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What's New This Week?
VOCAL's Mental Health Recovery
News for May 17, 2012
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Dear Reader,
You are receiving the VOCAL Network Digest because you are on our email list. The Network Digest is a twice-weekly update of mental health announcements throughout Virginia and the nation. If you prefer not to receive these updates, please click the "unsubscribe" button at the bottom of this email. Thank you!
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VOCAL's Annual Member Meeting Scheduled for May 22 at Conference
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Tuesday, May 22 from 1:00-2:30 p.m. in the ballroom of Festival Conference Center on the James Madison University campus.
You do not have to be registered for the Conference to attend the annual meeting.
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The VOCAL E-Digest Will Not Be Issued the Week of May 21st...
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while we are at the VOCAL Conference!
But we will be back on May 29th!
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Northwest Peer Connect to Meet at VOCAL Conference This Monday
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Please join us for a gathering of minds of all peers and friends of NWPC (Region 1) area!
Monday, May 21st at 11a.m. - 12:00 p.m. noon, in Harrisonburg.
This is for folks attending the VOCAL Conference and/or others who want to join just this "Gathering of #1 Minds!"
We will meet on the same campus as the VOCAL Conference (James Madison University). The exact location of the NWPC Gathering will be made available near the VOCAL Conference registration desk.
Special Note: We are looking for someone who can take notes and send out to the team via email within 10 days after our NWPC Gathering. Any volunteers?
For Additional Information Contact: Dee Jacobson, phone: 540-846-6220 or email: dee_jacobson@yahoo.com or email Clyde Hoy at clydefhoy@yahoo.com
The Proposed Agenda for the (Monday) May 21, 2013 NWPC Gathering:
1. Brief introductions and check-ins
(1-2 min. ea. we only have an hour)
2. Identify and acknowledge the efforts of our "Every Day Heroes from
Region 1" from this past year!
3. Take proposals for additional agenda items from the group.
4. Start the Open Dialogue, "Where Do We Go From Here?"
5. Bring closure to the meeting, identifying any needed "Bookmarks" and
set next meeting date/time.
6. All - acknowledge each other's contributions as we depart to the
next great event of the day.
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Got News???
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The next issue of the VOCAL "Network News" will be published in early June. If you have any news from your respective regions that you would like to share, we'd like to hear from you!
Email: yolande@vocalvirginia.org by May 30th
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Position Open for Executive Director at Friends 4 Recovery Whole Health Center
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Part time, no benefits at this time, salary is to be determined
Friends 4 Recovery Whole Health Center is a 100% mental health, consumer run and operated nonprofit organization. We aim to provide an accepting and welcoming environment where individuals with lived mental health experiences can take charge of their own recovery. We offer classes, groups, support, and one-on-one Wellness Coaching for the greater Richmond area. Our board of directors and staff are individuals living in mental health recovery.
The successful Executive Director candidate will have lived mental health experiences and recovery education (CELT, WRAP, Peer Support Specialist preferred). Other characteristics are strong communication and organizational skills. We are looking for an experienced individual who can lead Friends4Recovery in all aspects of running a nonprofit organization including administrative and financial responsibilities, program, fund and staff development as well as be responsible for maintaining an atmosphere of wellness and recovery.
Please submit a cover letter, three references and a resume to: friends4recoveryjob@gmail.com by May 20th. No telephone calls please.
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Mental Wellness Expo: Nurturing a Caring Community
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May 25, 10:00 -4:00 at CitySpace in Charlottesville
Wondering what Charlottesville has to offer when it comes to mental wellness? Expect a day of learning, exchange and community.
We are still seeking exhibitors. Please contact Alice at 434-977-4673 or alicevandersonmha@aol.com at MHA for more information.
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Kenmore Club (Fredericksburg) to Host Yard Sale on June 9th
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Kenmore Club, a program of the Rappahannock Area Community Services Board (RACSB), is hosting a yard sale on Saturday, June 9th from 8:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. Donations are being accepting through Thursday, June 7th. Kenmore Club is located at the
Barbara C. Terry Building, 632 Kenmore Avenue, Fredericksburg.
Funds raised through the annual yard sale support club member activities throughout the year.
For more information or to arrange a donation drop-off, contact Anna Loftis, Kenmore Club Advocate, at asilverberg@racsb.state.va.us or 540-373-7737.
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Mental Health Recovery Including WRAP Workshops
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Hilltop Promises (New Location!)2 East Broad Street in Richmond (23219). Saturdays starting 5/19/12, at 10:00 a.m.
Call about WRAP (Heather 877-925-4777) and learn more about Hilltop Promises' services, including homeless outreach, life skills development and Frog's Place, a thrift and consignment shop by visiting www.hilltoppromises.org.
This will be an ongoing weekly workshop in the heart of Richmond.
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Two Part Time Certified Peer Specialists Sought for Central State Hospital
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Central State Hospital (CSH) is currently seeking 2 part-time Certified Peer Specialists to serve as role models and act as integral members of the Hospital Recovery Efforts. CSH's Certified Peer Specialists will utilize his/her personal recovery experience to instill a sense of hope and optimism for persons in recovery.
This is a great opportunity for motivated individuals who possess a positive attitude and the initiative to implement active Treatment Recovery Groups, including WRAP. Duties consist of developing and implementing consumer councils, conducting in-service training for staff and patients on recovery, and providing leisure/special activities during the day, evening, weekend and holiday programming for both civil and forensic programs.
For more information and to apply go to https://jobs.agencies.virginia.gov/applicants/jsp/shared/position/JobDetails_css.jsp?postingId=640720.
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SAMHSA's Wellness Initiative Training Teleconference: "Freedom from Tobacco: Providing Education to Support Wellness Lifestyle Changes"
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To register: http://promoteacceptance.samhsa.gov/10by10/training.aspx
Tuesday, May 22nd from 3-4:30 p.m.
There is a need to create environments and public policies that enhance safety and wellness lifestyle choices for those who need assistance with smoking cessation, especially people in the mental health and substance abuse services delivery system. Social constructs also need to be created that support the movement of vulnerable persons toward greater levels of healing and wellness that will lead to healthier lifestyle choices. This type of environment may be found within a therapeutic relationship, peer, or mutually respectful relationship, in the larger treatment setting, and within the greater social context of communities.
This training teleconference will give participants the opportunity to hear from some of the people leading tobacco freedom for systems as well as for people with mental health and substance use disorders.
This training will provide an overview of:
- The magnitude of tobacco use among people with mental health and substance use disorders and the related morbidity and mortality;
- The effectiveness of a variety of smoking cessation interventions designed to replace tobacco use with tools for living well, including treating tobacco dependence as a chronic illness by health professionals; and
- A peer initiative that is integrating "trauma-informed" and "wellness-informed" practices on both an individual and systemic level to save lives.
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"Concepts of Recovery" Class at Friends 4 Recovery
Whole Health Center in Richmond
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Friday, May 25th from 2:00 - 3:00 p.m.
9511 Hull Street Road, Suite A
For more information: 804.308.1366
Spanish Line: 804.307.7653
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"Strengthening Our Response for Improved Refugee Mental Health" Conference in Harrisonburg
***************************************************************** Thursday, May 24th from 9:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.
Holiday Inn- Harrisonburg
1400 East Market Street
Harrisonburg, VA 22801
Although refugees benefit from protective factors such as spirituality and strong family support, they face enormous social and economic factors that expose them to higher levels of stress and disadvantage due to poverty, unemployment, lack of English proficiency, discrimination and the trauma associated with the immigrant experience. As many states become more diverse, it challenges providers in the mental health system to adopt culturally competent ways to prevent, diagnose, treat and address barriers to appropriate and timely mental health services. DBHDS will host a free training for mental health providers, refugee staff, volunteers dedicated to exploring critical topics in refugee mental health.
This conference will be offered for FREE under the Office of Newcomer Services -Virginia Refugee Health Prevention Grant and hosted by the Virginia Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services and Virginia Council of Churches, Refugee Resettlement Program.
To register:
http://tinyurl.com/6tsflad
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From the National Coalition for Mental Health Recovery:
People With Psychiatric Histories Gather, Call for Human Rights, Dignity in Mental
Health, and Honesty in Medicine
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On Saturday, May 5, 2012, more than 200 dedicated human rights activists, most of whom had firsthand experience with the mental health system, gathered inside Friends Center in Philadelphia to rally before marching to hold a peaceful protest at the American Psychiatric Association (APA) Annual Meeting. At the APA meeting, a key topic was the controversial proposed new edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders - the DSM-5 - due to be published in May 2013. The activists represented a broad spectrum of opinion and included those who had had positive experiences with psychiatry as well as those whose psychiatric encounters had been traumatic. All were united in opposing the expansion of the DSM-5.
Susan Rogers of the National Mental Health Consumers' Self-Help Clearinghouse, who had helped organize the event, read a statement of support by the National Coalition for Mental Health Recovery, which included the following:
"With each successive edition, the DSM classifies more and more varieties of human suffering and emotional distress as mental disorders. Psychiatric diagnosis does nothing to address the social, economic, and political causes and conditions that have led to our suffering and our being labeled. These include trauma, poverty, abuse, and isolation. If society focused more on the injustices that cause emotional distress, we could do much more to prevent the conditions that get labeled as 'mental illness.'
We are here to promote recovery through respectful mutual support. We envision a new dawn in mental health care, where emotional distress is not met with the one-size-fits-all approach of psychiatry: a label and a pill. Instead, people experiencing emotional distress would have immediate access to peer support, from others who understand because of their own lived experience. Individuals would have the opportunity to move through emotional distress and regain a sense of hope and possibility. People should have access to an individualized array of natural community services and supports to help them address the circumstances that led to their distress. People should have access to healing and wellness, not just maintenance. People should be met with compassion so that they know they belong and that they are embraced by the community. Every human being deserves that.
We look forward to the day when there will be no more need for endless psychiatric classification - when love triumphs over labels and we all, collectively, care for one another. Together, we are bringing that day ever closer. "
Protestors, speakers, and supporters at the May 5 event called for honesty in psychiatry. Robert Whitaker, award-winning investigative journalist and acclaimed author of Anatomy of an Epidemic and Mad in America made some powerful statements in his May 6 talk: "what is the responsibility of medical doctors? It is to be honest about what we know and don't know...we need a form of dialogue, a form of presentation to the public based on what really is known about science, and not what helps sells drugs...we need honesty in medicine."
Whitaker's statement is in accordance with that made by Thomas Insel, psychiatrist and Director of the National Institute of Mental Health, in a May 4 article in the Philadelphia Enquirer. "There is no biochemical imbalance that we have ever been able to demonstrate," he said. This contradicts a long-held scientific assertion, which was embraced by the general public - that mental health issues are caused by so-called chemical imbalances in the brain.
Organizers around the world held events in solidarity with the Philadelphia protest and gathering - in locations from Boston, MA to Flagstaff, AZ to Anchorage, AK; Toronto, Canada; Ireland and the UK.
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Fairfax-Falls Church WRAP® Program Facilitator Training
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June 25th -29th from 9:00 am-4:30 p.m. Presented in partnership with The Copeland Center for Wellness and Recovery
The Fairfax-Falls Church WRAP® Team's Advanced Facilitators will partner with a Copeland Center trainer to provide the program's first Mental Health Recovery Educator and WRAP® Group facilitator training. For those interested in becoming a WRAP® facilitator this training will help you gain a deeper understanding of the recovery process and learn to:
· work with people to help them uncover their personal strengths and discover how they can use these strengths to support their recovery and wellness
· effectively share the key concepts to recovery: hope, personal responsibility, education, self-advocacy, and support
· work with individuals and groups to develop a Wellness Recovery Action Plan,
· teach about wellness tools and strategies
· empower and motivate people to work toward recovery - feeling the way they want to feel, making their lives the way they want them to be, and moving toward meeting their life goals
· use interaction and presentation styles and strategies that enhance recovery
This course models the behavior of a facilitator in a WRAP® class and stresses authenticity and unconditional high regard, as well as a strong set of values and ethics to guide your work.
The training is available to peers who have completed of one of the following; A Copeland Center Correspondence Course, a 2 or 3 day WRAP® Course/Workshop, an 8 or 12 week WRAP® Workshop/Group.
(Scholarships are available for a limited number of individuals living in Fairfax County or the Cities of Falls Church or Fairfax) Individuals from other areas are encouraged to apply. The COST of the training is $900 and does not include your travel, lodging or expenses.
Plan for five full-days (9 am - 4:30 pm) of training from June 24, 2012 through June 29, 2012 in Fairfax, VA. Applications are available on the Team's website HERE.
You can also access an application by going to the following web address: http://fairfaxfallschurchwrap.com
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"Living WRAP" Webinar on Thursday, May 24th from 2-3 p.m.
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Join Mary Ellen Copeland as she explores how people use WRAP daily as their guide to recovery and wellness. Her presentation will include stories that she has gathered from people around the world who use WRAP; stories that illustrate the challenges of using WRAP, and the power of WRAP in helping people to improve the quality of their daily lives and to go on to meet their own goals and dreams.
Click here to register: https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/778361768
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"Strengthening Our Response for Improved Refuge Mental Health"
******************************************************** The Department of Behavioral Health (DBHDS) is having a one day conference - "Strengthening our Response for Improved Refuge Mental Health", in Harrisonburg on May 24th, the day after the VOCAL conference. The DBHDS conference is free, and though registrations are limited, there are still several spots open. Click this link http://tinyurl.com/6tsflad for more information and registration. The conference is from 8:30-4:00. In addition to workshops about cultural awareness, suicide prevention, substance use among refuges, specific refuge populations, and language considerations, there will be a showing of the movie, "CAN." Many of us have met Can Truong at Alternatives Conferences over the years. This movie tells the story of his recovery journey as a refuge and as a leader in the national mental health civil rights movement. This movie has been nominated for the 2012 SAMHSA Voice Awards
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Mental Health Promotion:
Utilizing "Live Your Life Well" in the Community
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On Thursday, May 24, Mental Health America will present an informative webinar on "Live Your Life Well". Live Your Life Well is a set of 10 tools anyone can use to promote their mental health and live healthy lives. Learn about the tools and the ways the Mental Health America of East Central Florida have incorporated them into their organization's work.
2:00 p.m. to 3:30 p.m.
This webinar is free but registration is required. Register here: http://fifthfreedom.org/u/gc
For questions or more information, contact email ssteverman@mentalhealthamerica.net or call 703.684.7722. Learn more about Mental Health America and the work they do at http://www.mentalhealthamerica.net/ . Learn more about Live Your Life Well at http://www.liveyourlifewell.org/
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phone:
804-343-1777
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DISCLAIMER: This page is offered strictly for informational and support purposes. We assume no liability whatsoever for any consequences arising out your use of information or connections provided through any of the above organizations. VOCAL does not necessarily agree with information provided by these organizations, their websites, members or other affiliations.
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