Paul Currington is a storyteller and former comic. He hosts and produces one of Seattle’s longest-running storytelling shows Fresh Ground Stories. As a member of The Stability Network, he uses stories and humor to help people talk about mental illness
Visit the Fresh Ground Stories blog here.
Deborah Geesling, founder of P82 Project Restoration, has a heart for those with serious mental illness. Her family experience has given insight into the serious gaps in the mental health system.
As her advocacy developed, she readily identified housing as being one of the top barriers to obtaining a life with dignity. P82 Project Restoration is an organization created to fulfill the dream of opening a Christ centered home for people who suffer with chronic mental illness.
Her advocacy work has led her to speak at conferences, testify on government panels, and be mentioned in a number of publications.
Tony knows her personally through the Advocates for People with Mental Illness Facebook group.
Topics include:
How has her son’s mental illness impacted her faith development?
How did her advocacy develop?
What is the mission of P82 Project Restoration?
What does healing mean to you?
Shownotes:
P82 Project Restoration – Deborah’s organization
Clearing in the Distance by Witold Rybczynski – book Eric mentioned about landscape architect, Frederick Law Olmsted
Advocates for People with Mental Illness Facebook group – Tony and Deborah participate in this active conversation
Tony and Eric have one-on-one discussion on the Wounded Warriors Project and an experience Eric had with his father around Father’s Day.
The episode features insights from over 100 responses to “What Does Healing Mean to You?” from the 2018 Heartland Conference. Themes emerged from the responses, framing healing as:
Shownotes:
Tribe by Sebastian Junger. Eric discusses in context of soldier’s returning from tours of duty
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Next Episode:
Deborah Gleesing from P82 Project Restoration
Cameron has been an attorney since 1984. Cam is on the other side of the abyss of a major depressive episode in 2013, feeling better in many ways than he ever has. The Founder and CEO of Stout Heart, Inc., a 501c3, Cam speaks publicly to students, professionals, church congregations, and other groups about his resilient recovery from severe depression, and his seven years of sobriety.
Cam’s timely message is simple and powerful: Mental health conditions are just that, health conditions, not weaknesses. They are not our fault, and there is tremendous hope for ongoing recovery and effective management of these challenges.
Cam discusses ways to identify and address mental health and addiction issues in the workplace, in schools and in places of worship.
Cam is married and a very proud father of two adult children.
Topics include:
What was his experience growing up with a father who was alcoholic?
What role has Stout Heart, Inc in supporting other lawyers and students?
Forming “SEAL” teams- Supportive, Energizing, and Loving- to help maintain mental health
Describes how Electoconvulsive Therapy (ECT) helped him through a time of severe depression
What does healing mean to you?
Shownotes:
Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation – Drug and Alcohol Rehabilitation
Stout Heart, Inc. – Cam’s Non-Profit
The Stability Network – Mental health advocacy group where Cam and Eric met
Listening to Prozac – The landmark book about antidepressants and the remaking of the self (1997)
Next Episode:
Tony and I discuss responses they received from over 100 people to the question: “What Does Healing Mean to You?”
Should we promote mental health or combat mental illness?
Can we do both?
In this bonus episode, Eric and Tony engage in critical dialogue about the purpose and priorities of mental health advocacy. Eric leans more in the direction of such groups as Mental Health America promoting mental health by combating stigma, as represented in this quote:
This year marks Mental Health America‘s 70th year celebrating Mental Health Month! In 2019 we are expanding upon last year’s theme of #4Mind4Body and taking it to the next level, as we explore the topics of animal companionship (including pets and support animals), spirituality, humor, work-life balance, and recreation and social connections as ways to boost mental health and general wellness.
(from the Mental Health America, May newsletter)
Tony, on the other hand, sides squarely with groups and individuals who believe the best, and perhaps only way to promote well-being is to combat serious mental illness through improved treatment and rigorous research.
May is being celebrated as Mental Health Awareness Week or Month (MHAW or MHAM). In celebration, well-intentioned advocates are hosting events they think reduce the “stigma” of mental illness. But they are inadvertently perpetuating it….
.. MHAW public service announcements never feature the homeless psychotic, eating out of garbage cans, sleeping in cardboard homes, and living with festering wounds under layer after layer of filthy clothes, or those locked behind bars or in institutions. Why? The stigma advocates fear that showing the most seriously ill will create stigma. But trying to gain sympathy for mental illness by only displaying the highest functioning, is like trying to gain support for ending hunger by only showing the well-fed.
(from “Why I Don’t Celebrate Mental Health Month” by DJ Jaffe) Jaffe is Executive Director of Mental Illness Policy Org., and author of Insane Consequences: How the Mental Health Industry Fails the Mentally Ill.
Which side are you on? Is it possible to be on both? How can we learn from each other? Listen and see.
Dawn Adams is the Community Relations Director with Food 4
Souls. Her focus is on researching and aligning resources that allow
Food 4 Souls to assist those who are ready to move into a life beyond homelessness. She is also responsible for cultivating donor partnerships, working with individuals in recovery and working with local organizations, churches and youth programs for community outreach projects.
When she is not working, she enjoys traveling, visiting the local coffee shop and spending time outside with her dog. Dawn currently resides in Fisher’s, IN with her husband and twin girls and attends Heartland Church.
Topics include:
What led her to making the decision to work full time in ministry to the homeless?
How does she handle referrals to mental healthcare providers?
How has her perception of the homeless changed over her 7 years in ministry?
How has working with homeless helped Dawn heal?
What does healing mean to you?
Shownotes:
Key Ministry – Inclusion Fusion Conference – Conference Tony attended
Friends of Pollinator Parks – Eric’s Pollinator Park Facebook group
Brighter Days – Homeless shelter in Columbus, IN
Next Episode:
Cameron Stout from Stout Heart, Inc.
Kevin Moore is the Director of the Indiana Family and Social Services Administration, Division of Mental Health and Addiction (DMHA). He was appointed Director on January 1, 2012, and leads the public mental health and addiction treatment system.
He was appointed after serving as Assistant Director for DMHA for 2 years, directly supervising the operations at each of the state psychiatric hospitals as they integrated the values and goals of the recovery model.
Kevin worked 24 years with the Department of Correction in a variety of direct service and administrative positions.
Topics include:
How has his job changed since the opioid epidemic became a national problem?
How does he balance his twin responsibilities of supporting mental health and addiction treatment?
Is addiction a mental illness?
How do you bridge the divide between church and state in encouraging support from the faith community?
What does healing mean to you?
Next Episode:
Dawn Adams from Food 4 Souls ministry in Indianapolis, IN
Enjoy our first Healing Stories episode, featuring our guest from episode 22, Amie Carey.
Amie does an excellent job modeling the personal storytelling that we want to be the trademark of Healing Stories.
For more on Amie, her podcast “A Girl I Know”, and her advocacy efforts, please find her at www.agirliknow.org
I spent a long time on Ash Wednesday sitting in the candle light considering what I would dedicate myself to until Easter. I remembered 3 years ago I had chosen silence and solitude. That experience resulted in a weekend silence retreat and much contemplation of the power of language.
I have decided to do a similar practice this year.
Recently, I’ve noticed the momentum of bringing stress from work into my home. The drive from work to home is less than 3 miles and sometimes involves continued phone calls related to work. Without that transition time, the stress and attention to work may continue unmitigated. It is a bad habit, creating unintended stress for my family.
With this in mind, I chose to transition from work to home by going into my basement to spend time in intentional silence when I get home. The time in silence has proven throughout my life to serve as a reset. The resulting prayer and meditation leads me into a much more mentally healthy experience.
After a time in silence and focusing on my relationship with God, it is much easier to bring that sense of peace into my relationships with people.
I look forward to dedicating myself to silence and solitude.
Welcome to Season 2 of Revealing Voices!
Amie Carey is a mother of 3 from NYC who is passionate about changing the conversation around child and adolescent mental health. She has been an advocate for families in crisis for about 5 years. Amie wrote a blog about her family’s experience which then morphed into a podcast called “A Girl I Know” to share her story with a broader audience.
Her oldest daughter, Violet, has struggled with behavioral challenges from a very young age. It has changed her perspective on children, mental health, and stigma.
The decision for Violet to participate in wilderness therapy and the impact it has had on the family is the focus of the episode.
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Topics include:
Describe the experience of wilderness therapy for adolescents.
How did family and friends respond to decision for Violet to participate in this form of therapy?
What changes has Amie witnessed in Violet after her wilderness experience?
Why did Amie decide to start a podcast?
How was the decision made with Violet to share the family’s story publically?
What does healing mean to you?
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Shownotes:
NATSAP – National Association of Therapeutic Schools and Programs
Second Nature Wilderness Family Therapy
“The Journey of the Heroic Parent” book by Brady M. Reedy. One of Amie’s favorite books on parenting.
“On Writing: A Memoir on the Craft” by Stephen King. Mentioned as an excellent book about creativity
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Next Episode: Kevin Moore, Director of State of Indiana’s Division of Mental Health and Addiction (DMHA)