Torrey Advocacy Commendation Awards

Each year the Treatment Advocacy Center, a national nonprofit dedicated to removing barriers to timely and effective treatment of severe mental illnesses, accepts nominations for the Torrey Advocacy Commendation (TAC) Award. 

About the Award

Each year, the Board of Directors of TAC formally recognizes the vital role of selfless advocates by giving the Torrey Advocacy Commendation (TAC) Award. The TAC Award rewards the courage and tenacity of those who selflessly advocate - despite criticism and opposition - for the right to treatment for those who are so severely disabled by severe mental illnesses that they do not recognize that they need treatment.

The title of the award fittingly honors the man who inspired the Treatment Advocacy Center - the most fearless and dedicated advocate for the most severely ill - Dr. E. Fuller Torrey.

REQUIREMENTS

Nominees should have a continued and long-term focus on advocacy. They are strong advocates, paid or unpaid, in the field of mental illness; their advocacy supports securing humane and timely treatment for individuals suffering from the most severe mental illnesses and assisted treatment for those who do not recognize that they are ill. Nominees have made a substantial difference for a community, local or national, in terms of advocacy, awareness, research, or legislation in this field. Anyone who has worked for the care of those abandoned to the symptoms of SMI is eligible.  Past winners have included family advocates, psychiatrists, a legislator, and a sheriff.

SUBMITTING A NOMINATION

Nominations for this yearly award are typically accepted in late summer or early fall of each year.  Check the www.treatmentadvocacycenter.org or send an email to [email protected] for information about when TAC will be accepting nominations. 

Nominations are accepted from anyone, but people cannot nominate themselves. Nominations cannot be anonymous. The nominee does not have to consent to being nominated or be informed of the nomination. TAC may use or reprint nominations or parts of nominations in printed materials or on our web site. Nominations can be of any length but cannot be more than 300 words.

Please include full name and contact information of the nominator, as well as any affiliations with the nominee. There is no entry fee.

Nominations must be sent via regular mail only (no emails or faxes) to The Treatment Advocacy Center, TAC Award Nominee, 200 North Glebe Road, Suite 730, Arlington, VA 22203.

The TAC award is presented at the sole discretion of the board of the Treatment Advocacy Center.

PREVIOUS WINNERS

2006: Three community psychiatrist: Dr. Jeffrey Geller, Dr. Richard Lamb, and Dr. Darold Treffert. “TAC can change laws and encourage treatment, but ultimately it is the mental health professionals who have to make it happen,” said psychiatrist and board president Dr. E. Fuller Torrey, for whom the award is named. “Psychiatrists such as Drs. [Jeffrey] Geller, [Richard] Lamb, and [Darold] Treffert, and psychologists, social workers, and psychiatric nurses who have a special interest in the severely mentally ill are the bedrock of the system. The battle for treatment is one that they wage every day in ways large and small. It is an effort and sacrifice that should not be ignored.”

2005: Sheriff Donald Eslinger, Linda Gregory, Alice Petree. The board of directors of the Treatment Advocacy Center voted unanimously to recognize all three Florida advocates in an unusual move that paralleled an unusual advocacy partnership. “We are impressed by their heart-felt efforts over more than four years to get a more humane treatment law for Floridians with severe mental illnesses,” said TAC board secretary Dr. Fred Frese. “We commend Sheriff Eslinger, Linda Gregory, and Alice Petree for their incredible dedication and effectiveness in spearheading a complex and critical reform of Florida’s outdated treatment law.”

2004: Charles "Chuck" Sosebee; The nomination noted: “Chuck was not only unafraid to bare his life and share his personal story and the effects his untreated illness has on himself and many others, but did it articulately, and perhaps with an unmatched humor and humanity that made him very appealing to these decision and policy makers. He did more to advance the cause of consumers generally because of his easiness and acceptance of his illness…”

2003: No winner

2002: Dr. Morton Birnbaum: The nomination noted: “Dr. Birnbaum has always followed his own star and this is probably the reason his enormous contribution has been overlooked. If he had been willing to swim with the tide, and join forces with the Mental Health Law Project in its battle to "free" involuntary mental patients from both institutions and treatment, he would doubtless have been celebrated as a "father" of what passes today as legal reform.”

The Treatment Advocacy Center (www.treatmentadvocacycenter.org) is a national nonprofit organization dedicated to eliminating barriers to the timely and effective treatment of severe mental illnesses. TAC promotes laws, policies, and practices for the delivery of psychiatric care and supports the development of innovative treatments for and research into the causes of severe and persistent psychiatric illnesses, such as schizophrenia and bipolar disorder.

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