Michigan Anti-Stigma Trainings or 2009

From DCH:

Join one or both workshops, they are free! A training class is
scheduled at a location near you and here are the dates and locations:

1.      February 26, 2009 – Crowne Plaza Hotel, Novi

2.      March 23, 2009 – Lake Michigan College, Benton Harbor

3.      March 24, 2009 – Radisson Plaza Hotel, Kalamazoo

4.      June 2, 2009 – Best Western Franklin Square, Houghton

5.      June 3, 2009 – Quality Inn & Suites, Sault Ste. Marie

6.      June 29, 2009 – Residence Inn, Pontiac

7.      August 11, 2009 – Holiday Inn, Alpena

8.      August 12, 2009 – Best Western River Terrace, Cheboygan

9.      September 9, 2009 – Thomas Edison Inn, Port Huron



Time:   10:00 am to noon – Creating and Developing an Advance Directive

       1:00 pm to 3:00 pm – Overcoming Stigma and Developing Healthy Self-Esteem



Below is the link to download the brochure or to register online: http://www.macmhb.org/Description/AdvancedDirectivesAntiStigma.html



Who should attend: Primary consumers, staff and family members.



There is no fee for these trainings, space will be limited and
pre-registration is a requirement. If you would need to cancel once you
are registered, a written cancellation notice is requested. It will
assist us with meal counts and would allow others to be able to attend
if they were placed on a waiting list.



If you have any questions please contact Chris Smith.



We look forward to seeing you at one of the listed locations.



Chris Smith

Training & Meeting Planner

Phone: 517-374-6848

Email: csmith@macmhb.org

Christmas Eve Forced Schock for Ray Sandford

From Mind Freedom:

Ray Sandford phoned the MindFreedom office this morning, as he does

most days.



As you probably know, Ray has received about 35 involuntary

electroshocks. MindFreedom's Ray Campaign has activated hundreds of

people like you to support Ray. This won Ray national publicity and a

new hearing last week.



Ray gave me the bad news that the judge ruled against him. Again.



That means Ray is scheduled for another of his every-other-Wednesday

involuntary electroshocks tomorrow, 24 December 2008.



Christmas Eve.



Ray says, "I'm really disappointed in that." Ray thought that maybe

his family's holiday get togethers would delay this week's forced shock.



But Ray said that instead of the gathering, "I'll be having tacos

with my aunt tonight to celebrate Christmas."



So tomorrow morning Ray will be woken up early in his group home, and

escorted to a forced shock.



Ray told me this morning:



"It's a painful awful experience. Every time. It takes away memory

viciously. It is scary as hell every time I go."



Ray says he always objects.



"I say, 'I don't want to do this, I don't want to do this,' which

I've known since the first time. Everyone figures I'm totally nuts."



Ray is not giving up.



So we are not giving up.



We ask that you not give up.



Eye-witnesses at Ray's hearing, held in a dreary hospital basement,

knew he did not have much of a chance.



Ray's court-appointed attorney, Jon Duckstad, refused to call any

expert witness to testify for Ray's side. (See MFI Blog for more on

the hearing.) Mr. Duckstad has refused to respond to any offers of

help from MindFreedom, including a number of skilled attorneys we've

found who offered to assist for free.



Ray is keeping his spirits up.



Ray is so grateful to MindFreedom members and supporters for speaking

out. Ray is proud that even a relative in Alaska heard him oppose his

forced shock on National Public Radio (click on http://

www.mindfreedom.org/ray to hear that, and read more about Ray).



I am deeply impacted by Ray's ongoing psychiatric torture out in the

community.



All abuse is bad, but severe outpatient abuse is traumatizing to all

of us, like me, who have experienced mental health system human

rights violations. It means none of us are safe, even in our homes.



So this e-mail is not one more alert. We'll do another alert soon.



This is a brief note from the heart. This is a note of appreciation

to all who support MindFreedom's campaigns.



This is also encouragement for an end-of-the-year membership to

MindFreedom International, which is tax-deductible.



You may donate securely online, or find other ways to donate by

phone, fax or mail, by clicking here:



http://www.mindfreedom.org/join-donate



Your reading MFI public alerts is helpful. Please take the next step.



If you have not already a member, become one today. If you are a

current member, please renew early. Or if you are a lapsed member,

please renew now, for as generous amount as you can.



As an activist coalition, MindFreedom is independent of government

and mental health system funding. Especially during tough times,

every member is crucial.

Mental patients isolated for years despite laws

From Washington Post:

Mental patients sprinkled throughout the nation's psychiatric
hospitals are being locked up alone for years despite laws aimed at
preventing the practice, because medical workers say they're too
dangerous to handle any other way.

Health officials call them outliers _ rare, unpredictably violent
people who don't respond to medication or other treatment. Advocates
call them victims of a system that has lost patience and creativity in
caring for those who are most difficult to treat....

The laws and court rulings don't cap the consecutive days a patient can
be isolated or restrained, though, so hospitals can hold a patient
indefinitely by simply signing off on it every 24 hours....

For More....

Hi, and WELCOME to Florid!

from florid.org.uk:

FLORID is a website run by mental health service users for people who
have experienced mental health difficulties. It’s a website which aims
to bring together information relating to mental health in a way that
is user-friendly and simple.



Our mission is to provide a place where anyone who has ever been
affected by mental health issues can feel safe, and can share
experiences and opinions without fear of judgement or criticism.

For More...

Day to Day covers Ray Sandford's ect

From Minn. NPR:

St. Paul, Minn. -- Ray Sandford has been getting electro-convulsive

treatment, also known as electroshock and ECT, since the end of May.

For Ray, the process works like this. Every week or two he is taken

to a hospital, where a medical technician attaches electrodes to his

head and delivers electrical current into his brain. The current

causes a seizure.



For reasons that doctors still don't quite understand, some patients

with severe depression or mania get better after having ECT.



But the potential benefits don't matter to Ray. He says he dreads the

shocks and wants them to stop.



"It's scary as hell," he said.



Ray is 54 years old, with a receding hairline and a salt-and-pepper

beard. He walks with a cane and his hands shake slightly, a side

effect from some of the medication he's taking, he says.

For More:

Locked Wards ‘Harm Patients’

From Charlottesville Prejudice and Civil Rights Watch:

The
locking of mental health patients into their wards in NHS hospitals
makes them more likely to be violent, harm themselves and refuse
medication, new research shows.

Treating
people with depression, schizophrenia or manic moods as if they were
prisoners is designed to promote safety, but increases the risk of them
attacking nurses or fellow patients, according to the study by London’s
City University....

For More....

Brilliant, thoughtful critique of psychiatry

From Beyond Meds:

I have excerpted from a very long article from the Psychiatric Times,
the below paragraphs. I strongly urge people to read the whole thing,
but if you need a taste of what David Kaiser MD is saying read the
below paragraphs. This is the best critique of psychiatry I’ve read
from a practicing psychiatrist. It was written over a decade ago but
the reality on the ground remains disturbingly exactly the same:.....

For the Excerpt....

Recovery Is An Individual Process: Mental Health Services From A Consumer Perspective - Podcast

from Medical news Today:

Talking about the effectiveness of mental health services from the
consumer's perspective, Michael Bouwman spoke to Prof Brenda Happell.
Participants noted that personal improvement was not always the result
of medical intervention: support and social connectedness was seen as
most important, as well as medication, spirituality and in some cases,
cigarettes.


The development of individually tailored crisis management plans, which
incorporate a broad range of therapies that assist an individual
through the recovery process, was noted as! beneficial.


Visit Podcast page with transcription and additional details


Listen to Podcast

For More...

Coerced Medication Used In Psychiatric Care Despite Lack Of Clinical Evidence

from Medical news Today:

Researchers are calling for more studies into the practice of forcing psychiatric
patients to take medication, after a research review showed that there have been
very few rigorous investigations of the procedure.

For More....

Mindfulness-based Cognitive Therapy very effective for depression

From Beyond Meds:

I’m a big believer in meditation to treat any psychiatric disturbance
and have a couple of recovery stories of people who just used
meditation in order to heal from deeply entrenched mental illness.....

For the stories and More....

Expert or Shill?

from NY Times:

More evidence has emerged of appalling conflicts of interest that throw
into doubt the advice rendered and the research performed by two
prominent psychiatrists who have received substantial funding from the
pharmaceutical industry......

Earlier this year, Congressional investigators discovered that Dr.
Joseph Biederman, a world-renowned child psychiatrist at Harvard
Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital, had failed to report
to Harvard at least $1.4 million in income from drug companies, in
violation of the university’s conflict-of-interest guidelines.

Now,
internal drug company e-mail and documents that surfaced in a lawsuit
have sketched out what looks like an unsavory collaboration between Dr.
Biederman and Johnson & Johnson to generate and disseminate data
that would support use of an antipsychotic drug, Risperdal, in
children, a controversial target group.

For More.....

To be or not to be: professional or consumer?

from Beyond Meds:

I had a sobering experience the other day which makes me wonder
about how I will proceed when I move on with my career. I was not “out”
when I practiced social work and I was highly regarded and respected in
general. The one instance where I did out myself I was treated like
crap and badly.

The other day I made a comment on a blog of someones who is very
well known in the internet world as a “bipolar expert” but this person
themselves is a consumer who is also pro-pharma and in general in tight
with the pharma hos that control this world.

For more of this interesting post, go to Beyond Meds.....

Will Ramstad have role in Obama administration?

from MinnPost.com:

WASHINGTON, D.C. — After 18 years in Congress, Minnesota Republican Jim
Ramstad is going out on a high. But thankfully not the kind of high
that marked the lowest point in his life, when he woke up in a Sioux
Falls, S.D., jail cell 27 years ago in an alcoholic stupor.
 
He
was a 35-year-old state senator at the time, charged with disorderly
conduct and resisting arrest after a night of drinking. It wasn't the
first time he'd blacked out during 12 years of abusing alcohol, a habit
that began during his senior year in college. But he was determined to
make sure it was the last time.
 
He decided to stop drinking
and to devote his life to helping others recover from chemical
addiction, which he says is a matter of life and death for nearly 30
million Americans.

The decision launched him on a crusade that has culminated with the
enactment of landmark legislation he championed to give recovering
alcoholics like himself and those with mental illnesses in their
families the same access to health insurance and treatment as those
with physical illnesses.
 
The legislation, officially the "The
Paul Wellstone and Pete Domenici Mental Health Parity and Addiction
Equity Act of 2008," was passed by Congress and signed into law by the
president on Oct. 3, as the 110th Congress recessed for the fall
elections before returning for a final lame duck session this week.

If we have to go back to nursing homes we will lose the will to live. Living on my own I have the responsibility to take care of myself. I'm free from dictators. I can go anywhere I want to go. I can go to bed when I want to.

from Pennsylvania Mental Health Issues:

I never cease to be amazed at how many people will come up with fear
based reasons for not allowing a mental health related building to be
in their neighborhood.  I’ve seen first hand what these people can be
like, and as a mental health consumer, it is both frustrating and
degrading to hear that I’m not wanted in someone’s neighborhood because
I happen to have a mental illness.   I commend those who are willing to
stand up and say that they have had no problems with other similar
facilities, I only wish there were more like you out there. At any rate
I found this in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette it was printed on November
20, 2008 it can be found in it’s original format at the following
address …. http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/08325/929149-55.stm

The Lives They Left Behind

from suitcaseexhibit.org:

When Willard Psychiatric Center in New York's Finger Lakes closed in 1995, workers discovered hundreds of suitcases in the attic of an abandoned building.  Many of them appeared untouched since their owners packed them decades earlier before entering the institution.

The suitcases and their contents bear witness to the rich, complex lives their owners lived prior to being committed to Willard.  They speak about aspirations, accomplishments, community connections, but also about loss and isolation. From the clothing and personal objects left behind, we can gain some understanding of who these people were before they disappeared behind hospital walls.  We can picture their jobs and careers, see them driving cars, playing sports, studying, writing, and traveling the world.  We can imagine their families and friends.  But we can also see their lives coming apart due to unemployment, the death of a loved one, loneliness, poverty, or some other catastrophic event.

Mental Health Consumer Providers: A Guide for Clinical Staff

from Rand (of all places):

Consumer providers (CPs) are individuals with serious mental illness
who are trained to use their experiences to provide recovery-oriented
services and support to others. There are several demonstrated benefits
to employing CPs: They can serve as role models, voice and broker the
needs of consumers, provide information and motivation, and mentor
others (including potential CPs). CPs can have a variety of roles,
including, among other things, assisting clients, providing support
services (such as skills assistance and transportation), providing
liaison services, dispelling possible stigma or bias toward clients,
and augmenting overburdened mental health systems. Despite these roles
and benefits, there are also challenges to and misconceptions about
employing CPs, such as staff concerns, organizational issues, and
perceived barriers related to the abilities and competence of CPs. As
mental health providers turn to CPs to augment current services, it is
useful to review these issues through the lens of hiring and
integrating CPs into provider teams. This guide is intended to be an
easy-to-use reference for agencies that are seeking to strengthen or
expand consumer involvement, employers who are considering hiring CPs,
consumers who are interested in applying for CP positions, and
advocates for CP involvement in mental health care. The information and
recommendations presented here are the result of interviews with
relevant stakeholders at Lamp Community, a Los Angeles-based nonprofit
serving the mental health needs of the homeless and formerly homeless;
interviews with national experts; and a review of current literature on
the subject.

Free, downloadable PDF file(s) are available below.

Full Document

(File size 0.5 MB, 2 minutes modem, < 1 minute broadband)

Kennedys meet with Bush at White House

from SouthCoastToday.com:

Sen. Edward Kennedy and other key lawmakers who
championed mental health parity legislation met Thursday with President
Bush at the White House for a ceremonial signing.

Kennedy,
D-Mass., and his son, Rep. Patrick Kennedy of Rhode Island, were part
of the private Oval Office event. GOP Sen. Pete Domenici of New Mexico
and Rep. Jim Ramstad of Minnesota were also on hand.

The
Oval Office event was a ceremonial signing of the Paul Wellstone and
Pete Domenici Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act of 2008
that prohibits discriminatory restrictions on mental health and
addiction treatments. Wellstone is the former Minnesota senator who
championed the bill for many years before his death in a 2002 plane
crash.

Brainline,org

from Brainline:

This site is supported by the Defense Centers of Excellence.  It is intended to support veterans and other people with brain injuries, ptsd, and other issues.  Lots of stuff!

Nursing home administrators face an unexpected ethical (and legal) dilemma when admitting new residents to skilled nursing care. The Nursing Home Care Act undercuts a traditional notion of informed consent in such a way that many residents may be admitted to a nursing home without ever consenting to treatment, or having a meaningful surrogate consent to their treatment. This is clearly an issue of nursing/medical ethics, as well as a font of potential legal liability for providing unauthorized care. American health care law is predicated on the notion of patient autonomous-direction. Within this notion exist a number of inter-linked rights: the right to self-determination, the right to give consent before treatment, the right to information forming the basis of consent and many others. Curiously, in senior care, as in perhaps no other major area of American health care law, the status of patient autonomous direction, especially with respect to consent before treatment, is less sacrosanct, the exceptions more numerous. This is especially true in the legal quagmire of involuntarily placing adults in nursing homes. I am most familiar with the Illinois Nursing Home Care Act and it will thus form the background of this discussion, but the Illinois Act is not dissimilar to Nursing Home Care Acts in many other states, at least inasmuch as the acts address the issue of involuntary admission. Clearly involuntary admission of a resident to a nursing home presents moral and ethical issues most families are not experienced in dealing with, not to mention attendant feelings of guilt for the family members and likely betrayal for the patient herself. However, for the health care provider, the nursing home, the struggle is a balance between determining the self-interest rights of the resident and the interests in rendering care.

from MindFreedom:

First the good news.

Within days of MindFreedom launching its Ray Campaign
on 7 November 2008 to stop the weekly involuntary outpatient
electroshock of Ray Sandford, his doctor has decided to "skip a
Wednesday."

Ray says that this coming Wednesday, 19
November 2008, for the first time in months, Ray will not be escorted
against his will, under court order, from his Minnesota home out in the
community to his 34th involuntary outpatient electroshock.

So there's a reprieve for Ray.

For one week.

The
bad news is that Ray's doctor said Ray's forced outpatient
electroshocks will resume on Wednesday, 26 November 2008, the day
before the USA holiday of Thanksgiving.

Ray said his involuntary shock will then continue every other week.

We
don't know if the one-week reprieve is because of the MindFreedom
campaign, but we know MindFreedom News readers are having an impact.

Since the MindFreedom first alert went out nine days ago, on 7 November 2008:

Lawmakers, Advocacy Groups Call For Elimination Of Two-Year Waiting Period Before Disabled U.S. Residents Can Qualify For Medicare

from Medical News Today:

Lawmakers and more than 75 disability advocacy groups have begun
lobbying Congress and the future administration of President-elect
Barack Obama to eliminate the wait time the disabled face in qualifying
for Medicare, the AP/San Francisco Chronicle reports (Alonso-Zaldivar, AP/San Francisco Chronicle, 11/12). Current rules require a two-year waiting period for people the Social Security Administration has deemed too ill or disabled to work before they are eligible for Medicare benefits (CongressDaily, 11/12).

According to the AP/Chronicle,
at any given time, about 1.5 million people who are disabled are
waiting to qualify for Medicare coverage. About 40% are uninsured at
some point during the waiting period and 25% are uninsured during the
entire two-year period, the AP/Chronicle reports. While
some people rely on Medicaid in the interim, others "end up depleting
their savings on private insurance and medical bills," according to the
AP/Chronicle (AP/San Francisco Chronicle,
11/12). In some cases, "the gap in coverage leads patients to forgo
treatment, resulting in more expensive care after insurance kicks in,"
according to Lee Grossman, president of the Autism Society of America (CongressDaily, 11/12).

Among the groups supporting the elimination of the wait period are the American Cancer Society, the Alzheimer's Association, the National Association of People with AIDS, the National Multiple Sclerosis Society and the Medicare Rights Center. In addition, Senate Finance Committee Chair Max Baucus (D-Mont.) has said he supports ending the waiting period (AP/San Francisco Chronicle, 11/12). Legislation
Rep. Gene Green (D-Texas) and Sen. Jeff Bingaman (D-N.M.) are sponsoring companion bills (HR 154, S 2102)
that over 10 years would gradually eliminate the waiting period and
would establish a system to immediately grant coverage to people with
life-threatening illnesses, the AP/Chronicle reports. Green said, "Every year, we'd reduce it by a few months, so we get down to a level that's manageable for folks."

Bingaman
and Green are hoping to get their bills included in a larger health
care overhaul package that Obama likely will pursue once in office. If
attaching the bill to a larger package is unsuccessful, Green and
Bingaman plan to introduce the bills independently, according to the AP/Chronicle (AP/San Francisco Chronicle, 11/12).

Green
said that funding is the largest impediment, adding, "We haven't
crossed that bridge yet to see where we'll get the offsets. That will
be something we'll have to deal with" (CongressDaily, 11/12). According to the AP/Chronicle,
researchers estimate that eliminating the wait period in one step would
cost about $9 billion annually, which is why Green and Bingaman have
proposed a gradual elimination. The AP/Chronicle reports that the cost would be offset in part by a $4 billion savings from Medicaid (AP/San Francisco Chronicle, 11/12).

Follow up on MindFreedom’s action alert against Ray’s involuntary ECT

from MindFreedom:

One of the toughest times is when I talk to someone who is about to have involuntary electroshock. 

Ray Sandford talked to me before his involuntary electroshock the other day. And then again today, Wednesday afternoon, I talked to him after his electroshock. 

He told me he was told today was his 33rd electroshock in this series, which may mean he has been receiving "maintenance" electroshock for more than six months. 

Meanwhile, Jeremy in our office found an example of a court order in 2002 in Minnesota precisely on involuntary  electroshock. While client personal information was removed, and it does look legitimate, we did not get this directly from the court so we cannot vouch for its authenticity. 

Judge for yourself:

http://www.healthyplace.com/Communities/Depression/ect/news/minnesotaforcedshock.asp

Note that in number 3 of the "facts" is the statement that persistent memory loss can be "fully mitigated" by relearning information, a totally unscientific statement. Of course, plenty of scientific studies show that even newer types of electroshock can result in persistent memory problems that are impossible to "fix." That a finding of "fact" in a court order could be so bizarrely unscientific shows the astounding power imbalance for people on the receiving end of electroshock, who often lack aggressive and professional legal representation.

Art plays vital role in recovery

from The Times-Herald.com:

Michael McCartan said he hopes he's stretching his acting experience.

McCartan, director of St. Clair County Community Mental Health
Authority, plays greedy banker Henry Potter in the CMH Players' stage
production of "It's a Wonderful Life."

The acting group is one of
the arts programs offered by Community Mental Health, said marketing
coordinator Jim Bloch, who has produced each of the group's seven plays
since it was formed in 2004.

"For years I've been reading about
the impact of art on people with mental illness," Bloch said. The
actors are a mix of CMH staff, community actors and consumers -- or
users -- of the agency's services.

The plays always have been
well-received in St. Clair County, Bloch said, but this is the first
time both St. Clair County shows -- Thursday night and tonight -- sold
out before opening night. Additional performances are scheduled in
Lapeer and Sanilac counties.

Bloch said he wants the experience to have a good effect on the actors.

The Art of Recovery: Exhibit explores other side of trauma through art

from Traverse City Record Eagle:

TRAVERSE CITY -- They say, "no man is an island, no man stands alone."

In an effort to demonstrate this in a tangible form, Northern Lakes
Community Mental Health will present its second annual "Art of
Recovery: The Human Journey" art show.

"I had the idea that really as humans we all kind of share this
universal experience that everyone suffers, we all go through something
that's traumatic," said Shawn Semelsberger, 23, one of the original
organizers of the event.

"I know for a fact that most people are going to go through trauma
in their life or have experienced trauma," she said. "There's all these
different things that humans experience and that having to go through
something and recovering from it and that process is not unique to
someone that has a mental illness."

She said the art show is designed to bring people together who have
suffered and survived traumas like cancer, family death, rape, domestic
abuse, divorce or other such losses.

Renovate, add artists and create energy

from Freep.com:

Put creative people on blighted blocks and good things start to happen.
In post-Katrina New Orleans, for example, young artists are leading a
cultural uprising. The KK Projects in the long-neglected St. Roch
neighborhood have turned dilapidated houses into contemporary art
installations.

No disrespect to the Big Easy, but no place has more creative juice
than the D. Southwest Housing Solutions Corp., a nonprofit that has
developed 400 units of affordable housing, is building on that energy
at one its southwest Detroit projects.

After buying the Whitdel, Southwest Solutions asked the Contemporary
Art Institute of Detroit to help restore the building. The exchange led
to a partnership. CAID now uses the 1,500-square-foot Ladybug Gallery
in the basement for exhibitions, including video art, sculpture,
paintings and drawings. A ceramic studio will provide art education and
workshops to neighborhood children and other residents.

CAID also
makes tenant referrals. Whitdel is open to anyone with an income of no
more than 60% of the area median, or $29,300 for a single person. But
Southwest Solutions seeks painters, musicians, writers, sculptors and
other artists. They now occupy 10 of the units and make the place
special.

SUSAN TUSA/Detroit Free Press

Gerald
Butler plays his flute in the Whitdel's lobby, where he says the
acoustics are great. The apartments in the newly renovated building in
southwest Detroit have become home for several artists.

When I first walked into the lobby last month, tenant Gerald Butler,
a 53-year-old flutist, was playing "Amazing Grace." He played it from
the heart. For the first time in his adult life, he has a real home.

Butler
feels blessed but, after a lifetime of letdowns, accepting the good can
be as hard as facing the bad. The one-bedroom apartment he moved into a
month earlier was still practically empty. Most of his stuff sat in a
shelter and he was almost afraid to move it. After decades of living on
the streets and in homeless shelters and relatives' basements, Butler
still couldn't believe his new life would last.

"You're almost afraid to hope," he told me. "I can't believe that last February I was on the street, freezing."

Butler,
who has battled alcoholism and mental illness, learned to value his
life and take responsibility for it. He works as a street outreach and
peer support specialist and also as a musician in his five-piece
Recovery Band. He has played around the state, including performances
at the Gem Theatre and Detroit Yacht Club. Clean for 13 years, Butler
now earns enough to make the $455-a-month rent.

About PTSD From Punishment Used As “Treatment” In People With Autism But Applicable to Punishments Used As “Treatment” In People With Psychiatric Labels

from CHARLOTTESVILLE PREJUDICE AND CIVIL RIGHTS WATCH:

As we learn to listen to people with autism, to their families and to their friends, evidence is growing that, in certain extreme circumstances, behaviors typically explained away as newly-emerged symptoms of the person’s autism may in fact indicate something else: Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, or PTSD.

The general public may have heard of this disorder occurring among Vietnam veterans, Bosnian civilians, or even the young witnesses to the recent spate of schoolyard shootings. In the book Trauma and Recovery (NY: Basic Books, 1992), Judith Lewis Herman, M.D., describes the origins and consequences of PTSD:
“The human response to danger is a complex, integrated system of reactions, encompassing both body and mind. Threat initially arouses the sympathetic nervous system, causing the person in danger to feel an adrenalin rush and go into a state of alert. Threat also concentrates a person’s attention on the immediate situation. In addition, threat may alter ordinary perceptions: people in danger are often able to disregard hunger, fatigue, or pain. Finally, threat evokes intense feelings of fear and anger. These changes in arousal, attention, perception, and emotion are normal, adaptive reactions. They mobilize the threatened person for strenuous action, either in battle or in flight.

As Dr. Herb Lovett observed, “People who have been hurt in the name of therapy may not understand their plight any differently than survivors of cult abuse or sexual abuse. A common feature of post-traumatic stress syndrome is the flashback in which a person acts as if a memory is present reality…. every time they recall their previous maltreatment, unless their panic and rage are recognized as a function of stress, they are likely to be further stigmatized as `impossible to serve.’” (p. 208, Learning to Listen, 1996).

::

STIGMA, how it hinders recovery.

from Hearing Voices Networks Australia:

The Stigma around hearing voices, in particular Schizophrenia is severe. the SANE guide to stigma states

“Stigma causes harm in lots of ways… It blights the life of people with mental illness, cause stress and unhappiness in the lives of their friends and families too, and damages society as a whole.”

It discourages help seeking, makes recovery harder, and promotes discrimination.

A New Zealand in depth report called “FIGHTING SHADOWS” on the excellent Like Minds Like US site, outlines these effects in detail. Not only does the stigma manifest in the way others treat those diagnosed with an illness, but can have a devastating effect on the people who “accept the stigma”. That is Selfstigmatise. Beleive the stigma, and thus lose all hope. The research says this

“

Self-stigma is an issue that most people with experience of mental illness would recognise, seeing it either in themselves or in other people. It is generally believed that self-stigma arises from internalising the negative messages and behaviour that people with experience of mental illness receive from others. In other words, the concept of selfstigma seems fundamentally and inextricably linked to the concept of discrimination”

Human Rights Alert: Involuntary Electroshock

MindFreedom International -- 7 November 2008
Human Rights Alert: Involuntary Electroshock
http://www.mindfreedom.org - please forward

   If it's Wednesday, then Ray Sandford is Getting
   Escorted from His Home for Another Forced Electroshock

   Minnesota Resident Gets Involuntary Electroconvulsive
   Therapy (ECT) On A Weekly Ongoing *Outpatient* Basis

   ACTION: How You Can Easily E-mail Minnesota Governor

   by David W. Oaks, Director, MindFreedom International

The past Wednesday morning after the historic USA election what were
you doing?

I know what Ray Sandford, 54, was doing.

Each and every Wednesday, early in the morning, staff shows up at
Ray's sheltered living home called Victory House in Columbia Heights,
Minnesota, adjacent to Minneapolis.

Staff escorts Ray the 15 miles to Mercy Hospital.

There, Ray is given another of his weekly electroconvulsive therapy
(ECT) treatments, also known as electroshock. All against his will.
On an outpatient basis.

And it's been going on for months.

Ray says the weekly forced electroshocks are "scary as hell." He
absolutely opposes having the procedure. He says it's causing poor
memory for names such as of friends and his favorite niece. "What am
I supposed to do, run away?" Instead, Ray phoned his local library's
reference desk to ask about human rights groups, and the librarian
referred him to MindFreedom International.

Ray called me at our office here at MindFreedom International about
two weeks ago. At first I wasn't sure I believed him.

Of course, MindFreedom International has documented proven cases of
electroshock against the expressed wishes of the subject all over the
world, including in the USA. MindFreedom succeeded in having the
United Nations World Health Organization call in writing for a global
ban on all involuntary electroshock.

But this is the first time I've been on the phone with someone
getting court-ordered forced shock while living out in the community,
on an outpatient basis.

This is the ultimate double whammy.

I confirmed Ray's story by calling two staff at Victory House as well
as his court-appointed conservator, Tonya Wilhelm of Luthern Support
Services of Minnesota.

Ms. Wilhelm said, "We are following the letter of the law." She said
the State of Minnesota had secured a variety of court orders that
require Ray to have forced electroshock against his expressed wishes.
Ms. Wilehlm says it's all legal and she can't do anything about it.

Krista Erickson, chair of MindFreedom's Shield Campaign, sees it
differently. "This is terrible. This is a serious human rights
violation that should stop. I hope MindFreedom members and supporters
speak out. Even if Minnesota is following the letter of the current
law, the law ought to be changed. And Ray has not had the legal power
to appeal to higher courts."

I pointed out to Conservator Wilhelm that the public -- when they
find out about forced electroshock -- is passionately opposed to
their taxpayer money being used to force such brutality on citizens.
Ms. Wilhelm did let slip that what is happening to Ray -- involuntary
outpatient electroshock -- is not that uncommon in Minnesota.

But when Ms. Wilhelm found out we at MindFreedom are issuing one of
our public human rights alert to you and others, at Ray's repeated
request, she said something chilling.

Ms. Wilhelm claimed she had a legal right to stop MindFreedom!

Ms. Wilhelm told me, "Only I can give you permission legally to say
anything publicly about this."

I pointed out we are not a medical facility, and that if she falsely
claims we're doing anything illegal then this is defamation. Which
really is illegal.

Ms. Wilhelm laughed loudly in the phone, said "let our lawyers talk,"
and hung up on me. I hope she hung up to read the First Amendment.

Let's disobey Ms. Wilhelm!

Spread Ray's alert far and wide! Speak out against this electrical
torture, now!

Because... Remember... While the world marvels at the power of USA
democracy:

If it's Wednesday morning, then Ray Sandford is being led from his
home -- which is supposed to be his castle -- to get another weekly
forced procedure that can cause brain damage and wipe out memories.

- David W. Oaks, Director, MindFreedom International

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Mind your freedom. Disobey Ray's conservator now!

Forward this alert to all appropriate places on and off the Internet,
IMMEDIATELY!

And take the *below* actions. Thank you. Ray and I are counting on you!

~~~~~~~~~~~~

     * * * ACTION * * * ACTION * * * ACTION * * *

You can do this in a moment. It's free! DO IT NOW!

E-mail your firm but polite message to Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty.

SAMPLE MESSAGE -- your own words are best:

"Investigate the weekly involuntary outpatient electroshock of Ray
Sandford. Every Wednesday morning, MindFreedom says Ray is brought
from Victory House in Columbia Heights, Minnesota to Mercy Hospital
for forced electroshock. Stop all forced electroshock today! Taxpayer
money should not fund torture!" [Your name/contact.]

E-mail address: tim.pawlenty@state.mn.us

Or use this handy web form:

http://www.governor.state.mn.us/contacts/Forms/askthegovernor/index.htm

or this link:

http://tinyurl.com/mn-governor

~~~~~~~~~~~~

     * * * ADDITIONAL ACTIONS TO SUPPORT RAY! * * *

1) E-mail a complaint to Luthern Social Services of Minnesota (LSSMN)
about Ray's conservator.

Sample message:

"Investigate allegations that LSSMN employee Tonya Wilhelm tried to
stop a public human rights alert by MindFreedom International about
her client, Ray Sandford, who is receiving weekly outpatient
involuntary electroshock at Mercy Hospital in Minneapolis. If
verified, please reprimand, fire and replace Ms. Wilhelm, and please
place this in her permanent personnel record. Please support human
rights." [Your name/contact.]

Use LSSMN's web page:

http://www.lssmn2.org/contact_lss.htm

Or phone Luthern Social Services at: (218) 726-4888

You can copy your message to headquarters of The Evangelical Lutheran
Church in America (ELCA):

info@elca.org

 From ELCA's web site about their church: "It’s a story of a powerful
and patient God who has boundless love for all people of the world,
who brings justice for the oppressed."

More at:

http://www.elca.org/What-We-Believe.aspx

2) E-mail a complaint to Allina Hospital and Clinics, owner of Mercy
Hospital.

Sample message:

"Investigate allegations that your patient Ray Sandford of Victory
House is receiving involuntary outpatient electroconvulsive therapy
against his will each Wednesday at Mercy Hospital."

Use this web page:

http://www.allina.com/ahs/help.nsf/page/contact

Or phone: (763) 236-6000

3) Ray is open to visitors and supportive postal mail:

Ray Sandford
Victory House
4427 Monroe St.
Columbia Heights, MN 55421-2880 USA

MindFreedom will print out and mail to Ray some of your e-mail
messages to the Governor and others, and put some on the web. E-mail
a copy of what you write to news@mindfreedom.org.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

AND ONE MORE THING!

Say "no" to mental health system censorship!

Disobey Ray's conservator now!

PLEASE forward this public human alert to all appropriate places on
and off the Internet, IMMEDIATELY! Thank you!

~~~~~~~~~~~~

More info:

See the latest news and updates at the MindFreedom website at:

http://www.mindfreedom.org

Plenty of data on electroshock on the MindFreedom web site, click here:

http://tinyurl.com/zapback

Watch upcoming blog entries by David W. Oaks, MFI Director:

http://www.mindfreedom.org/mfi-blog

~~~~~~~~~~~~

NONVIOLENTLY ZAP BACK against forced electroshock!

NOW are you ready for nonviolent revolution in mental health?

Join, renew, and support MindFreedom TODAY!

Be part of the MFI Fall 2008 Support Drive, click here:

http://www.mindfreedom.org/join-donate


Norman DeLisle, MDRC
"With Liberty and Access for All!"
GrandCentral: 517-589-4081
MDRC Website: http://www.copower.org/
LTC Blog: http://ltcreform.blogspot.com/
Recovery: http://therecoveringlife.blogspot.com/

Early Experiences of Employing Consumer-Providers in the VA

from Psychiatric Services:

OBJECTIVES: Following guidelines in the mental health strategic plan of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), VA began in 2005 to fund a number of new positions for consumer-providers (CPs)—that is, individuals with personal experience of serious mental illness who provide support services to others with serious mental illness, typically as clinical team members. This study explored the challenges of CP implementation in its early stages within the VA. METHODS: Four focus groups were conducted with a total of 59 VA CPs and 34 VA supervisors from across the United States. Group notes were coded by using a modified grounded theory approach to generate themes. RESULTS: Data from the groups suggest that hiring and employing CPs within VA has been feasible, beneficial, and acceptable to a majority of teammates. CPs reported experiencing some role confusion and resistance and fears among professional staff about how CPs would fit in. The authors make three recommendations on the basis of the focus group findings. First, CPs, traditional staff, and administrators need to be adequately prepared so that CPs can be effectively incorporated into clinical teams. Second, training for CPs varies widely, and efforts should be made to determine the best training package. Third, systems that are considering using CPs should establish a continuous quality improvement system to help evaluate CPs' performance and patient outcomes and to gather data to improve the knowledge base about CPs and their functions. CONCLUSIONS: CPs provide a wide range of recovery-oriented services and are valued by staff and consumers.

Beyond Generic Support: Incidence and Impact of Invalidation in Peer Services for Clients With Severe Mental Illness

from Psychiatric Services:

OBJECTIVE: This study explored experiences of validation and invalidation among clients with severe mental illness in treatment with either peer providers or traditional providers.

RESULTS: Mixed analysis of variance showed that communications from and interactions with providers were perceived to be more validating than invalidating by clients in treatment with peer providers than by those in treatment with traditional providers.

CONCLUSIONS: Peer providers, who reveal their experiences of mental illness to their clients, were perceived to be more validating, and their invalidating communications were linked with favorable short-term outcomes. Both peer and traditional providers sometimes express disapproval of clients' attitudes, values, or behaviors—a form of invalidation. This study found that early in the course of treatment peer providers may be effective in fostering progress by challenging clients' attitudes, values, or behaviors.

This story of mental illness -- and recovery -- is still being told

from seattlepi.com:

OLYMPIA -- Stephanie Lane saw the man arrive out of the corner of
her eye, and despite the warmth in the room, she felt a fleeting
shiver, the familiar bone chill of recognition.

The man had a sleeping bag tucked under one arm, a couple of hard
days' worth of stubble on his street-ruddy face, a vaguely hunted look.
He appeared in search of something -- a shower, a hot meal and
something else -- something less tangible. Something that resembled a
chance.

Lane, a program director with the state's mental health division,
had arrived a few minutes earlier at the Capital Clubhouse -- a drop-in
center and job-training program for people with mental illness. Chic in
black, with a toss of strawberry blond hair and sea foam-green eyes,
Lane is funny and smart, articulate and engaging. She was perched at a
lunch table in the common area discussing grant proposals when the man
walked in.

She interrupted her meeting to greet the stranger in the room.

"I'm Stephanie," she said, sticking out her hand. "I've been where you are."

They shook on that, a gesture that sealed a pact that is at once
Lane's job responsibility and her personal mission -- to help people
like herself navigate their way out of the morass of mental illness.

Recovery Movement in a Secure Facility

from St. Martin's:

St. martin's in England has residents with forensic involvement as well as a mental illness. The web site poses the possibility of recovery activity in such a facility and has  a public website created by the residents. They are currently planning a film festival, and have some of the parts of the festival on the website.

Fighting Shadows

from Mission Resource Site:

Fighting Shadows: Self-Stigma And Mental Illness:Whawhai Atu te Whakamâ Hihira incorporates the experiences of 76 men and women from around the country; including Pakeha, Maori, Pasifika, Chinese, young people and refugees.
This study, produced by the Mental Health Foundation was launched on 9th July, 2008.It shows that "negative messages about mental illness in society shape and reinforce attitudes people hold toward themselves,” said Judi Clements, Chief Executive of the Mental Health Foundation of New Zealand. “These attitudes hold people back from full participation in society, and create a cycle of internalised stigma, or ‘self-stigma’" 
Participants in the study described experiences of isolation, self-doubt, rejection by family and peers, and pessimism about their prospects of recovery.
However, participants also identified actions or ‘circuit-breakers’ to counter discrimination and negative thought patterns. These included: more visibility of people with mental illness, building peer support networks, affirming human rights, challenging negative attitudes, and encouraging mental health services to focus on recovery.
The full report can be read online. It's also available in book form, from the Mental Health Foundation.

Barriers to Trauma-Informed Mental Health Systems: Beliefs and Medical Necessity

from Trauma Transformation Peer Support:

One of the challenges for implementing a trauma-informed system is an issue of etiology – that is, the etiology of mental illness.

I know: debating cause of mental illness is not very helpful, especially when I just want peer support. Debating cause isn’t helpful when I am trying to learn how to work again, or trying to get up enough courage to go to the gym full of strangers, or stop hating myself. But I’m afraid that we will have to share uneasy proximity to the question because it is the often unspoken decision people have already made about what causes mental illness that has created so many broken state mental health systems. What we believe about the illness informs the services the system provides.

Archived Trainings on Stigma from SAMHSA and other stuff

From Mental Health News You Can Use:

Spotlight: Archived Training Teleconferences

The ADS Center recently conducted two successful training teleconferences: “Mental Health & Women in the Military: Promoting Social Acceptance and Inclusion” and “Addressing the Challenges of Medical Providers in Treating Persons with Mental Health Issues.” These calls were recorded and are available for playback.

Mental Health & Women in the Military: Promoting Social Acceptance and Inclusion

This training:

• Explores research on women in the military, mental health, and feelings of fear and shame that keep women from seeking care
• Provides an overview of strategies that may help promote acceptance and understanding and reduce negative attitudes in the military related to women, mental health and trauma issues

To access the archived recording via telephone:

1. Call the free playback dial-in number: 1-800-262-0844
2. When prompted, enter the reference number: 154837#
3. Click here to access the presentation files.

Addressing the Challenges of Medical Providers in Treating Persons with Mental Health Issues

This training:

• Describes what research shows about  the challenges providers face in providing general and mental health care to persons with mental health problems; and  the challenges, including attitudinal barriers, persons with mental health problems face when attempting to get quality mental and general health care from providers who do not specialize in mental health.
• Offers first-hand accounts from individuals about their health care experiences with health care providers—both of what worked and what didn’t work.
• Provides an overview of strategies that may help providers to develop accepting, recovery-focused attitudes that help to improve the diagnosis and care of persons with mental health problems.

To access the archived recording via telephone:

• Call the free playback dial-in number: 1-800-262-0844
• When prompted, enter the reference number: 155359#
• Click here to access the presentation files.

Online Resources

The 10 by 10 Pledge for Wellness  
The early mortality rates of people with serious mental illness – up to 25 years life lost – have recently received much-needed attention. This disparity in life expectancy is unacceptable.  People with serious mental illnesses deserve to live as long and healthy lives as other Americans.  The 10 by 10 Pledge for Wellness  was the result of a two-day meeting, sponsored by the Center for Mental Health Services (CMHS) of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, to develop a coordinated and strategic action plan to promote wellness and reduce early mortality. Take action to prevent and reduce early mortality by 10 years over the next 10 year time period by joining the 10 by 10 Pledge for Wellness.  

Building Bridges: Mental Health Consumers and Primary Health Care Representatives in Dialogue
In March 2005, CMHS sponsored a dialogue between consumers of mental health services and representatives of various sectors of the primary health system. In an effort to develop improved mutual understanding, respect, and partnerships, the two dozen participants accomplished the following:

• Identified issues involving mental health consumers and their experiences with primary care providers, including those that both hinder and help recovery; and
• Developed recommendations regarding attitudinal shifts and systems transformation that can lead to improved mental and general health care responses to people with mental illnesses by primary care and mental health providers.

The findings and recommendations from the dialogue are summarized in this publication.

Get it Together: How to Integrate Physical and Mental Health Care for People with Serious Mental Disorders
Get it Together examines model programs for improving integration and coordination of behavioral health and primary health services for adults and children with serious mental health problems who rely on the public mental health system for their care. It summarizes findings of a series of studies and offers recommendations for policymakers.

A Guide to Mental Wellness in Older Age: Recognizing and Overcoming Depression
The purpose of this toolkit is to help older adult mental health consumers, in partnership with their health care providers, identify and treat late-life depression. This recovery kit contains a series of fact sheets and resource material to help individuals recover from mental illness and maintain mental wellness.

Institute for Wellness and Recovery Initiatives, Collaborative Support Programs of New Jersey (CSP-NJ)
The Institute for Wellness and Recovery Initiatives of CSP-NJ (Institute) promotes and provides innovative, state-of-the-art services aimed at creating wellness, recovery and economic self-sufficiency for persons living with disabilities. Their online newsletter contains a wealth of information on wellness and mental health.

Wellness Summit

from Center for Psychiatric Rehabilitation:

As many of you know, the early loss of life by people who use mental health services has resulted in a variety of initiatives to improve our health through wellness programs of various kinds. One source of a great deal of information is the archive from the Wellness Summit. Here is a list of the papers and presentations from the Summit:

Papers & Presentations

The following pre-conference briefing documents were commissioned by CMHS/SAMHSA to guide the Summit's deliberations and provide input into the development of a national action plan:

Improving the Health of Mental Health Consumers: 
Effective Policies and Practices
Text Only Version, Rich Text Format 
Anita Everett, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine; Jay Mahler; Janet Biblin; Rohan Ganguli, University of Pittsburgh; and Barbara Mauer, MCPP Healthcare Consulting, Inc.
Effective Policy and Practice - slides
Text Only Version, Rich Text Format

Data to Manage the Mortality Crisis
Text Only Version, Rich Text Format 
Ron Manderscheid, Constella Group; Benjamin Druss, Emory University; and Elsie Freeman
Data to Manage the Mortality Crisis -slides
Text Only Version, Rich Text Format

The Quest for Optimal Health: Can Education and Training Cure What Ails Us? -slides
Text Only Version, Rich Text Format 
Peggy Swarbrick, Collaborative Support Programs of New Jersey; Dori S. Hutchinson. Boston Center for Psychiatric Rehabilitation; and Kenneth Gill, University of Medicine and Dentistry, New Jersey
The Quest for Optimal Health: Can Education and Training Cure What Ails Us? -paper
Text Only Version, Rich Text Format

The following are presentations delivered at the Summit:

Opening Remarks
Text Only Version, Rich Text Format
A. Kathryn Power, CMHS, SAMHSA

Defining Wellness: Key Elements, Principles and Barriers
Text Only Version, Rich Text Format
Sarah Linde-Feucht, Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion

Promoting Wellness on the Individual Level
Text Only Version, Rich Text Format 
Lauren Spiro, National Coalition of Mental Health Consumer/Survivor Organizations

Morbidity and Mortality in People with Serious Mental Illness 
Text Only Version, Rich Text Format 
Joseph Parks, National Association of State Mental Health Program Directors, Medical Director’s Council

Promoting Wellness for Mental Health Consumers: The Role of Primary Care
Text Only Version, Rich Text Format 
Benjamin Druss, Emory University

National Wellness Summit for People with Mental Illness: Federal Initiatives 
Text Only Version, Rich Text Format 
Ken Thompson, CMHS, SAMHSA

Promoting Wellness - Saving Lives
Text Only Version, Rich Text Format 
Linda Rosenberg, National Council for Community Behavioral Health

Health and Wellness in the Future for People with Mental Illness
Text Only Version, Rich Text Format 
Barbara Mauer, MCPP Healthcare Consulting Inc.

Promoting Wellness at Academic and Research Settings
Text Only Version, Rich Text Format 
Rohan Ganguli, University of Pittsburgh

Ernie Reynolds, advocate extraordinaire!

from Northern Lakes:

We are proud to share that Ernie Reynolds was one of the featured speakers at theMichigan Association of Community Mental Health Boards fall conference. Ernie is a Certified Peer Support Specialist at Northern Lakes and has a great deal of experience with public speaking and advocacy.

Ernie has oftentimes been heard to say that if he can help just one person each day, it was a good day.  This presentation, and the many other presentations he has made in his advocacy career, was extremely effective and helped many, many people – so it must have been a tremendous day for Ernie!

Barber: Creativity, spirituality aid recovery

from Nonpareil Online:

He was a high-achieving high school student who became a pre-med student at Harvard University.

Suddenly, he couldn't handle it anymore and dropped out.

Charles
Barber, who was later diagnosed with obsessive-compulsive disorder,
felt overwhelmed by "an endless stream of worries" and fears that he
had committed terrible, violent acts that he hadn't committed.

Barber,
keynote speaker at the 14th annual Spirituality and Mental Health
Conference held Thursday at New Horizon Presbyterian Church, worked
with mentally ill people in New York City homeless shelters for 10
years. Now a senior administrator in social services and lecturer in
psychiatry at Yale University, he has since written about his
experiences in those shelters. The title essay in his first book,
"Songs from the Black Chair," won a 2006 Pushcart Prize.

MDRC Open House and Board Meeting on October 24

Michigan Disability Rights Coalition will hold an Open House from Noon to 3 PM on October 24, 2008, followed by a public Board Meeting at 4 PM on the same day. Our Office location is:

3498 E. Lake Lansing Road, Suite 100
East Lansing, MI 48823

Our phone number is 517-333-2477.

How Does Self-disclosure affect people

from Laurel Isquith:

http://download.ncadi.samhsa.gov/ken/pdf/SMA08-4337/SelfDisclosure_50p.pdf
 (50 pages, attached)

New Report Examines Mental Health Self-Disclosure

The Center for Mental Health Services recently released a new
monograph
entitled "Self-Disclosure and its Impact on People who Receive Mental
Health Services."  The negative public attitudes associated with mental
illnesses are one of the most persistent problems individuals face. The
research on addressing discrimination and prejudice has shown that
individual's attitudes improve when they have direct contact with
persons with mental illnesses, when they can get to know people beyond
labels and myths.  Such approaches rely on individuals disclosing their
past mental health service use.  This report examines the power of
self-disclosure, the benefits and costs associated with revealing one's
mental health problems, and issues of disclosure in employment settings
and by mental health providers.  Recommendations are offered to further
examine this topic and considerations are presented for individuals who
are contemplating self-disclosure.

Staffers At Workforce Training Organization Know Mental Illness

from The Hartford Courant:

Donna Duda might not be the first person who comes to mind when you think of a job coach.

Diagnosed with agoraphobia and three disorders — panic, obsessive compulsive and post-traumatic stress — Duda, of East Hartford,
hadn't held a full-time job since 1988. After working part time for a
couple of years, she only recently went back to work full time at Focus
on Recovery United in Middletown.

"My coping skill was suicide," said Duda, who would tell herself, "If I can't get through it, I can do that any night."

Duda and the other staff members at FOR-U, a nonprofit support
organization, have similar stories. They've been institutionalized or
homeless, battled drug or alcohol addiction. Most never expected to
work again.

But because of the staff's experience with mental illness, FOR-U was
chosen to run a new state program aimed at helping people dealing with
mental illness or other problems get hired. The program, called the
Connecticut Recovery Employment Consultation Service (C-RECS), will
teach those dealing with mental illness or other problems about the
Americans With Disabilities Act, help them with interviewing skills and
resumes, and maintain a website with a list of available jobs in the
behavioral health field.

Evalutating Programs to Improve Social Acceptance of People with Mental health Issues

Evaluating Programs to Improve Social Acceptance
of People with Mental Health Issues

SAMHSA’s Resource Center to Promote Acceptance, Dignity and Social Inclusion Associated with Mental Health invites you to register now for a free teleconference training titled, "Evaluating Programs to Improve Social Acceptance of People with Mental Health Issues."

Date: Tuesday, October 21, 2008
Time: 2:00 PM - 3:30 PM (Eastern Time)

To register for this training teleconference, please click here for our registration page.
Please pass this invitation along to interested friends and colleagues. Please note: Registration for this teleconference will close at 5:00 p.m., Eastern Time, on Friday, October 17, 2008.

We will email the telephone number for the training teleconference to all registered participants on Monday, October 20, 2008.

Training Summary

Most programs to promote social acceptance and address public perceptions of people with mental health problems are not evaluated for two primary reasons; (1) there is a knowledge gap regarding how to develop and conduct evaluation efforts and (2) there are a lack of resources (both human and financial) available to most groups and organizations who run stigma reduction activities and programs.
This training will:

• Demonstrate how to evaluate programs, and provide opportunities for linking with individuals who have conducted evaluations of similar efforts.
• Explain the types of things to be considered when developing, planning, and conducting evaluation activities.
• Explain how you may work with evaluators for little or no cost.
• Provide information on collaborating with various universities for help with evaluation design issues that will help generate better results.

Send in Your Questions

We invite you to send in your questions related to evaluating programs to improve social acceptance of people with mental health issues in advance of the teleconference. Speakers will answer as many questions as possible during the teleconference. Please send your questions by e-mail topromoteacceptance@samhsa.hhs.gov.
Please note that sending a question does not guarantee its inclusion in the teleconference. We will provide the speakers' contact information so that you may pursue your answer after the call. If you provide your name and organization at the time you ask your question, we may use it during the call. Anonymous questions also can be submitted.

Training Sponsor

This teleconference is sponsored by SAMHSA's Resource Center to Promote Acceptance, Dignity and Social Inclusion Associated with Mental Health (ADS Center), a project of the Center for Mental Health Services (CMHS) of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The session is free to all participants.


Norman DeLisle, MDRC
"With Liberty and Access for All!"
GrandCentral: 517-589-4081
MDRC Website: http://www.copower.org/
LTC Blog: http://ltcreform.blogspot.com/
Recovery: http://therecoveringlife.blogspot.com/
Change: http://prosynergypsc.blogspot.com/

Free Audio-Net Training on Self-Employment

CMHS CONSUMER AFFAIRS E-NEWS 3 OCTOBER 2008
_________________________________________________________________

You are cordially invited to

TOPIC:      Self-Employment: One Road to Recovery, An Avenue for Transformation DATE:        Tuesday, 21 October 2008 TIME:         10:00 AM - 11:30 AM (EDT)

Learn strategies to support self-employment for mental health consumers

and why entrepreneurship makes sense for some people and their recovery

The training will address the following:

• Demonstrating how entrepreneurship is related to recovery and the supports needed for successful consumer entrepreneurship,
• Providing an overview of a successful program for emerging entrepreneurs, and 
• Using Supported Employment to help consumers start their own businesses.

Presenters

• Mary Blake, SAMHSA/CMHS
• Morris Tranen, Reaching Independence Through Self-Employment (RISE, Inc.)
• Jeanne Michelle (entrepreneur), Range of Emotion
• Robert Burns, Division of Rehabilitation Services, Maryland State Department of Education

To register for this event:

• Go to the URL:  https://www.mymeetings.com/emeet/rsvp/index.jsp?customHeader=mymeetings&Conference_ID=1095798&passcode=1673322

• Choose “”Web RSVP” under “Participant Join” and enter the conference number and passcode:

CONFERENCE NUMBER: 1095798
PASSCODE: 1673322

• Provide your information for the event leader and then click submit.

Norman DeLisle, MDRC
"With Liberty and Access for All!"
GrandCentral: 517-589-4081
MDRC Website: http://www.copower.org/
LTC Blog: http://ltcreform.blogspot.com/
Recovery: http://therecoveringlife.blogspot.com/
Change: http://prosynergypsc.blogspot.com/