Sascha Altman DuBrul

Sascha Altman DuBrul, MSW, is a writer, mental health coach, and longtime advocate for transformative approaches to mental health. In 2002, DuBrul wrote “Bipolar World,” an article published in the San Francisco Bay Guardian, relating his personal experiences being diagnosed with bipolar disorder. Shortly afterwards, at 27, he co-founded The Icarus Project, a peer-led support network and media project aimed at reshaping the language and culture around what gets called “serious mental illness.” After many years in grassroots radical mental health spaces, Sascha earned his Master’s from the Silberman School of Social Work and went on to work in the public mental health system in New York City, focusing on first-episode psychosis and peer workforce development. He served as the lead peer trainer at the Center for Practice Innovations at the New York State Psychiatric Institute from 2016-2019.

Sascha is the co-author (with Jacks McNamara) of Navigating the Space Between Brilliance and Madness (2004) and the author of Maps to the Other Side: The Adventures of a Bipolar Cartographer (2013). He currently works in private practice as is one of the founding facilitators with the Institute for the Development of Human Arts (IDHA).
He lives in Los Angeles with his partner and their twins.

Sascha believes extreme experiences often labelled as “serious mental illness” are dangerous gifts needing cultivation and care, rather than diseases or disorders, and by joining together as individuals and as a community, the intertwined threads of madness, creativity, and collaboration can inspire hope and transformation in an oppressive and damaged world.

The mission statement of the Icarus Project stated:

‘Together, we seek new space and freedom for extreme states of consciousness. We support alternatives to the medical model and acknowledge the traumatic legacy of psychiatric abuse. We recognise that we all live in a crazy world, and believe that sensitivities, visions, and inspirations are not necessarily symptoms of illness. Sometimes breakdown can be the entrance to breakthrough. We call for more options in understanding and treating emotional distress, and we respect diversity and embrace harm-reduction and self-determination in treatment decisions. Everyone is welcome, whether they support the use of psychiatric drugs or not, and whether they identify with diagnostic categories or not.”

“Sascha DuBrul is a visionary leader creating powerful new ways to narrate madness.
His insights are revolutionary and just in time.”

-Bradley Lewis, MD, PhD, Associate Professor, New York University

Sascha has a Masters in Social Work and worked from 2016-2019 as a Recovery Specialist and Trainer at Columbia’s Center for Practice Innovations at the New York State Psychiatric Institute.

Sascha is currently the Training Director for the Institute for the Development of Human Arts . He is the co-author of Navigating the Space Between Brilliance and Madness, Friends Make the Best Medicine: A Guide to Creating Community Mental Health Support Networks, and the author of Maps to the Other Side: The Adventures of a Bipolar Cartographer.

Sascha’s intellectual and creative interests lie at the intersection of the public mental heath system and the Mad Underground.