Bridges Teacher Training this Weekend

Here's an e-mail I received yesterday from NAMI,

"Dear future BRIDGES teacher,

We are excited that you want to teach the BRIDGES course! 

Teaching BRIDGES is a unique opportunity to positively affect the lives of others. You know through your own experience the effects of mental illness, as well as the fact that treatment works, recovery is possible, there is hope, and you are not alone! As you teach others, they will come to know this also.

The BRIDGES teacher training will help you gain the skills to be an effective teacher. You will learn techniques to help convey the BRIDGES material and lead the class on an educational journey to further recovery. The information contained in the BRIDGES class is evidence-based. It has been proven to be effective in improving understanding about mental illness and helping participants gain skills toward long-term recovery.

Many BRIDGES teachers express how their lives and recovery have improved by “giving back” through teaching the BRIDGES course.  As you teach, we hope you will also feel the satisfaction of giving back to others the knowledge and skills that have helped you. 

We look forward to working with you!"

This is what I will be doing this weekend! I am extremely grateful for a husband who supports me and a mother-in-law who is willing to help watch my kids! It is through understanding your disease that you are able to be in recovery and live a productive and yes even a HAPPY and JOY-filled life.

Theistic Therapy

There is no such thing as coincidences. I was listening to the radio on Wednesday as I was driving to my mentoring group and I heard something that I wanted to share.  I am grateful that I turned the radio station to Classical 89 and that I was able to listen to this for the whole program. 

After my diagnosis I remember that in the beginning when I received counseling I had some therapists that would address the physchological side of the disease and helped me understand the questions I had about how it affected me spiritually. I will blog more about this in an upcoming post. I have also had therapists who for one reason or another didn't address the spiritual aspect of my life. Because of my beliefs I am very much a spiritual person and I would get extremely frustrated with these therapists. I didn't feel that I could progress and receive the help that I needed. The relationship just didn't work for me or for them. 

This is why I am very grateful for the LDS Family Services that my church provides. (LDS is short for Latter Day Saint another nickname like Mormon, but the full name of my church is The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints). I have been able to work through issues I have had with this disease. My last therapist would occasionally speak with my psychiatrist and to me this is ideal. I recommend having your health care professionals on the same team and working together to determine what would be the best way to care for and help you.

Here is the podcast for that I mentioned. You can also go to their Classical 89's website to listen to other podcasts. They have some called "The Autistic Brain," "Genetic Influences on Behavior," and some others that sounded interesting.

Resources

National Mental Health Association

National Alliance on Mental Illness

National Alliance on Mental Illness—Utah Chapter

Above is a list of websites that can help those diagnosed with mental illnesses and their families. There are classes and support groups available.