Category: Contributors

Espen is passionate for art and creative media. Five years of film studies, including bachelor from INN University – Lillehammer. Interested in having sensitive or taboo topics be more open for communication.

Eivind M. Nordengen (1991) is the festival director of The Amandus Film Festival and Amandus Blikkfang in Lillehammer. He has worked in film communication for almost 15 years, first as head of the Lillehammer Film Club and later with the Norwegian Student Film Festival, before joining Amandus. He holds a master’s degree in Film and…

Beatrice Birch, executive director, and founder of Inner Fire, is a Hauschka Artistic Therapist and has worked in integrative clinics, rehabilitation centers and prisons in England, Holland and the USA. Her approach calls upon the whole human being: body, soul and spirit. Beatrice’s belief in the creative human spirit and the choice to be proactive…

Marcello Macario is a psychiatrist who has worked in Community Mental Health Centers of the Italian NHS from 1987 to 2025. He was one of the founders of the Italian Hearing Voices Network (www.intervoiceitalia.it) and is very much involved in introducing the Open Dialogue approach in the public services, especially for young people. He’s also…

Ragnfrid Kogstad is a sociologist and professor in mental health care at the Inland University, Norway, with a doctoral degree from the faculty of clinical medicine. Her main research areas include environmentally oriented healthcare, nature-based services, mental health and human rights. In cooperation with the user organization Mental Health Norway, she established the national competence…

Kjellaug is a singer-songwriter with a degree in odontology.   Her songs primarily come to her when life needs some processing and after going through rough patches.   For twenty years, Kjellaug has worked as a dentist and clinic owner while raising two children. At times, these demands pushed her to exhaustion and ultimately led her to…

Olga Runciman is the first and only psychologist in Denmark with a private practice specializing in extreme states. She is a teacher, international speaker, writer, activist, and photographer. She co-founded the Danish Hearing Voices Network and the International Institute for Psychiatric Drug Withdrawal. In addition, she serves on the boards of various organizations, including Intervoice,…

Jimmy Ruben Sylow Westerheim is the founder of The Human Aspect Foundation, which is behind the Life Experience Library. He grew up in a small village in Hurum, where he felt alienated and ended up as a suicidal 13-year-old struggling to find hope. From a decisive turning point he found a new direction in life,…

Dainius Pūras is a professor of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and teaches at the Faculty of Medicine, Institute of International Relations and Political Science and Faculty of Philosophy of Vilnius University, Lithuania. He is also a visiting Professor at the University of Essex, United Kingdom, and a Distinguished Visitor with the O’Neill Institute for National…

Alan Robinson was born in 1977; he lives in Argentina and works as an author, teacher, and speaker. He is dedicated to writing, publishing, and selling his books. He writes in a wide variety of genres, including humor, crime fiction, theater, and essays. His fiction explores universal human experiences related to neurodivergent characters. His essay…

Johanna Södermark is a poet and singer-songwriter, an artist, therapist and guide in creative, relational exploration of life. She is also a survivor and healer of the emergence and emergency of her deep soul through bipolar psychoses, mania and a deep sense of disconnection to a system that was failing her longing for flowing and…

(they/she)  Trainer, LGBTQIA+ community organizer, social artist. Cait was a professional soccer player before turning to embodied movements from the pitch as tools for somatic activism focused on team, healing justice and community mental health. Cait’s work involves developing team orientations of movement and exploring processes of deceleration with technologies of mutual care. Cait is…

Raffaella Pocobello, PhD in Clinical Psychology, is a researcher at the National Research Council of Italy in Rome, where she coordinates the CaRe Lab (Capabilities and Relational Practice in Mental Health). She lectures at Sigmund Freud University in Vienna and is an Open Dialogue trainer and supervisor. Her work focuses on dialogical and community-based approaches…

Gretchen LeFever Watson, Ph.D., is a pediatric and licensed clinical psychologist with extensive expertise in public health and patient safety. Her work has focused on improving the mental health of children and young adults. She has held clinical, research, and leadership positions in academic medical centers, public health programs, and community based initiatives, with a…

Co-Director/Producer, Medicating Normal Executive Director, Periscope Foundation Since the release of her film Medicating Normal on PBS, Amazon, and YouTube in 2022, Lynn Cunningham has dedicated herself to raising public awareness about the medicalization of distress and the importance of informed consent. Through film screenings and related outreach, she works to help patients, families, and medical professionals…

Director of The Art of Living Lydia Diana Kok is a 24-year old documentary director. She finished her bachelor’s degree at the Norwegian Television School in 2025, and has since then been working at Fabelaktiv, a production company located in Hamar. In her work she wants to portray what it means to be human, with life’s ups and downs,…

Monica Strømland works as an Associate Professor at the University of Agder, at the Department of Psychosocial Health, where her daily work includes teaching, research, and supervising students on topics such as ethics, legislation and organization in the health sector, research ethics, and the development of research projects, as well as master’s theses in psychosocial…

Jo Watson is a psychotherapist, writer and activist who, in 2016, had had enough of the pathologising of normal human experience and decided to do something about it. She approached Lucy Johnstone and together they hosted the first A Disorder for Everyone event, challenging the culture of diagnosis and disorder. Adisorder4everyone.com Ten years and more…

MD, MPH Vegard Høgli has more than 40 years of experience in various public health positions, including as a county medical officer, Head of section for Service Development and Coordination at a regional health authority, co-founder of a foundation for quality improvement in social and health services, and chief medical officer for a major city…

Magnus P.  Hald is a psychiatrist. For ten years until 2018 he was Director of the Division of Mental Health and Substance Abuse, University Hospital of North Norway. He has long been interested in the development of a network-oriented perspective on mental health, based on ideas that have come from his working with “reflecting teams” and…

Christine Aastrup Nyquist is a psychologist specializing in clinical adult psychology. Since 2016, she has been involved in the establishment and development of The Medication Free Treatment Unit (now renamed The Recovery Unit) at the University Hospital of Northern Norway (UNN) in Tromsø, and has been the section leader for this service since 2021. She…

Tore Ødegård is a psychiatric nurse. Since the fall of 2016, he has been employed as a professional mental health developer at The Medication Free Treatment Unit (now renamed The Recovery Unit) at the University Hospital of North Norway (UNN) in Tromsø and has been part of the management team at the unit. He is…

Hilde Marie Rekstad is the author of the book «Otherwise, You’re on Your Own. When Emotions Are Treated as Illness». The book reflects on how limited a biomedical psychiatric perspective is when applied to real life, and thus how potentially misleading and life-threatening treatment can become. The story consequently took the form of a thriller.…

Nina is a mother of three and lived outside London when she lost her youngest son to suicide in 2016. She then became deputy director of a medium-sized voluntary organisation in the UK working on suicide prevention among young people (www.papyrus-uk.org), where she set up the London branch and led suicide prevention efforts in the…

Producer of Drunk On Too Much Life Pedro Orrego, he/him, is a Canadian-Chilean filmmaker, producer, and story-editor based in Toronto.  Pedro is an accomplished and award-winning story editor and producer who has worked for some of the most prominent production companies, networks, and shows in Canada and the U.S.A. including the Discovery Channel, HGTV, the History…

Director of Drunk On Too Much Life Michelle Melles, she/her, is a Canadian-American filmmaker, director, producer, and story editor based in Toronto. A passionate advocate for exploring the intersection of personal stories and societal issues, Michelle harnesses the transformative power of documentary storytelling to challenge norms and inspire change. With over 20 years of experience…

Stina Greaker is Head of Department at the Norwegian Film and Television School (TV-skolen) at the Inland Norway University of Applied Sciences (INN University), a position she has held since September 2024. She brings to academia an extensive background from the Norwegian television and media industry, spanning more than three decades as a producer, executive…

Morten has shot, directed and edited the documentary “Life after you”. He has a long and varied career in Norwegian television. Morten has worked extensively as an editor for various TV programs as well as a video journalist, writer and director. He has run his own department in the production company Kubrix for the last…

Marius Lucas Strøm Pettersen is the Chair of Erfaringssentrum, a national organization representing peer support workers and the use of lived experience within mental health, addiction and recovery work. Having personally struggled with suicidal thoughts and suicide attempts, he has worked his way back to stability and now uses his experiences to advocate for hope,…

Dr Cathy Wield was born in India, to a diplomat’s family. She lost 16 years of her medical career as an emergency physician when she acquired a psychiatric diagnosis and uses these experiences as a writer, speaker and ‘mental health’ advocate. She is also a grandmother, a volunteer Patient Safety Partner for NHS England, and…

PhD, licensed psychotherapist and social worker. Carina funded Familjevårdsstiftelsen in 1987 where she was in charge until 2015. Together with a former collegue she hosted the International filmfestival Driving us Crazy in 2015, which was inspired by the Mad in America film festival.  Carina and Robert Whitaker funded International Institute for Psychiatric Drug Withdrawal in…

Editor Mad in Brasil PAULO DUARTE DE CARVALHO AMARANTE. Psychiatrist. Master’s degree in Social Medicine from the Institute of Social Medicine at UERJ. Ph.D. in Public Health from Fiocruz. Professor and Senior Researcher (retired) at the Laboratory of Studies and Research in Mental Health (LAPS/ENSP/Fiocruz) and Mental Health Coordinator at the Center for Strategic Studies…

Janus Bang. MA is a historian, an award-winning Danish filmmaker, and the programme producer of the Broken Medical Science, film and interview channel Deputy Director of the Institute for Scientific Freedom. 

DrMedSci, MD, MSc Professor Peter C. Gøtzsche graduated as a Master of Science in biology and chemistry in 1974 and as a physician 1984. He is a specialist in internal medicine; worked with clinical trials and regulatory affairs in the drug industry 1975-1983, and at hospitals in Copenhagen 1984-95. Co-founded the Cochrane Collaboration (the founder…

Producer/director of «Emotional CPR Awakens Our Hearts» Maggie is the founder/director of Families in Trauma and Recovery, a non profit set up to support family members navigating trauma and the feeling they had lost hope. The motivation was Maggie’s own personal experiences and feeling there was not enough support, especially in non-clinical settings. Due to…

The filmmaker behind “The Pill That Steals Lives” Katinka Blackford Newman is a London-based life coach, journalist and award-winning documentary filmmaker. With over 25 years’ experience, she has directed films for broadcasters including the BBC, Channel 4, HBO Max, Discovery and National Geographic, and is known for telling deeply human, character-led stories. The film being…

Director Diagnonsense Ane-Martha Tamnes Hansgård is a 41-year-old director. She works as the head of the film production company Mattima Films, based in Mo i Rana. With a background in both dance and the performing arts, as well as training as a documentary filmmaker, she seeks to convey important messages across various creative forms of…

Mette is the leader of the survivor organization WSO—We Shall Overcome. Her work focuses primarily on abuse and violations in the psychiatric system, and on the need for fundamental changes in power dynamics within both legislation and service provision. She has worked on human rights issues both nationally and internationally and was one of the…

Inger-Mari Eidsvik has been pursuing a legal case against the Norwegian state for human rights violations within the mental health care system, a case that has been ongoing for many years. In January 2026, the court ruled that Inger-Mari Eidsvik’s rights under the European Convention on Human Rights had been violated in connection with forced…

Recovery From Mental Illness and Becoming a Commissioner – Dan is a person who has recovered from schizophrenia. He was hospitalized several times prior to becoming a psychiatrist. He is one of the few psychiatrists in the country who publicly discusses his recovery from mental illness. He is a role model for others who are struggling…

Director The Recovery Channel Ellen Ugelstad is a Norwegian filmmaker and founder of the Oslo-based production company Twentyone Pictures. She holds a BFA from the Academy of Art University in San Francisco and studied philosophy and anthropology at the University of Oslo before moving to California. Ugelstad is dedicated to pioneering artistic innovation, exploring new…

Espen Gade Rolland, RN, MNSc, is President of the Norwegian Nurses Organisation’sProfessional Group for Mental Health and Addiction (NNO‑SPoR) and an Associate Professorat Lovisenberg Diaconal University College in Oslo. He is an ICN‑certified Global NurseConsultant (CGNC) and a Fellow of the American Academy of Nursing (FAAN).In October 2025, Rolland was formally inducted as a Fellow…

Karin Jervert is a teaching artist, writer, and Mad Pride activist. Founder of the Woodland Sunflower Collective, Karin’s work centers on offering a non-pathologizing approach to living with and finding the gifts of diverse consciousness, visionary states, clairvoyant, and clairaudient experiences. After working in the non-profit arts sector in New Jersey, USA for 15 years, she…

Claudia Esteve is a strong advocate for the healing power of family, community, and human connection. She believes that mental illness continues to be deeply misunderstood and stigmatized, and that the prevailing medical model of diagnosis and treatment often exacerbates rather than alleviates suffering. She serves as a board member of Mad in America (USA)…

Director In Love with Craziness Melanie Ekholdt is a creative psychiatrist and filmmaker.  As a medical student Melanie often brought along her video camera to explore life, both in the real world and the world of imagination.As a young mother and a young medical doctor,  she had to set her video camera aside. Then in 2015,…

Dr Lucy Johnstone is a consultant clinical psychologist, author of ‘Users and abusers of psychiatry’ (3rd edition Routledge 2021) and ‘A straight-talking guide to psychiatric diagnosis’ (PCCS Books, 2nd edition 2022); co-editor of ‘Formulation in psychology and psychotherapy: making sense of people’s problems’ (Routledge, 2nd edition 2013); and co-author of ‘A straight talking introduction to…

Founder and publisher of Mad in America Robert Whitaker is an American journalist and author who has won numerous awards as a journalist covering medicine and science, including the George Polk Award for Medical Writing and a National Association for Science Writers’ Award for best magazine article. In 1998, he co-wrote a series on psychiatric research…

Editor-in chief of Mad in Norway Birgit holds a degree in psychology from NTNU and is a specialist in clinical psychology (children and adolescents). She has had an interest in feedback throughout her career and has taught Feedback-Informed Services (FIT) since 2006. She also has extensive experience giving lectures and teaching at conferences and seminars…