public policy | Center for Holistic Mental Health and Sexual Therapy

From Asylums to Prison: How to fix our broken Mental Health System

Natasha McKenna, a 37-year-old Fairfax County, Virginia woman suffering from mental illness, died in jail after being tasered by police.

The NAACP has a point that tasers should not be allowed to be used on mentally ill people, but the real issue is why Natasha was in jail and not in a treatment facility. The mentally ill have no place in jails because they need care, not incarceration. Across the nation, our prison system is the main provider of mental health care. A prison is no place for a person with mental illness.

Read morePosted by David Fishman on October 13, 2015No Comments

Sexual Behavior

Domestic Violence & The Big 4 Sports

Last week, the 2014 NFL Training Camp began for all 32 teams, but in Owings Mills, MD, the home of the Baltimore Ravens, an ugly story took center stage. The league suspended Ray Rice (Baltimore Ravens All-Pro Running Back) for 2 games for allegedly punching his fiancé, knocking her unconscious, and then dragging her out of an elevator still unconscious. Roger Goodell handed out the punishment that for many, including myself, is way too soft considering that a player smoking Marijuana (even in Denver and Seattle) is suspended for 4 games or more. In Rogers’ defense, it not just him and the NFL. Domestic violence is treated with a laissez-faire attitude despite its deadly consequences.

Read morePosted by David Fishman on August 9, 20141 Comment

Sexual Choice

States are Banning Abortion

Today, women’s health is under attack by the right wing Republicans, specifically those affiliated with the “tea party.” In the “red states,” laws are being enacted with their only real purpose to banning abortion. To subvert the US Constitution, they are making it impossible to run or open an abortion clinic in any state where these laws are being enacted. Each law uses public health regulation to create impossible standards for licenses only hospitals can live up to, even though AMA considers abortion clinics in states without these laws safe.

Read morePosted by David Fishman on June 24, 20141 Comment

Sexual Choice

Texas Republicans Vs. Common Sense: Texas Republican support for conversion therapy

Over a week ago, the State of Texas Republican Party approved a platform that included “reparative therapy” also known as conversion therapy. If you are not familiar with reparative therapy is also known as the “gay cure”. Do not let the name fool you; it’s about as therapeutic as a malignant tumor. People who are subjected to these treatments are subjected to torture. The only reason this torturous practice was included in the platform is that it is 100 percent religion based.

Read morePosted by David Fishman on June 19, 20141 Comment

Sexual Behavior

Institutions of Higher Education and Sexual Assault

The U.S. Department of Justice released a list of schools they are investigating for violations of Title 9, the law that protects women’s rights on college campuses. The investigation centers around the schools’ failure to provide a safe environment for women on campuses by not protecting women from sexual assaults on campus. Campus sexual assaults are occurring at epidemic proportions. By the time any class graduates college, 1 in 4 women will have been raped; that means 25 percent of 22-year-old women have been raped. To make matters worse, only 40 percent of these sexual assaults will be reported to authorities and only 10 percent of the crimes will lead to an arrest[1]. So what can be done to stop sexual assaults on campus?

Read morePosted by David Fishman on May 13, 2014No Comments