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The "Network News"
The "Network News" is a quarterly publication by the VOCAL Network, 3212 Cutshaw Avenue, Suite 206, Richmond, Virginia 23230. Call us toll free at 1-877-VOCLNET (862-5638) Email: yolande@vocalvirginia.org.
"Our Mission is to bring Virginia mental
health
consumers together in a statewide network, to
celebrate our strenghts and courage,and to
support each other in recovery through
hope,learning,
and empowerment."
From Ann Benner
VOCAL Network Program Director
Dear Friends,
Two exciting happenings this spring!
First, we're preparing for "Ten Years of Healing Community", VOCAL's 2011 statewide peer conference, which will be held May 24th through 26th on the campus of Radford University. Keynote speaker Peter Ashenden will address the healing power of peer support and help us celebrate the successes of VOCAL's first decade.
This issue of the newsletter contains the registration form (registration deadline is April 29th) and can also be found on the VOCAL web site. We are accepting workshop proposals through March 31st, and the forms for submitting proposals are available at http://vocalvirginia.org/#/vocal-conference/4534274248 or under "News and Events", "VOCAL Conference" on our web site. The VOCAL Annual Meeting at the Conference will include election of Board members from Northern Virginia and the Central Region (Richmond area) and election of Board President, and a vote on a bylaws change regarding election of regional Board members. Also, please contact me if your group or organization would like to hold a meeting at the conference.
Second, we are ready for peer organizations to apply to become VOCAL Chapters. We envision a relationship in which the VOCAL name strengthens peer organizations in their communities, VOCAL benefits from increased numbers, and we all grow through the sharing of knowledge, community, and support. Information about what's required of a VOCAL Chapter, and the application form can be found (at www.vocalvirginia.org/#/get-involved/4533123862). I am your contact person at VOCAL for more information on chapters (434 243-7878 ext.10 or ann@vocalvirginia.org).
I hope you are enjoying the coming of spring!
A Peer Working in Crisis Stabilization
by Katie Williams, VCU Social Work Intern
Marty Grizzle the regional representative from Southwest Virginia and Board member of VOCAL has quite an interesting career in the mental health field. In an interview with Marty he discussed his life long struggle with mental health and his decision to pursue help. He chose to receive help from Cornerstone, a crisis stabilization unit (CSU) in Wythe County, Virginia. CSUs are short term inpatient treatment facilities that provide support for those in mental health crises. After his treatment Marty was considered as a candidate for a peer support position at Cornerstone. He took the job and has been working there since May of 2008. Duties specific to his job are facilitating WRAP classes, co-facilitating counseling and recreational groups, documentation, aftercare wellness calls providing support to previous guests, and tracking guest's progress.
Cornerstone is a 15 day maximum stay residential program with six beds available. Most of the guests that come through the program come directly from crisis however; there are a few consumers who are "step downs" from the local hospitals. Services provided while at Cornerstone include psychiatric care, nursing, pharmacological care, case management, and individual and group counseling services. While at Cornerstone a guest can anticipate seeing a psychiatrist every day along with participating in support groups and outings. So, you ask "What is the difference between a CSU and hospitalization?" The answer is there are vast differences! A CSU like Cornerstone has more of a home setting. There is a great deal of one on one attention and the environment is made to be relaxing. Whereas hospitals can be overwhelming and harsh.
A few words of advice for those who are dealing with a mental health crisis from Marty are "Hang in there!" Marty stated it is important to keep your counseling sessions and take your medication when going through a mental health crisis. "You will make it through, not every day is a bed of roses but you have to have hope and support."
.
Firewalkers Update
by Malaina Poore, Firewalkers Coordinator
Hello, friends. Let me tell you what we are up to in the Firewalkers Project! I will give you a sample of what we are working on:
· I was a guest on WMRA Virginia Insight Radio Show to talk about mental health reform
· WVTF studios hosting First Fridays in March - FW portraits and quotes -reception on March 3, 2011. Great exposure all that week on WVTF
· Meeting with JMU faculty and PHD students to talk about Firewalkers
· Reading at Bluestockings Bookstore in NYC Friday, April 1st
· Writing a curriculum for campus use along with Sascha Altman Dubrul, co-founder of The Icarus Project
· Working with On Our Own Charlottesville to host a Mental health Expo to showcase local resources.
· Recording stories at the conference to be used in audio/visual slide shows
· making a PSA to be aired on college radio
Plus:
· Firewalkers was added to required reading list at VCU Sociology Department
· FW speakers to present in three classes at PVCC and two at UVA
· New e-book version of Firewalkers available
If you are on Facebook, and you like Firewalkers, please "like" us on Facebook and invite your friends to do the same. That makes us happy.
From Where I Sit...
Creative Offerings from Members and Friends
TREE
Splendid, quiet, patient friend, high towering branches, sky out to utmost end.
A tremendous bouquet of leaves doth life keep in hold.
Limbs, tall and bushy, spreading out their fold.
The birds will come. Homely place for all their young.
Cool winds pass through, searching throughout its boughs.
Deeply rooted for its sways, no fall it seeks to know.
And the noisy woodpecker has left his name in holes.
The colors are a gift of autumn, growth is from the rain.
Strong withstanding, crinkled wood made plain,
Powerful, destructive, standing in domain.
A proud landmark does stay. Loyal with its shade.
Wise, old vine. Holding out a lifetime.
Geisha Battle, Chesterfield
A Personal Story by Sharon Fish
My name is Sharon. From the outside, you can't tell that I have mental illness. I have a good sense of humor, love my children, my friends, and life in general. You would never know that I have been diagnosed with Bipolar I and ADHD. This is because I have been in recovery for about four years.
I was born in 1953, when terms like Bipolar, ADHD, and mental illness were summed up by "that person is crazy". I went through childhood a victim of mental, sexual, and emotional abuse; unable to maintain friendships, isolating myself in my room. I obsessed about things like having an accident while sitting in school every day of my teenage life. The worst thing was not having anywhere to go on graduation night and not going to the normal events that teenagers do. I did manage to marry and have two children despite all of this. It was a struggle every day to even get up and function without being discouraged.
I had it all - a good husband, a nice home, and two beautiful children. I just didn't have myself. Battling mood swings, not being able to keep a beautiful house and fearing rejection, was just a way of life to me. I knew something was wrong - went to a million doctors - and the answers were usually, "it's hormonal. Here, take this. It will relax you" and the typical, "you're just a woman".
All of this led up to the 1990's when my world fell apart. My mother was hit and killed by a car, my husband's mother died of double lung cancer, I had a hysterectomy, and my behavior became so erratic that people were whispering about me and keeping their distance. I didn't think anything was wrong except with my housekeeping. I denied what was in front of my face until I suffered a major bipolar psychotic break. For anyone that doesn't know, psychosis is in simple terms, a break with reality. In the back of my mind, I sensed that something was drastically wrong, but I felt so energized. I was a messenger of God, ideas came so fast and furious, my energy level was through the roof. Everyone who knew me backed away, my husband, not knowing what to do, resorted to mental and emotional abuse, finally telling me that something was wrong and I should see, professional help, but never offering to go with me.
Funny thing - I didn't think that I needed help at all. I finally felt a sense of empowerment - it was false, and it was devastating. I bought a motor home with my 401 K, divorced, took off, spent money like it was water, couldn't work, and finally, in the summer of 2001, I cut off all of my hair, and burned my last $20 because the voices said it was okay. I was spotted by the police, who promptly took me to the hospital. It was the action that saved my life.
State mental hospitals are a stark, uninviting reminder of how far we have come in the treatment of mental illness. I had a room behind a closed gate ward. To reclaim my life and to claim my wellness, I went through 7 months of drug therapy and groups, gaining a renewed sense of my own spirituality.
I was placed in a subsidized housing situation with three other women. For the first time in my life, I was faced with rebuilding and defining me, without my family of origin. I joined a psycho-social clubhouse called Beach House. This helped me discover who "I" am. I made friends and realized that I wasn't doomed to die in hell for my sins. I had been ill for most of my life, hadn't been treated, and now, with the proper tools and support, I made great strides in my own journey to wellness.
I have shortened my story considerably because to tell it all would be long, drawn out, and at this point, not particularly helpful to anyone. My story, like so many others, shows the resilience of the human spirit, the kindness of those who have chosen to work in this stressful and demanding field, and the ignorance of the general population as to what mental illness really is.
We are all human; born to struggle, fail, succeed, learn, but most of all to love ourselves and our fellow man. There is no birthmark that sets us apart from "normal" people. In fact, I think the term "normal" is highly overrated. I liken the comparison to an experience I had in school when I was in a Christmas concert. I was very young and loved to move to the music. The other children made fun of me and told me to stop embarrassing them. I was so hurt and cried until the principal told me he enjoyed the concert and watching me dance. Through the years, I learned to enjoy things but to not show it to the outside world for fear of being laughed at. I kept everything inside, danced to my own 'internal music' until the music stopped and the voices that had been telling me I was "worthless", "no good", and should be "punished", took over. Isolation is a huge part of mental illness as are shame, guilt, and a feeling of worthlessness and despair. My journey has taught me to enjoy the music of life, love, and to reach out to others instead of hiding inside myself. I no longer feel separate and apart. I hold my head up high, and offer hope to others who feel they can't ever be well.
Recovery is possible. Life is a gift. Mental illness, though a dark part of my life, has enabled me to see past myself and appreciate the wonder and joy in the simplest of things. To find my truth, I lost my material possessions and instead have gained the most important gift of all - myself.
What Is V.A.U.L.T.?
by Sarah Bonuccelli, VCU Social Work Intern
Virginia's Developmental Disability Council will fund self-advocacy organizations in a manner that supports the advocacy efforts of people with developmental and other disabilities and focus on the development of state-wide and local system changes. VOCAL has participated in the steering committee forming the state cross-disability organization, and will be one of 8 self-advocacy organizations on VAULT‟s Board.
In August 2010, the steering committee developed and approved a draft strategic plan to get a non-profit off of the ground. The steering committee decided on Virginia Advocates United Leading Together (V.A.U.L.T.) as the name of this new 501 (c) 3 non-profit organization.
Last month, V.A.U.L.T. refined its strategic plan and approved their bylaws and is on track to becoming a registered 501 (c) 3 non-profit in the Commonwealth of Virginia.
R.E.A.C.H. News
by Anna Clay Mendez, R.E.A.C.H. Program Director
As the new REACH Program Director, I was recently invited by peer-staff Lyn Hall and Rachel Isak to spend the day at Western State Hospital to see how WRAP is being taught and embraced there. I had the privilege to sit in on WRAP classes at WSH throughout the day and hear participants share about how WRAP is changing their lives. I was also given the opportunity to share some of my personal recovery story which includes long periods of time lost to an eating disorder and significant depression. I shared with the groups that if three years ago someone had told me I would one day be well enough to have a job I probably would have laughed. Now, not only do I have a job, but I get to spend my time increasing recovery education across Virginia! While WRAP is certainly not the only thing that has enabled me to reach and sustain the level of health and wellness I am grateful to have in my life today, it is a key component that I could not do without.
Increasing access to WRAP continues to be the main focus of REACH's efforts. REACH is currently working in partnership with the peer-staff at WSH to bring WRAP Facilitator training to a state psychiatric hospital for the first time. Though REACH supports the development of creative options to hospitalization, in the meantime we feel that everyone in Virginia interested in WRAP should have access to it and we are thrilled to be playing a role in a collaborative effort that will increase recovery awareness and education at WSH.
REACH is also excited to have the opportunity to be bringing Psychiatric Advanced Directive Facilitator training to REACH trained WRAP facilitators. Dana Traynham of VOPA has graciously offered to lead a workshop for REACH trained WRAP Facilitators on how to help our peers create legally binding psychiatric advanced directives. If you are a WRAP Facilitator trained by REACH and are interested in attending the workshop or would like more information about psychiatric advanced directives, please contact me at the REACH office at (540) 908-6392 or by email at anna@vocalvirginia.org.
From the Advocacy Desk
by Bonnie Neighbour, Advocacy Director
VOCAL is initiating several workgroups on advocacy issues. See elsewhere in this newsletter to see how you can get involved in making a change in Virginia by getting involved in a workgroup. Another way to have an impact on mental health policies and laws in Virginia is to get to know your legislator and let them get to know you.
Ultimately mental health law is in the hands of the legislators and our Governor. They don't really get a lot of opportunities to actually meet us (those of us living with a mental health issue and talking about it). They do get a lot of opportunities to hear from other perspectives. We need them to know us! In 2007 I attended a Virginia House Subcommittee meeting that had been called to learn more about mental health. The Chair of the committee had carefully created an agenda to include input from every perspective. I sat and listened for the two hours of testimony and did not once hear anything from one of my peers -- someone living with a mental health concern. At the end of the meeting when the Chair asked for public comment I walked up to the podium, pointed out the absence of a consumer, and shared my experience and perspective. The Chair apologized for leaving us off the agenda by saying "It didn't even occur to me to include someone living with it personally."
I'm happy to say we are at the table more often now in 2011 then we were in 2007, but we have a long way to go. We need to get into their hearts and minds -- we need to get under their skin -- so that anytime a mental health issue comes up they ask themselves, "what would someone who has experienced this think about this issue?" The way to make that happen is to have all of us meet our legislators now -- while they are in their home districts. You can find out who your particular legislators are by calling the VOCAL office or going to http://tinyurl.com/VAlegislator and entering your address. Call, write or email your legislators (Delegate and Senator) and introduce yourself. Tell him or her you are in his or her district, and let them know you are concerned about mental health law. If you want to tell them what your interest is, let them know you identify as a mental health consumer and share a bit about your story. Once you've introduced yourself please let me know at bonnie@vocalvirginia.org.
"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed it's the only thing that ever has". ~ Margaret Mead
News from the Regions
Recovery Resources and Support (RRS) in Richmond
RRS has big plans this year and needs your help! Volunteer work can lead to employment opportunities as well as build job skills and offer opportunities to socialize. all 877.925.4777 or visit www.rrs4hope.com for further opportunities.
Friends 4 Recovery in Richmond
Friends 4 Recovery will hold their Spring Fling on April 16th from 2-4 p.m. at their office at 9511 Hull Street Road, Suite A, in the Rockwood Office Park. This fundraiser is to support the Trailblazers Book Project and to supplement the operational budget. The vision of the Trailblazers book project is to blaze a path of hope and inspiration in the minds of those who feel lost and hopeless. Friends 4 Recovery provides educational and wellness classes and resources, mutual support, and recovery education that enhances the whole health of people who have experienced significant mental health issues. For further information call 804.308.1366
Southwest Virginia
The Regional Consumer Empowerment and Recovery Council has recently been established in southwest Virginia. Through this organization, individuals who are involved in receiving mental health care from Community Services Boards or private providers will have an opportunity to make a difference in the region's mental health care system. They also have LEAP (Leadership Empowerment and Advocacy Program) and have 525 graduates.
Additionally, a Creative Ideas Committee made up of consumers, family members and staff from Emory and Henry College has been established. They hold an annual Mental Health Awareness Day at Emory and Henry to fight stigma and to reach out to the community.
Friends 4 Recovery is also looking for volunteers!
Are you a Peer Specialist or have experience facilitating groups? This is a great opportunity to experience a peer run program in action and build your resume at the same time. Call 804.308.1366 for details.
What Is Intentional Peer Support?
Submitted by Heather Peck, VOCAL CoOp Director, with thanks to Shery Mead for permission to reprint. This is the first in a three-part series.
IPS is a way of thinking about and inviting powerfully transformative, co-creative relationships. It is a process where both people (or a group of people) use the relationship to look at things from new angles, develop greater awareness of personal and relational patterns, and to support and challenge each other as we try new things.
· IPS is different from traditional service relationships because:
· It doesn't start with the assumption of "a problem." Instead, we learn to listen for how and why each of us has learned to make sense of our experiences --and then use the relationship to create new ways of seeing, thinking and doing.
· IPS promotes a 'trauma-informed' way of relating--instead of asking 'what's wrong,' we learn to ask 'what happened?'
· IPS looks beyond the mere notion of individual responsibility for change and examines our lives in the context of mutually accountable relationships and communities.
· IPS relationships are viewed as partnerships that invite and inspire both parties to learn and grow--rather than as one person needing to 'help' another.
· Instead of a focus on what we need to stop or avoid doing, we find encouragement to increasingly live and move into what and where we want to be.
At the end of the day, it is really about building stronger, healthier. inter-connected communities.
Intentional Peer Support as Social Change Shery Mead Oct 2010
As peer support in mental health proliferates, we must be mindful of our intention: social change. It is not about developing more effective services but rather about creating dialogue that have influence on all of our understandings, conversations and relationships (Shery Mead, SAMHSA webcast; 2010)
Intentional Peer support is about conversation. It's about how we know, how we create new "knowing" through dialogue, and about how we as human beings interrelate by beginning to practice the art of connection; with ourselves, the people in our lives and the people on the planet we may think we have nothing in common with. For me it is a practice that has no right or wrong. It is always in flux; much like improvisation in music. It is a process of experimentation and co-creation. It assumes that we "play" off each other and create ever more interesting and complex ways of understanding. We see it as a tool for keeping the world on its toes, becoming more comfortable with less predictability as we become less reactive to fear. In other words, it is not another practice that presumes to have the answers but instead, it aims to generate good questions. This paper will provide a brief overview of the three principles in which IPS is grounded.
· Learning versus. Helping
· Relationship versus the individual
· Hope and possibility versus Fear
Part I: Learning versus Helping
How have we become so stuck in assuming that our relationships have to be about helping and problem-solving? What does it mean to help? What does our need to help say about our assumptions of the other person? What happens if either they don't want our help, or our help doesn't "work"?
In the best of all worlds we are altruistic, compassionate beings. We don't like to see others suffering or in pain, and we want to make a difference. All too often, however, these beliefs and desires get in the way of building deeper understanding between people and can actually thwart learning and growth. For example many good-hearted people have gone to third world countries and tried to "modernize" and "help" other cultures. After all, it doesn't have to be this way, does it? But what often ends up happening is that we (the outsider) act in ways that appear presumptuous, misinformed, disrespectful and even self-interested or dictatorial. We set up programs where people can learn from us without attempting to listen, to understand, or to acknowledge that perhaps the other culture has some important learning for us.
In the end maybe one or two people will do something differently for a while but then things often go right back to the way they were. Why is that? Are they just "unmotivated?"(How many times have we been called unmotivated by supposedly caring others??). We realize that in our haste to "help," we have neglected to learn, share, get to know people in the context of their culture, let them get to know us and our understandings.Given our failing to do all that, is it really so surprising when nothing changes?
How could we do this differently? Well for one thing, most people don't like someone coming in and setting up programs for them, telling them what to do, and making assumptions that what they're already doing is bad. Instead, most people hope that we'll learn more about them and how they've learned to make sense of their experience, learn about the cultural conditions that maintain the status quo, and most importantly, what their ideas are about what might make a difference. Then and only then, are they willing to understand or listen to where we're coming from. And this takes time. If our task has traditionally been to come in and do an assessment and create a plan (many organizations do this with well paid consultants, aid organizations do this in other countries), we forget that it is not US who should be doing the assessment. In fact it's not particularly helpful for anyone to do an assessment of the situation (which is usually one party's perspective of what's wrong with the other party) before we know more about each other, build some trust, and get a chance to collaboratively see the bigger picture. Learning together takes time, it's about building relationships where new information and new knowledge can emerge.
When people are willing to listen to each other's stories without providing analysis, and at the same time compare and contrast experiences, possibilities for transfiguring meaning are endless. When we become part of each other's narratives, we not only offer possibility for alternate (mutually enriching) interpretations, our new shared story becomes a way to negotiate future challenges and crises (see Crisis and Connection, Mead & Hilton, 2002) while building real communities.
VOCAL Needs Your Voice!
To involve more peers in advocacy efforts statewide and help bring about systems change related to mental health issues, VOCAL is initiating a 'work groups' project. A work group is a team of consumers interested in a specific mental health topic who want to help VOCAL bring mental health advocacy issues to the forefront at the state level.
What is a Work Group?
A work group consists of a volunteer team leader and a group of consumers with a common interest in a specific mental health topic or topics. However, a work group may start with just one person who wants to become involved in statewide advocacy efforts. Over time, work groups may expand to include many other peers from one's local community, region, or even statewide. Consumers may choose to be active in more than one work group depending on the mental health issues about which they feel strongly.
What is the Focus or Topic of a Work Group?
The focus or topic of a work group varies by subject or interest. A few VOCAL work groups are already active as shown below. Other topics are open and need a volunteer team leader to start a work group. Consumers are welcome to join an active group or start one of their own. Note: for topics not on the list, please email Kate C. at kate.c@vocalvirginia.org, Bonnie Neighbour at bonnie@vocalvirginia.org, or Ann Bohr Benner at ann@vocalvirginia.org
Work Groups
* Criminal Justice
* Cross Disabilities
* Dual Diagnosis
* Employment
* Facilities Watch
* Housing
* Human Rights/Civil Rights
* Legislative
* Medicaid Managed Care - Mental Health Services
* NGRI (Not Guilty by Reason of Insanity)
* Peer Support Services
* Recovery Services
* Suicide Prevention
* Transportation
How Do I Get Started?
Getting started is easy! VOCAL is about changing the state of mental health in Virginia through transformation by creating alternatives that promote mental health recovery, self-determination, and peer leadership. This means each of are the people who need to be doing the work of making our voices heard. Everyone has value and something to offer based on our own unique perspectives, talents, and life experiences. VOCAL work groups provide a way for us to voice our concerns about mental health issues by coming active advocates for change!
For more information, contact Kate at VOCAL, 114 Goodman Street, Charlottesville, VA 22902 kate.c@vocalvirginia.org, 434.851.4352 You may also visit the VOCAL website and use the "Contact Us" feature.
Ten for Ten: Celebrating VOCAL by Giving Back
by Ellen Osborne, Development Director
As VOCAL celebrates its ten year anniversary, stop and think of how it has benefited you. Perhaps you attended an awesome conference. Or met someone through the Network that is now a good friend. Or perhaps VOCAL has inspired you to speak up for yourself and your rights. Maybe you're part of a REACH-trained WRAP class and you now have a toolbox filled with resources to keep yourself healthy.
In ten years we've touched a lot of lives and hope to continue to touch many more. As we enter into our next decade, we're counting on your support. Our government contracts are no longer sufficient to meet the needs of mental health consumers in Virginia. Would you please give $10, (or $100, or $1000 if you are able!) so that we may share the good news of RECOVERY in Virginia? Please click on our link below to go to our donations page.
There are plenty of people who still need to be put in touch with a peer-run program so that they can find the support they need to stay healthy. By giving back to VOCAL, you are investing in the belief that we can and do recover. Your financial gifts are needed for outreach efforts, to support of peer-run programs, to subsidize conference scholarships, for stigma-busting efforts, and general overhead costs. VOCAL is YOUR organization, and we want to make it the best it can be- but we need your support!
Please consider a gift of $10 to celebrate ten years of mental health recovery in Virginia- or any multiple of ten- or perhaps you can pledge $10 per month to VOCAL. We are also soliciting items for our silent auction at the VOCAL conference in May. If you have items of value to donate, which would be auctioned off with the funds going to VOCAL, contact me at ellen@vocalvirginia.org.
Thank you!
From the Newsletter Editor
by Yolande Long, Communications and Events Coordinator
Thank you to those that sent in creative submissions
and news from the regions! The deadline for the
July-October 2011 newsletter is June 6, 2011.
Please contact me at the VOCAL Network office if you
have any questions. Submissions may be sent in via
email or postal mail.
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