Peter Stastny Author

Coauthor of The Lives They Left Behind: Suitcases from a State Hospital Attic, Darby Penney is a national leader in the human rights movement for people with psychiatric disabilities and a former state mental health official. An experienced trainer and qualitative researcher with a background in state mental health planning, Darby has written, presented and consulted nationally and internationally on a wide range of issues concerning empowerment, inclusion, rights, and other topics. She is the President and Executive Director of the Community Consortium. Coauthor of The Lives They Left Behind: Suitcases from a State Hospital Attic, Peter Stastny is a psychiatrist and documentary filmmaker who has advocated for radical changes in the mental health system and worked on several transformative demonstration projects in New York and around the world. He has collaborated with Darby Penney and other experts-by-experience on spreading self-help and empowerment programs, spearheaded the employment of ex-patients in alternative services, and is a founder of the International Network for Alternatives and Recovery (INTAR). Peter was on the faculty of the Albert Einstein College of Medicine and Columbia University and continues to teach and work in New York City.