National Association for Rights Protection and Advocacy
Kris Yates was raised by a single mother in Appalachia. She is the only one in her
family who attended college, and then went on to get an MA in Psychology from Holy Name
College in Oakland, California. As a teenager and young adult Ms. Yates struggled with
depression, and attempted suicide on several occasions. After surviving electroshock and
hospital zation in India, she went on to heal herself with natural processes, avoiding
drugs.
Ms. Yates currently works with both children and adults as a counselor with the Marriage,
Family and Child Counseling Center, as well as with the Catholic Counseling Service, Kid's
Turn, and Support Coalition International. She also
served as a member of the City of Berkeley Mental Health Advisory Commission. Ms. Yates is
the San Francisco Bay Area Coordinator for Support
Coalition International, a human rights organization focusing on mental health issues.
Her writings have been published in Present Time, Dendron, the Mandana,
Community Recovery Center News, the Altered State, and in the book Beyond Bedlam: Women Psychiatric
Survivors Speak Out.