Our Founder

The international mental health care community recognizes Dr. Richard Warner as a leader in schizophrenia treatment and recovery research and development. Dr. Warner was Professor of Psychiatry and Adjunct Professor of Anthropology at the University of Colorado.

Dr. Richard Warner

Dr. Warner served as the Medical Director of the Mental Health Center of Boulder County, the public mental health facility for a population of nearly 300,000 people in the Front Range of Colorado, for 29 years until September, 2005. While at the Mental Health Center of Boulder County, Dr. Warner helped to develop a comprehensive community support system for people with serious mental illness that has earned an international reputation. The system includes a residential treatment program for people with serious mental illness (originally called Cedar House later renamed Warner House), at which Dr. Warner was the Chief Psychiatrist.

Recovery, employment and empowerment: Keynote speaker Dr Richard Warner at the SRN National Gathering (no slides) from Scottish Recovery Network on Vimeo.

The University of Birmingham recognized Dr. Warner for his global contributions mental health care and research by inviting him to participate in a series of lectures hosted by the Centre of Excellence in Interdisciplinary Mental Health (CEIMH). A recording and transcript of the conversation with Dr. Warner is available for viewing and download. Visit Recovery from Schizophrenia throughout the 20th Century.

At the Mental Health Center of Boulder County, Dr. Warner also helped design and develop:

A variety of community-based alternatives to the hospital for the treatment of people with acute psychiatric problems.
An innovative jail-diversion program for people with mental illness.
Programs to employ people with mental illness, including a specialist pharmacy for people with mental illness that employed people with mental illness as pharmacy technicians.
Regular public education on mental illness.

Dr. Warner is the author of a number of books including:

Recovery from Schizophrenia (third edition: Brunner-Routledge, 2004),
The Environment of Schizophrenia (Brunner-Routledge, 2000), and
Alternatives to the Hospital for Acute Psychiatric Treatment (American Psychiatric Press, 1995).

With Julian Leff, he co-authored Social Inclusion of People with Mental Illness, which was published by Cambridge University Press in 2006. Dr. Warner’s books have been translated into seven languages. Much of his research has focused on social factors that impact the course of mental illness.

Beginning in 1995, Dr. Warner helped direct Open the Doors, a global campaign of the World Psychiatric Association to combat the stigma of schizophrenia. He was closely involved in two of the anti-stigma programs, launched by Open the Doors – in Calgary, Alberta, and in Boulder, Colorado.

Dr. Warner lectured and consulted in several countries around the world on a regular basis. He had visiting faculty appointments at two universities in Great Britain and was on the editorial boards of professional journals in four countries.

Dr. Warner was awarded a 2007 Pacesetter award in the category of medicine and health for his work developing treatment programs for schizophrenia and advocacy for social inclusion. He earned the “Heroes in the Fight” award from the Colorado branch of the National Alliance on Mental Illness in 2005, and the Nancy Roeske Certificate of Recognition for Excellence in Medical Student Education of the American Psychiatric Association in 2002. Dr. Warner has been listed in Best Doctors in America since 1996.