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NAMI Target Exercise

Sep 8, 2014

in Mental Health, NAMI, Psychosocial Education, Psychotherapy, Public Speaking, Recovery, Writing

Target Exercise: Relapse Prevention Planning © NAMI Peer-to-Peer Recovery Education Course Week Seven Class Handouts (Rev. 2006) included the Target Exercise shown above, the text of which I’ve summarized below. In the bull’s-eye, we put what we MUST do, or MUST not do, to live well with mental illness. I MUST take my medicine, sleep, and not…

NAMI Week Seven

Sep 3, 2014

in Mental Health, NAMI, Psychosocial Education, Recovery

This afternoon I attended week seven of NAMI Peer-to-Peer psychoeducational classes. In class seven we covered: Understanding Emotions Complete Relapse Prevention Grid Focusing on Experiences of Joy Spirituality Physical Health and Mental Health Mindfulness The class was helpful and supportive, as always. Our material that covered understanding emotions was based on the work of Marsha…

As a Child

Aug 16, 2014

in Acceptance, Bipolar Disorder, Blogging, Disability, Poetry, Psychotherapy, Recovery, Vocation

As a child I wanted to be a doctor To cure people of disease As a teen I wanted to be a neurosurgeon To fix brains with a scalpel As a young woman I became a psychotherapist To fix troubled youth with broken lives With the exchange of spoken words I kept falling apart My…

NAMI Week Four

Aug 13, 2014

in Bipolar Disorder, Bipolar Parenting, Depression, Disability, Mania, Medication, Psychotic Thought Process, Recovery

Today was week four of NAMI Peer-to-Peer classes. In week four, we shared our personal stories. I am taking the opportunity to copy and paste my story here: My Story As a freshman at UCLA, I fell into a deep depression, believing that my parents, my sister, the whole world would be better off without…

NAMI Week Three

Aug 7, 2014

in Mental Health, NAMI, Psychosocial Education, Recovery

Yesterday afternoon I attended NAMI‘s third week Peer-to-Peer class. The curriculum we covered was: Mental illnesses are no-blame disorders Brain biology and research about mental illness Challenges and benefits of medications Relapse prevention Creative visualization Mindfulness I feel I need to learn far more about relapse prevention. No doubt we will continue to cover that topic. As someone…

Thought Wisps

Aug 6, 2014

in Bipolar Disorder, Depression, Disability, Grief, Mood Cycling, Psychotherapy, Recovery, Vocation

F*ck what was I thinking? Cannot recall. Had a thought or perhaps even more than one. Something to write for my blog. Now I’m drawing a blank. My mind cannot hold onto thoughts for very long. They slip away. Slip away. Wisps. The thought had to do with removing my MFT license from my description for…

Shout Out to MHA

Aug 1, 2014

in Gratitude, Mental Health, Recovery, Stigma

Forgot to mention and thank Mental Health Association of Orange County (MHAOC) the organization partnering with and hosting NAMI’s Peer-to-Peer course. Value and Philosophy of MHAOC The Mental Health Association of Orange County provides all of its services within the context of a psychosocial rehabilitation philosophy. Our philosophy holds as its primary goal the elimination of…

Why Being a Hermit Doesn’t Work

Aug 1, 2014

in Mental Health, Recovery, Support Group

Research shows that support groups improve outcomes. Great article summarizing the research. Thanks, WiL (Writing into the Light)

NAMI Peer-to-Peer Week Two

Jul 31, 2014

in Mental Health, NAMI, Psychosocial Education, Recovery

As I attended my second week of NAMI Peer-to-Peer, my 14-year-old son and nephew painted our family room wall a beautiful shade of light green sage. Thank you, boys! Job well done. The room is already more restful with the new color on a wall. NAMI Peer-to-Peer is a peer-led course in which those of…

NAMI Peer-to-Peer

Jul 25, 2014

in Mental Health, NAMI, Psychosocial Education, Recovery

This past Wednesday I attended my first of ten NAMI (National Alliance for Mental Illness) Peer-to-Peer sessions. Since I am brain dead after excessively tweeting (yes, I’ve been hypomanic), here is my tweet about it from Wednesday night: “Just got home from 1st NAMI Peer to Peer class. Weird after over 30 years of therapy,…

Category: Recovery