Wildflowers’ Movement is the soulchild of Denise Maratos, who also describes "radical wellness", as in cultivating wellness from the roots up. She began the group in 2010, with a few loyal attendees who understood the importance of peer support. She has been the support group facilitator for many diverse groups of people. She had been working in the healthcare field before experiencing her own extraordinary experiences over 25 years ago. After being diagnosed with an array of psychiatric “disorders”, she survived the entanglement of the psychiatric system, and embarked upon a journey of healing and self-discovery. She identifies as a psychiatric survivor. She does not identify with any psychiatric label given to her. She identifies as a Wildflower.

Denise Maratos, Founder & Leader of Wildflowers’ Movement

Denise is a depth psychologist, coach, and consultant in Beverly Hills and Santa Monica, CA where she practices psychotherapy, coaching and consulting sessions. She received her PhD in Clinical Psychology from Pacifica Graduate Institute, and has conducted research on extraordinary experiences, otherwise known as numinous experiences, often called “psychosis”, “schizophrenia”, “schizo-affective”, “dissociative”, etc. by the biomedical model. She is an Educator with a Ed.M. from Harvard University, and hopes her research informs the public about the identity issues brought forth from diagnosing people with subjective labels. She is on the executive committee of ISPS-US and she has been a speaker for several mental health advocacy conferences. If you wish to get in touch with her, please email her at: WildflowersMovement@gmail.com. You may also view her website at Depth Emergence and see her profile at Psychology Today, Denise Maratos.

Sandra Cheng, Co-Leader & Website designer of Wildflowers’ Movement

Sandra Cheng is a primary support group facilitator who was working at Didi Hirsch Community Mental Health Services with National Alliance of Mental Illness when she met Denise, who at the time was one of the trainers for UCLA Mindful Self-directed Recovery. Her lived experience with schizo-affective disorder as rediagnosed in 2002 and schizophrenia disorganized type (2000) after two psychiatric hospitalizations gives her invaluable insight to the work. She is also an artist who graduated with an MFA from USC School of Cinematic Arts in the animation department in 2005. "PedantPhilia", an award-winning short film was based on real life circumstances related to symptoms of her first psychotic break. She designs and maintains the websites for the Wildflowers’ Movement and other organizations. If you wish to get in touch with Sandra, please email her at info@WildflowersMovement.com