​About the Event

​Join us for a live conversation between Lucy Johnstone, clinical psychologist and lead author, along with Professor Mary Boyle, of the Power Threat Meaning (PTM) Framework, and Dr. Mark Horowitz, co-founder of Outro Health and lead author of the Maudsley Deprescribing Guidelines.

Together, they will explore the Power Threat Meaning Framework (PTMF) as a compelling alternative to traditional, diagnosis-based models of emotional distress. Dr. Johnstone will describe how the unevidenced medical model can impose limiting or harmful assumptions, often leading to inappropriate and harmful use of psychiatric drugs. In contrast, the PTMF, co-produced with users of mental health services, emphasises meaning-making, context, and agency. Rather than framing people as “ill” or “deficient,” the PTMF invites people to develop more hopeful and compassionate narratives about their experiences. It has attracted widespread interest across the UK and further afield, and is now available in 6 languages.

This is an exploratory conversation between two clinicians who are challenging outdated and misguided norms, and an opportunity to consider different ways of understanding emotional distress and finding new ways forward.

Together, they’ll explore:

• ​What the Power Threat Meaning Framework is, and how it differs from the psychiatric diagnostic model

• ​How psychiatric labels can contribute to stigma, disempowerment, and over-prescription of drugs

• ​How the PTMF can help people reframe their stories in terms of meanings, strengths, and survival

• ​How the PTMF is supporting more humane and hopeful approaches to care

• ​The intersection of medication tapering, withdrawal, and alternative frameworks for understanding emotional distress

​Speakers

​Dr. Lucy Johnstone
Consultant clinical psychologist, trainer, and lead author, along with Professor Mary Boyle, of the Power Threat Meaning Framework, developed as an alternative to diagnostic-based approaches to mental health. She has been a leading critic of psychiatric diagnosis and the overuse of psychiatric medication, advocating instead for frameworks that center meaning, context, and personal agency and has authored numerous influential pieces on these topics.
Dr. Johnstone is the former Director of the Bristol Clinical Psychology Doctorate in the UK and has worked in Adult Mental Health settings for many years, most recently in a service in South Wales. She is Visiting Professor at London South Bank University, an Honorary Fellow of the BPS, and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts.

​​Dr. Mark Horowitz, MBBS, PhD
Clinical Research Fellow in Psychiatry (NHS), Visiting Lecturer at King’s College London, and Co-Founder of Outro Health. Lead author of the Maudsley Deprescribing Guidelines and co-author of the Royal College of Psychiatrists’ guidelines on stopping antidepressants. Mark’s work is transforming the way clinicians view medication withdrawal and long-term use.

​About Outro

​Outro is a virtual care platform specializing in safe, personalized, antidepressant tapering. Our clinicians use hyperbolic tapering—a neuroscience-backed approach—to help patients discontinue psychiatric medications with greater safety and attention to withdrawal symptoms. Learn more at www.outro.com.