to help foster
the growth of consumer-run self-help groups and programs throughout the nation.
Clearinghouse publications have proven to be valuable resources for individual consumers
and consumer groups. In-depth Technical Assistance Guides cover topics such as
consumer-run businesses and services, and shorter guides offer concise overviews of
such topics as starting and funding a self-help group. Each issue of our quarterly
bulletin, the Key Assistance Report, is a self-contained toolkit on an important topic.
Training materials include the Freedom Self-Advocacy Curriculum, which groups around the
country are using to teach consumers how to better advocate for themselves. In addition
to our own publications, the Clearinghouse also maintains an extensive library of
information on mental health topics. If you are looking for information on a specific topic,
we can help by providing technical assistance in person, by phone, or by e-mail. Let us
know how we can help!
To place an order from this catalog: call us, e-mail us, or send us the order form by mail or
fax. Additional order forms are available by request or can be downloaded from our
Web site. Our staff is also available to answer questions you have about our services
and resources.
National Mental Health Consumers' Self-Help Clearinghouse
1211 Chestnut Street, Suite 1207
Philadelphia, PA 19107
Phone: 267-507-3810
Toll-Free: 800-553-4539
Fax: 215-636-6312
Email: info@mhselfhelp.org
Web site: www.mhselfhelp.org
The Clearinghouse is supported by a grant from the U.S. Department of Health and Human
Services, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, Center for
Mental Health Services.
Knowledge is the key to open new doors
National Mental Health Consumers’ Self-Help Clearinghouse
Technical Assistance Guides
Clearinghouse Technical Assistance Guides are designed to meet the needs of individual
consumers and consumer-run businesses and services. Each of our in-depth guides
contains detailed and useful information and is based on extensive research. Our basic
guides provide concise introductions to topics of importance to consumers. Copies of
the guides can be mailed to you at no charge, and many of the guides are also available
to print from our website. We ask that you request a maximum of three free guides at
one time.
Self-Advocacy
As consumers, we must advocate for ourselves in order to protect our rights and get the
services that we need. This detailed guide, which was developed in conjunction with the
Freedom Self-Advocacy Curriculum, offers inspiration and advice. Selected Contents:
Being Assertive · Identifying Your Rights · Breaking Down a Problem · Developing a
Solution · Advocacy on the Telephone · Sample Letters · Holding a Successful Meeting.
39 pp., 8 1/2 x 11.
Serving on a Board or Committee
As the consumer movement grows, more and more consumers are finding opportunities to
serve on boards and committees, where they can truly impact mental health policy. This
technical assistance guide explains how to become an effective member of a board or
committee. Selected Contents: Understanding Boards and Committees · The
Importance of Consumer Involvement · The Nomination and Application Process ·
Knowing the Unwritten Rules. 22 pp., 8 1/2 x 11.
Consumer-run Businesses and Services
Consumers have started a wide array of nonprofit and for-profit businesses and services.
This detailed guide covers planning and operational issues, with special emphasis on
services for consumers. Selected Contents: Developing a Business Plan · Incorporation
· Affiliation · Obtaining Funding · Building a Board of Directors · Financial Management
and Budgeting · Marketing · Using the Press · Core Values · Staff Development ·
Sample Bylaws · Sample Budget. 70 pp., 8 1/2 x 11.
Systems Advocacy
The consumer movement has helped shape policy at the local, state, and national levels.
This detailed guide provides an overview of important mental health issues and tactics
for influencing policy, as well as a workbook for tracking political contacts. Selected
Contents: The Healthcare System · State Legislatures · Federal Government · Writing
Letters · Effective Meetings · Using the Media · Coalition-Building. 43 pp., 8 1/2 x 11.
Knowledge is the key to open new doors
National Mental Health Consumers’ Self-Help Clearinghouse
Technical Assistance Guides
The Art & Science of Writing Proposals That Win
Funding is absolutely essential for self-help groups to grow into sophisticated consumer-run
services. This detailed guide explains how to write a grant proposal to obtain public or
private grant money. Selected Contents: Basic Elements of a Proposal · Fiscal
Sponsorship · Budgeting · Supporting Documents · Identifying Funding Sources ·
Sample Budget · Sample Request for Letters of Support · Sample Proposal. 42 pp.,
8 1/2 x 11.
Starting a Self-Help/Advocacy Group
All around the country, consumers have started self-help/advocacy groups. This basic guide
explains how you can set up a simple but effective peer support group. 9 pp., 8 1/2 x 11.
History of the Consumer Movement
This basic guide traces the growth of the movement from its beginnings to the present-day
development of sophisticated self-help and advocacy groups. 4 pp., 8 1/2 x 11.
Organizing and Operating a Speakers’ Bureau
Throughout the nation, consumers have joined together to form speakers’ bureaus, which
educate the public about mental health issues. This basic guide explains how. 11 pp.,
5 1/2 x 8 1/2
Raising Money for a Self-Help/Advocacy Group
As your self-help/advocacy group grows, you will need to raise money so that you can reach
your goals. This basic guide offers proven strategies. 9 pp., 8 1/2 x 11.
How to Use the Media to Fight Stigma and Discrimination
This basic guide outlines public relations strategies for countering the stigma that we
consumers face in society, in the media, at work, and within the mental health system.
English version: 11 pp., 8 1/2 x 11.
Spanish version (Combatiendo El Estigma): 8 pp., 8 1/2 x 11.
Knowledge is the key to open new doors
National Mental Health Consumers’ Self-Help Clearinghouse
The Clearinghouse Library
In addition to its publications, the Clearinghouse maintains an electronic library of materials
collected from a variety of sources. The library includes websites, research and news
articles, informational brochures, consumer publications, and other information collected
in providing technical assistance to consumers and organizations around the nation.
While we no longer send out printed information by mail, there is a great deal of information
on the Clearinghouse website, at the following link:
http://mhselfhelp.squarespace.com/res-idx
Contact us by phone for more information: 1-800-553-4539.
Stay current!
People around the nation have long relied on the Clearinghouse as a source of information
on current issues, presented from a consumer perspective. Through its electronic and
print publications, the Clearinghouse keeps the consumer movement abreast of current
trends and provides valuable technical assistance to individuals and groups working to
improve mental health services.
Key Assistance Report
The Key Assistance Report is a quarterly bulletin covering timely technical assistance
topics. Each issue stands on its own as a concise toolkit on a specific topic, providing an
overview of the topic and its importance to mental health consumers, a page of practical
tips, and a list of additional resources. Its four-page format lends itself especially well to
photocopying for use in training workshops, or sharing with self-help group members or
a program’s clients. Past topics include LGBTQI consumers, certified peer specialists,
forensic issues, and rural issues.
Key Update
The Key Update, our monthly e-newsletter, provides timely news and notes on important
mental health issues, offering information about upcoming events, recent publications,
and policy issues. Topics include self-advocacy and self-care, community integration,
consumer-run organizations, self-help groups, human rights, older adults, and mental
health treatments and services. You’ll generally receive one fact-filled message per
month. To keep you on top of urgent matters, you’ll occasionally receive an
announcement between issues of the Key Update.
Subscribe at www.mhselfhelp.org. You can also subscribe by calling the Self-Help
Clearinghouse at (800) 553-4539 from 9 AM to 5 PM Monday through Friday, Eastern
Standard Time.
www.mhselfhelp.org
Knowledge is the key to open new doors
National Mental Health Consumers’ Self-Help Clearinghouse
Join the thousands of people who visit our Web site each month for the latest in consumer
technical assistance. You’ll find up-to-the minute information about grant opportunities,
new resources for consumers, job opportunities, conferences and special events, calls
for papers, and much more. To keep you connected to the consumer movement, you’ll
also find links to statewide consumer organizations and national organizations.
The Clearinghouse Web site also serves as a searchable library of technical assistance
materials, including our technical assistance guides, newsletter archives, and resources
that are not available anywhere else.
Featured Technical Assistance
Self-Help Toolkit
We frequently get requests for information about starting and running self-help groups. The
Self-Help Toolkit is a set of materials that can be used to build a self-help group. The
Toolkit includes two of our technical assistance guides and a packet of resource lists and
planning samples. It includes:
 Starting a Self-Help/Advocacy Group
 Raising Money for Your Self-Help Group
National Summit of Mental Health Consumers and Survivors
In August 1999, the Clearinghouse organized the National Summit of Mental Health
Consumers and Survivors in Portland, Oregon, with the help of co-sponsors from around
the country. Its goal was to develop consensus around the issues of greatest concern to
consumers and survivors and to develop action plans for future work. The unifying
principle was the construction of a platform from which the consumer/survivor movement
can influence national policy. The Summit documents include detailed background
papers and reports developed by people who participated in the 12 individual groups
listed below:
Advocacy
Alternative Services
Community Supports
Financing
Force and Coercion
Forensic Issues
Multicultural Issues
Organization
Recovery
Research
Social Accountability
Stigma and Discrimination
Increase Consumer Involvement in Conferences
The Clearinghouse has developed a supportive service model tailored to mental health
consumers and the challenges they face in attending state, regional, and national
conferences. Combining clinically trained support staff with quiet spaces modeled after
the drop-in centers many consumers rely on for peer support in their communities, these
services increase the comfort level and lower the stress of consumers and conference
planners alike. Consumers who feel comfortable at conferences can learn more from
workshops and are better able to advocate for themselves during conference
discussions. Ask us for advice on how you can replicate these services at your next
conference.
Back issues are available!
Past issues of the Key Assistance Report and its predecessor, The Key, provide valuable
technical assistance on critical issues such as police crisis intervention training, reducing
Knowledge is the key to open new doors
National Mental Health Consumers’ Self-Help Clearinghouse
the use of seclusion and restraints, Medicaid managed care contracting, and consumer
involvement in state Olmstead planning. For a complete list of articles that have
appeared in these publications, visit our Web site or call us. You can also read selected
back issues on our Web site.
Training Materials and Onsite Technical Assistance
The Freedom Self-Advocacy Curriculum
Self-advocacy is absolutely essential for mental health consumers. It helps us to get the
services we need and to protect our rights. The three Freedom Self-Advocacy
Workshops use fun activities such as role-plays and group discussion to teach
consumers the attitudes, skills, and knowledge that they need to advocate for
themselves. Activities are based on scenarios such as:






Discussing medications with a healthcare provider
Accessing medical records
Appealing managed care treatment denials
Reporting housing discrimination
Changing healthcare providers
Returning to work
The best thing about the Freedom Workshops is that you can learn to teach them to
consumers in your community. The complete curriculum includes a teacher’s guide,
students’ guide, and handouts. It is available online or by mail, for free. Order or
download the workshop materials to conduct the workshops on your own, or call us to
discuss arrangements for a Clearinghouse staff trainer to either conduct the three
workshops or train your staff to teach the workshops: 1-800-553-4539.
Targeted Technical Assistance
As a national technical assistance center, the Clearinghouse and its network of consultants
can provide technical assistance targeted to your organization’s specific needs. Among
the topics on which we routinely provide technical assistance and training are:











Planning and designing consumer-run services
Writing grant proposals
Developing and managing a budget
Understanding outcomes measurement and evaluation
Maintaining a consumer-friendly workplace
Publicity and working with the press
Understanding mental health issues at the federal level
Coalition building and organization
Training peer advocates
Serving effectively on boards and committees
Developing community supports, including housing and transportation
Call us to discuss how we can meet your organization’s technical assistance needs:
1-800-553-4539.
Knowledge is the key to open new doors
National Mental Health Consumers’ Self-Help Clearinghouse
Order form
Qty.
Annual Subscription to the Key Assistance Report
Technical Assistance Guides


Self-Advocacy
Serving on a Board or Committee


Consumer-run Businesses and Services
Systems Advocacy

The Art & Science of Writing Proposals That Win

Starting a Self-Help/Advocacy Group

History of the Consumer Movement

Organizing and Operating a Speakers’ Bureau

Raising Money for A Self-Help/Advocacy Group

How to Use the Media to Fight Stigma and Discrimination

Combatiendo El Estigma
Library Files (Please Specify)
1.
2.
3.
Self-Help Toolkit
National Summit Documents
Freedom Self-Advocacy Curriculum
Total Quantity:
Name
Organization
Address
City/State/ZIP
Phone
E-mail
Is this your home address, business address, or both?
Knowledge is the key to open new doors