A Center for Amplifying Neurodivergence, Creativity, and Liberation
A Center for Amplifying Neurodivergence, Creativity, and Liberation
About the BYPO Institute
The BYPO Institute is a collective of professional mental health experts, community organizers, and diverse artists who collaborate across their respective areas to create new and radical approaches to mental wellness, social and political activism, and creative expression.
This is a new project dedicated to fusing divergent routes to social transformation. Our mental health work explores interdisciplinary approaches to amplify healing for individuals who are struggling as well as their family and social systems. Arts organizing and event promotion are ways of enhancing the best of our collective efforts to advance collective liberation.
BYPO Leadership
David Thurston is the founder of the BYPO Institute. He is a mental health professional with lived experience navigating the manic depressive spectrum. David has a background in arts organizing and in many arenas of social justice work. David also creates poetry using the moniker BYPO PHOENIX. His work can be seen at byporevolution.com
With 20+ years of experience in a multitude of artistic disciplines, Nico “NNIL” Pires helps creative high-performers bridge the gap between spirituality, neurodivergence, and their creative synthesis. Utilizing a blend of mindfulness, art therapy, and psychology, Nico assists in improving neuroplasticity, emotional regulation and executive function.
Nico is most passionate about introducing others to their creative potential while accounting for their neurodivergent experience, reminding us that the journey to self-discovery is an adventure of patience and awareness. Like all journeys, this requires structure and support. Nico provides embodied practices that create this structure as a cultural architect & designer.
Kristin Adair is a documentary filmmaker, multimedia artist, and educator whose work centers collaborative storytelling and community-based media. As the founder and creative director of Unchained Stories, she has created films and multimedia projects exploring incarceration, housing justice, and community organizing.
Her recent work includes Neighborhood Power, the 2023 groundbreaking public art and documentary project in Washington, DC, connecting the history of grassroots organizing with contemporary struggles for housing justice. Her work has been supported by the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities, HumanitiesDC, Halcyon, Echoing Green, and the Open Society Foundations.
Mental Health Strategy
The BYPO Institute focuses on modern strength-based approaches to social work and mental health treatments for common diagnoses.
The Institute offers peer-support training, coaching, and connections to help deal with a range of mental health challenges.
By approaching mental health through the framework of personalized strategies, the BYPO Institute recognizes that multiple parts of a social system need to change in order for individuals to find recovery and resilience. The BYPO institute specializes in handling complex cases.
Explorations of Mental Health
David Thurston writes extensively on mental health issues. The following are some of his reflections on mental health.
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PHOENIX RECOVERY: a bypo manifesto
Continue Reading: PHOENIX RECOVERY: a bypo manifestoThis essay is written to generate new ideas about recovery. I explore what works well in tradiional 12-step models, while also looking at where these programs might evolve. This is written to spark discussion and innovation, so I welcome any response or feedback. I got clean on February 26, 2020. For almost 20 years, I…
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UNMASKING ANXIETY
Continue Reading: UNMASKING ANXIETYAnxiety is pervasive. Most of us experience a bit of it on a daily basis. Anxiety is anchored in fear, as well as an inability to accept uncertainty. We can’t accept that we don’t know how a situation will resolve, so we go into internal panic loops or cycles of overthinking. For many people, anxiety…
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WORKING WITH BORDERLINE PERSONALITY DISORDER
Continue Reading: WORKING WITH BORDERLINE PERSONALITY DISORDERBorderline Personality Disorder (BPD) is among the most stigmatized mental health conditions. People living with it are often written off as hopelessly psychotic and difficult to be around. In my experience though, it can be managed, and the loving core of people living with BPD can emerge in amazing ways. If you know someone who…
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IS DEPRESSION A FORM OF ADDICTION?
Continue Reading: IS DEPRESSION A FORM OF ADDICTION?Earlier this week an unusual line of analysis came through me. I started to wonder if addiction might be a useful lens for understanding depression. Depression is a profoundly painful experience. But could it be addictive? Could this lens help people move through depression and heal?
Arts Organizing
Art is integral to the BYPO Institute’s mission. Beyond the use of artistic expression as a method of mental health treatment, the BYPO Institute maintains a network of skilled artists that specialize in a variety of formats and mediums.
The Institute offers:
- Professional artists for digital, print, and street art installations at any scale
- Experienced street teams to promote actions and events
- Art project management to provide skilled interfacing between artists and organizers for large-scale installations
- A core focus on social justice organizing and messaging
Event Promotion
The BYPO Institute was borne of the streets. With decades of experience around community organizing, grassroots campaigning, and engagement cultivation, the BYPO Institute can help craft and amplify your message across physical and digital spaces.
The Institute offers:
- Skilled street teams for outreach and public engagement
- Trainers with expertise in using social media to maximize reach
- Deep relationships with local organizers in the D.C. metro area to help cross-promote and coordinate large events
Contact Us
Please use the form below to learn more about our services, or for general questions. You may also email us directly at [email protected]