ISEPP's purpose is to (1) provide a legal, ethical, and emotional haven for professionals who uphold its principles and attempt change from within the conventional system of psychiatry; and (2) to serve as a public platform for facilitating a critical examination of and conversation about these principles and associated ethical concerns.

ISEPP is not a social justice or consumer rights organization and it does not concern itself with the many forms of corporate and government misconduct outside the following principles:

• ISEPP maintains that difficult emotions, thoughts, and behaviors not resulting from physiological disease processes reflect individualized meanings and choices to be understood, not symptoms of pathology or dysfunction to be corrected through treatment.

• ISEPP asserts that physiological disease processes with associated mental or behavioral signs and symptoms are not “mental” illnesses; they are physiological illnesses and medical matters outside the primary focus of psychiatry and psychology.

• ISEPP supports the doctrine of informed consent, respect for individual dignity, and freedom of choice, regardless of the individual’s beliefs, values, and experiences.

• ISEPP uses sound scientific methodology and critical reasoning to fulfill its purpose.