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The "Network News"
The "Network News" is a quarterly publication by the VOCAL Network, 1904 Byrd Avenue, Suite 111, 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 strengths and courage,and to
support each other in recovery through
hope,learning,
and empowerment."
From Ann Benner
VOCAL Network Program Director
Dear Friends,
Bonnie Neighbour, Malaina Poore and I had the exciting privilege of attending the Second International CIT Conference in Virginia Beach September 11th through 14th, which was held in conjunction with Virginia's annual NAMI conference. We were among 1,200 police officers, non-peer mental health providers, court workers, peer support specialists, and family members -- all learning about and celebrating new ways communities can respond to people in mental health crisis. A CIT (Crisis Intervention Team), a specially trained law enforcement team, responds with support and de-escalation skills to help move peers in the direction of services and recovery, rather than towards jail time. Many peers have been integrally involved in creating these teams, and play a critical role in training the responding officers.
I have never experienced such an inspired coming together of peers and community members - with the shared goal of creating compassionate and reasonable systems of responding to community needs. Just being in the presence of hundreds of police officers who strive to understand our experience and want to create a sense of safety was a powerful experience. The conference gave me much hope for the potential of peers working pro-actively in community.
The Virginia CIT Coalition promotes such program across the Commonwealth. We currently have 24 CITs and more are under development. See http://www.vacitcoalition.org/ and go to "Programs" to find out what's going on in your community. If you would like help figuring out how to get involved, please contact us at VOCAL.
Best wishes,
Ann
Firewalkers Update
by Malaina Poore, Firewalkers Coordinator
I think about the Firewalkers Project a lot. I think about how it can be most helpful in the world and how to make it so. I love the spirit of the project, that transformation can come through struggle and that this is a part of the human experience, so I dream of ways of getting it out there. As time goes on I become more interested in what it means to have a heart and a brain and a spirit and grow in a world that is often painful, and less interested in disease and diagnosis and my malfunctioning brain. Working on this project introduces me to so many people on this same wavelength and it is endless what is to be learned by their stories and our history.
Anyhow, let me tell you some of what we have been up to:
This spring and summer we traveled to NYC and presented at Bluestockings bookstore to a lively crowd, began creating a curriculum for JMU about the peer movement and perspectives on mental health outside of the medical model, had an article published in The Journal of Participatory Medicine, hosted the best dang garage sale in Belmont as a fundraiser (with one more on the way), worked with Sascha Altman Dubrul ( the wise and wily co-founder of The Icarus Project) co-hosted the first Mental Health Expo in Charlottesville with On Our Own and the Community Coalition on Mental Health, had our photographs displayed at the WVTF galleries for First Fridays and in the Fellowship Hall of a large local church (Sojourners), created a new web page on the VOCAL site with audio slide shows of slice of life stories, published "The Little Art Book" which is a manual for peer art group facilitators and continued to sell books via Amazon and in-person at events.
When the book was published we weren't certain what would come of it or how long this program would last. In preparing the budget for the coming year it seems plausible that while we can foresee another year of very part time existence, we may be drawing in for the close. Naturally the books will still be available, but our dreams of speaking engagements, magazine articles, a widely-used curriculum, a magazine, a blog, a storytelling project, art workshops. Well, we will just have to wait and see.
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Be a VOCAL Representative
Every peer organization and DBHDS service is invited to have a "VOCAL Representative". VOCAL Representatives serve as communication links between your organization and VOCAL. We want VOCAL members to know what's going on with VOCAL programs, how to get involved, and how we might be able to help your group. We also want to know what your group is doing and what your interests are so that we can better represent you.
Many peer groups around Virginia are doing amazing innovative things and we want to spread the good news and good ideas around.
VOCAL Representatives have a monthly (toll free) phone conference with VOCAL staff, held the first Thursday of the month at 11 am.
To become a VOCAL Representative contact Ann Benner at (804) 343-1777 or by email: ann@vocalvirginia.org.
From Where I Sit...
Creative Offerings from Members and Friends
October Acrostic by Ann Catherine Braxton
Ovens are filled with prize-winning pies
Country crafts, county fairs, and cooler nights abound
Tavern TVs blast pigskin parades
Old friends and school days come to mind
Big kids dream of homecoming
Evenings are spend wading through leaves
Roses of summer fade into autumn's golden gown
Soft Shoes
(Reflections on an October 2002 hospitalization)
by Ann Catherine Braxton
Soft shoes
Very soft beige slippers
I pace the unit in search of hope
I feel cold
I feel alone
I want a hug
I remember love and legacy
That came with pink bedroom shoes
Nana's name is on the bottom
Of soft pink shoes
I miss Nana.
Haiku for the Great American Smoke-Out
by Ann Catherine Braxton
Granddad, wheezing from
Lung cancer, asks teen puffers,
"What are you thinking?"
Our Ideal Peer Run Program Trauma Informed Care Initiatives
From Heather Peck, informed by SAMHSA and other sources
Most people with whom we work have histories of physical and sexual abuse and other types of trauma-inducing experiences. These experiences too often lead to mental health and co-occurring disorders such as chronic health conditions, substance abuse, eating disorders, and HIV/AIDS, as well as contact with the criminal justice system.
Ideally, our Peer Run Program staff and members are taking steps to become trauma-informed, to include a basic understanding of how both trauma affects our lives and how we interact during programming time. As we grow into skillful trauma-informed organizations, we serve one another based on an understanding of the vulnerabilities or triggers of trauma survivors that traditional service delivery approaches may exacerbate, so that our services and programs can be more supportive and avoid re-traumatization and re-enactment of trauma.
Some of our top priorities of trauma informed care are safety, trustworthiness, choice, collaboration, and empowerment. Relative to safety, ideally we have systems and practices in place to sustain physical and emotional safety. With trustworthiness, in every interaction we aim to maximize trustworthiness, making daily tasks and program guidelines clear. We discuss and maintain appropriate boundaries.
Relative to choice, ideally we prioritize that our people have choice and control of all aspects of their own behavior and our common life within safe boundaries. We maximize collaboration and sharing of power with among all people involved with the program. Finally, we base all our relationships on shared power and practice empowerment skill-building relative to our personal whole health, program participation, and how we want to contribute to our families and community.
R.E.A.C.H. News
by Anna Clay Mendez, R.E.A.C.H. Program Director
This summer has been a busy season for the REACH program! The warm weather brought with it new and exciting opportunities for REACH, the greatest of which was the invitation from the Copeland Center to represent VOCAL at the International WRAP Conference held in Philadelphia from August 1-3, 2011. As part of my work and desire to help expand the use and utility of WRAP, I developed a workshop called "WRAP for Eating Disorders" and was given the opportunity to present the workshop to more than 40 participants of the International WRAP Conference. This workshop, and its focus on self-management and peer support, is a natural compliment to the campus outreach I have the privilege to be doing at James Madison University. This August marked the beginning of the first time the REACH Program director has been able to teach a class on the prevention of and recovery from eating, exercise, and body image issues. 25 undergraduate students are enrolled in the semester-long course and the class is off to a great start!
REACH also continues its efforts toward educating peers about Psychiatric Advanced Directives and I was grateful for the opportunity to speak to the consumers at the August Northwest Peer Connect meeting in Lynchburg about their power and importance.
I would like to take the opportunity to thank the WRAP Facilitators who completed the Annual REACH Survey. This year participation in the survey increased by more than 300% over last year - and that is not a typo! The information gained from the survey is what I use to make the REACH program as helpful as possible to WRAP Facilitators across the state and your input is vital to its success. Thank you for taking the time to respond to my request for information! Be looking for the results of the survey to published in the next edition of the VOCAL Newsletter.
Please remember that recovery education is the guiding principle of all that REACH does. I'm looking forward to providing education on topics pertaining to recovery at the Recovery Fair hosted by Western State Hospital on September 28 and at the upcoming one-day VOCAL Conferences in Williamsburg and Chesapeake on October 7 and 21, respectively. If you and your organization would like me to come speak on matters of recovery, you can contact me at anna@vocalvirginia.org or (540) 908-6392. I would love to join you!
From the Advocacy Desk
by Bonnie Neighbour, Advocacy Director
Have you seen the poster where Uncle Sam points a finger out at the viewer and says, "I need you!"? Well VOCAL needs you! VOCAL has been holding Advocacy phone conferences on an irregular basis on Thursday afternoons to discuss various issues that affect mental health consumers across the state. The great news is that our voice is being heard! We are regularly invited to the table when important discussions are taking place. The Thursday phone conferences is where VOCAL discusses what position we takes on the various issues that arise. The phone call is also a great place to hear what is being discussed across the state, ask questions and get some background information. Will you join us? Email me, bonnie@vocalvirginia.org and let me know you want to be included. I will include you in the next email that goes out to announce the Advocacy Committee's phone conference. Looking forward to having you join us!
W.R.A.P. International
by M.C. Violet Taylor, RCSC
Wellness Recovery Action Plans, (WRAP)developed by the Copeland Center, (www.copelandcenter.com) was recently recognized as an Evidence-Based Practice,-just in time to be celebrated at the first international WRAP Conference in Philadelphia this month.
Over 600 people in attendance from around the world reflected the success of WRAP. WRAP Facilitators, Master WRAP Facilitators, WRAP Trainers and scores of Peer Support Specialists who facilitate WRAP gathered to present and attend workshops and trainings. People working in jails, senior programs, and many kinds of residential and other settings brought their expertise to share. Facilitators from Japan, Ireland, Micronesia, Canada, Holland and other countries joined in and gave us tips on cultural adaptations to WRAP that are adapted to the cultures where they lead. We were delighted to meet and share with so many new friends. People brought messages from others in recovery, and huge posters and art lined the walls from people who couldn't come to the conference wishing us well and sending their thoughts. The recovery movement around the world is gaining more strength and success daily, and how people are using WRAP is not just creative, but phenomenal!
Philadelphia and Pennsylvania truly gave us a warm welcome, volunteers from their public mental health care system volunteered throughout the conference helping with directions, surveys, and generally getting the logistics worked out for all. Arthur C. Evans, PhD, (photo,) Commissioner of the Department of Behavioral Health and Intellectual Disability Services in Pennsylvania gave us a truly inspirational overview of recovery in Pennsylvania. They're doing great things with peer support and their values and ethics!
The Copeland Center has just issued a position paper on the elimination of seclusion and restraint, and they have started to work with elimination of disease-oriented language and toward natural language along with the values and ethics that help mend a broken system. Anna Mendez of VOCAL presented on an unusual topic that drew a large crowd and applause that shook the building! Lauren Davis and Violet Taylor co-presented on how WRAP values and ethics are used in a locked state facility, and presented the repercussion of using these tools. It was a hit!
VOCAL Offers One Day Conferences
We are happy to announce that we are now able to bring the learning and inspiration of peer conferences to you! VOCAL staff and adjunct presenters will tailor a one-day conference to your groups' interests, in your community.
The following are just some of the topics we can
present, in up to six break-out sessions: WRAP Fundamentals, Advocacy Training (personal or political), Peer Support, The Firewalkers Message, Psychiatric Advance Directives, Personal Wellness Planning, Work and Keep Your Benefits, Peer Advisory Councils, Trauma Informed Care, Starting a Peer Run Program.
The cost is $25 per person, minimum of 40 people, plus presenters' mileage. For more information contact Ann Benner at (804) 343-1777 or by email: ann@vocalvirginia.org
News from the Regions
Western State Hospital and Northern Virginia Mental Health Institute Consumers Meet VOCAL Advocate
by M.C. Violet Taylor, Regional Community Bridger
On August 9, Clyde Hoy and Lyn Hall welcomed Bonnie Neighbour and Mickie Chapman representing VOCAL, Dr. John Henley of WSH, a large contingent of consumers from NVMHI, and another large group of people residing at WSH. The topic of the day was how we can work with the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services to make the Not Guilty by Reason of Insanity release process a fairer, more transparent process, and better experience for all concerned.
Bonnie Neighbour, VOCAL representative and new board member of DBHDS, listened and asked questions about peoples' experiences in the process, and how they've dealt with issues of recovery, packets and legal predicaments. Dr. Henley was a terrific help with explaining the position of staff, and their predicaments with the NGRI process and their perspectives as well. This was an exceptionally rich exchange, and we hope to be meeting again soon.
Our many thanks to the consumers and allies at WSH, and the warm hospitality offered. We were glad to be with you in August, and know we're only a phone call/email away!
Richmond Mental Health Group
Meets in Fan District
The Richmond Mental Health Group meets for support, encouragement and mental health conversation the first and third Wednesdays of each month at 6:30 p.m. The meetings are held at First English Lutheran Church, 1603 Monument Avenue, Richmond 23220. This is at the intersection of Monument Avenue and Lombardy Street, also known as Stuart Circle. Parking is available behind the church, on the first level of the up-ramp in the parking deck. To find the room, enter the building under the awning in back of the church and follow the signs.
For questions, contact Bryan Tunnell at nausns@gmail.com or (804) 641-6164.
Save the Dates! November 9th-10th in Charlottesville for the Statewide Conference sponsored by DBHDS, SAARA and Region IV Evidence Based Practice Implementation Network: "If We Build It They Will Come: Growing Support and Capacity for Peer and Recovery Services". Call Susan Pauley at 804.692.1645 or Rhonda Thisssen at 804.786.2316 for further information.
Valley Association of Support and Empowerment (VASE) is meeting on Wednesday evenings 7:00 -8:30 at Muhlenberg Lutheran Church in Harrisonburg. Group members share recovery experiences and struggles and will learn new skills and techniques to use in their everyday lives.
Central Peer Connect meets on the second Tuesday of each month from 12:30-2 p.m. at Central United Methodist Church, 1211 Porter Street, in Richmond. Won't you join us? Call the Network office at 804.343.1777 for details!
6th Annual Conference, "Nuestras Mujeres": Building Supports for Latina Women
November 18th from 8:30 a.m. to 4:40 p.m.
Registration fee $45
Deep Run Recreation Center, 9910 Ridgefield Parkway, Henrico 23233
To register, visit http://tinyurl.com/3clu6ap
The Latina population includes 20.5 million, which is 13% of the total U.S female population and 48.9% of the total U.S Hispanic population. According to HispanTelligence, Hispanic females in the U.S will reach 51 million by 2050 (an increase of 194% from 2000). Hispanic females will make up 25%of the total U.S female population (estimated to be 213.38 million, with only 48% growth) by 2050. Hispanic women have made significant gains in recent years. The number of Latina women and Latina mothers in the workforce are larger than ever before, the number of Latina owned businesses are booming, and there has been a slight increase in the average earning for Latinas over the past decade.
Despite these successes, Latina women face a number of challenges that can be addressed by organizations who focus strategically on this population. Colaborando Juntos invites you to spend the day focused on the issues facing Latinas today and hearing from nationally recognized speakers on ways that you and your organizations can partner with Latinas to improve services and supports for them.
Recovery in Motion News (Fredericksburg)
The first medical contact for many people who are troubled mentally is their primary doctor like a family practitioner, internist, or obstetrician/gynecologist. These providers usually lack time to discuss the
situation at length and instead tend to prescribe medication or refer to a specific psychiatrist with no follow-up.
Just think! Instead these patients could be referred to a very well informed free confidential interview with
the agency and person who are the acknowledged primo resource experts in the region. There are also support groups, educational series, and self-help workshops available!
So advocacy groups in the Rappahannock
Region in and around Fredericksburg are informing the doctors about more options. The local chapters of Mental Health America and National Alliance on Mental Illness have teamed up to hand deliver packets of information about free quality local mental health resources that patients can utilize. They
have enlisted a physician to sign a cover letter that is individually addressed to each physician as a cover
for each packet of information. (This is to increase the chance that the addressed physician reads it.) And the VOCAL- affiliated group, Recovery In Motion (RIM), which is comprised of graduates of WRAP, are so far providing all of the legwork! That meant hand
deliveries to about eighty physicians in the initial county of Stafford, and about two-hundred to come in the remaining counties and city.
Each handout packet includes customized fliers, posters, and re-printable handouts for patients. Since physicians seem so cautious about mental
health referrals, RIM continues to look for better known local institutions to also support and validate this effort.
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
January-March 2012 newsletter is December 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.
Our new mailing address is 1904 Byrd Avenue, Suite 111, Richmond, Virginia 23230
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