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January 01 2016

Living with Mental Wellness

Author Susan Vaught Categories Blog, Continuing Education, Diversity In Practice, Information About Peer Specialists, Mental Health and Wellness, Resources for Interns 0 Comments

I have a group about living with mental illness on Wednesdays, and as a group, we decided to rename it to “Living with Mental Wellness.”  One of the things we discussed was taking the power away from our mental illnesses.  In the beginning, before, during, and right after diagnosis, mental illness can hijack our very existence.  We are basically just existing.  It is a routine of doctors’ visits, runs to the pharmacy, therapy, victories, and failures…lots of failures.

 

Once the medicine is balanced and a person is satisfied with his or her doctor, what comes next?  A person has been going to therapy a while, the medicine seems to be working, and overall, he or she is doing much better.  There are only so many hours a person can watch television without falling back into depression.  What was once time spent struggling to be healthy, is now a bunch of empty time, and the individual has no idea what to do, except isolate.

 

There comes a time, however, when it is possible to find that one thing that releases us.  To one man in the group, it was his grandson.  After his grandson was born, he found he had a reason to work harder toward making healthy choices.  Others in the group didn’t share exactly what their one thing was.  Maybe they didn’t have one yet.   It doesn’t have to be a person.  It doesn’t have to be a job.  It can be a pet.  It can be volunteering for a non-profit organization.  It could just be something like singing in the church choir.  If a person living with a mental illness can find something to fill all the square footage in their lives that the mental illness used to rent space in, changes can happen.

 

Rebecca Coursey, KPS
Peer Support Specialist

 

 

December 12 2015

Individual Autonomy and Peer Support

Author Susan Vaught Categories Blog, Information About Peer Specialists 0 Comments

 

 

This is a note from a personal perspective:

 

I have studied the Peer Support Training Manual from front to back.  I know the evidence-based practices involved.  It is something that I must practice daily so to override my instinctual reactions to people and issues.  I am a mother-er.  Even before I had kids, I was the mother-er to my friends.  You don’t have to be a mother to be like this.  You don’t even have to be female.  You are just the type of person who wants to fix things and people.

 

I have always been the one there to listen to problems.  The issue is that I want to put a bandage on everything and make it better.  I want to fix things.  I’m afraid if my son played football, I’d be the parent running on the field every time he was tackled saying, “Oh! Are you okay??” and embarrass him. Thankfully, he doesn’t play football.

 

Peer Support isn’t counseling and I’m not allowed to give a lot of advice.  The premise is to be an affective listener; it is to ask open-ended, honest questions.  Peer Support has to allow the individual the autonomy of choosing his or her own path.  Even if I am not sure that they are ready to work, if they say they want to work, I am to point them in directions where they can get more information, or just be their advocate.

 

If you are like me, you want to surround the person in bubble wrap and protect them from the world.   People, however, deserve the chance to live a “self-directed life.”  Parents, family, and mental health workers mean well when trying to protect the person from the world, but every human has a right to try to reach his or her own full potential…and to try to reach their dreams.

 

As a Peer Specialist, it has been tough not being able to just say, “Well, you can do this or that, and it would solve your problem!”  It has been tough not getting out my package of band aids to “fix” things.  It is hard not being able to “mother” or “parent” the patients, because I do care about them a great deal.  Every person deserves the ability to succeed or fail.  Everyone deserves a shot at flying from the nest.  It is a skill that I’ve had to learn.

 

Rebecca Coursey, KPS
Peer Support Specialist

November 11 2015

Understanding Peer Support as a Profession

Author Susan Vaught Categories Blog, Continuing Education, General Information, Information About Peer Specialists, Resources for Interns 0 Comments

“Recovery is a process of change through which an individual improves one’s health and wellness, lives a self-directed life, and strives to reach their full potential.” This is the current definition of “Recovery” according to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). It is a broad definition, but an inclusive one.  Full potential varies from person to person.  Living a self-directed life can be tough.

 

What is the role of Peer Support in promoting this definition?  For the most part, Peer Specialists are in what is called Recovery.  It was once mandatory that the specialist be in recovery for two years which meant out of the hospital and with active and successful self-care.  Now, because of the demand of these certified people, the rules have become a little more forgiving for those wanting to reach out to others in order to help promote hope.  There is no definitive time frame that an individual must wait to be a Peer Specialist.

 

Peer Support is reciprocal.  The specialist tries to use the skills he or she has learned to help those struggling, but the act of supporting another person helps the specialist out as well.  It gives a purpose and a reason to interact with other people.  It reminds one what is was like to be in that vulnerable time when first diagnosed; the difficulty in finding the right medication and support is a roadblock to many, and Peer Specialists know that and understand.

 

Peer Support has been shown to help in the process of recovery for those with serious mental illness.  Some Peer Specialists work exclusively with those struggling with substance abuse problems. There are also programs for specific populations, including Veterans.  With the requirement of continuing education, Peer Specialists must stay on top of current issues concerning mental health.  The program is quickly spreading in popularity, especially since it is now Medicaid billable.  For any questions, or if you know of a patient that may eventually enjoy providing such services, just let me know.

 

Rebecca Coursey, KPS
Peer Support Specialist

September 09 2015

What is being in “Recovery”?

Author Susan Vaught Categories Information About Peer Specialists, Resources for Interns 0 Comments

I talk a lot about “recovery” as a Peer Support Specialist, as do many in our place of work.  We have a “Recovery Mall,” but defining recovery is difficult.  It means so many different things to different people.  Each individual has his or her own goals.  My recovery may seem too simplistic or too grandiose.  It also depends on from what we are recovering.  What does that even mean?

 

The working definition from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services (SAMHSA) is at the bottom of my email messages: “Recovery is a process of change through which individuals improve their health and wellness, live a self-directed life, and strive to reach their full potential.” No matter what organization, governmental or grassroots, the definition has similarities.  The running theme is that the person is able to control his or her own life.  He or she takes charge of their own wellness and reaches toward goals.  It is a process though, not a clear destination that can just end.  It’s also definitely not a straight line from point a to b.  To borrow from the Beatles, “It’s a long and winding road.”

 

Recovery is a journey for which each of us must arrange our own transportation.  We can’t have our hands held the entire way.  At some point, it is a decision.  Once a spark of hope is ignited, a person goes from being constantly helped, to taking charge of their life.  That was my recovery point.  I spent years being helped; I went to my doctors and dwelled on my illnesses.  I identified so strongly with my illnesses, that my identity was lost.  Once I decided to cross over from being a consumer of services, to providing services, I could say that I believed I was on the road to recovery from my mental illnesses.  The road never ends though.

 

Igniting that spark of hope is the premise of Peer Support.  That is what hundreds across the state, mostly in a volunteer role, are trying to do for others.   Peer Support is now known as an essential tool in the recovery process.

 

Rebecca Coursey, KPS
Peer Support Specialist

 

“Recovery is a process of change through which individuals improve their health and wellness, live a self-directed life, and strive to reach their full potential.”     SAMHSA

August 08 2015

Managing My Illness?

Author Susan Vaught Categories Continuing Education, Information About Peer Specialists, Mental Health and Wellness, Resources for Interns 0 Comments

How do I manage my illnesses?  I go to my psychiatrist for tune-ups when I need it, and otherwise keep regular appointments with her.  I go to my therapist as needed, and at one time was going weekly after my last hospitalization.  The truth is…I don’t do all that I’m supposed to do all of the time.  Why not?  Because LIFE.  I’m honest about it. I know what I’m SUPPOSED to be doing.  I know what I did to get healthy. I know what I have to do to stay healthy….just sometimes, I don’t do those things, for various reasons. It shows up in my mental health.

 

As patients come in and out of the hospital, it may be frustrating to see the cycle.  It may seem so simple to the average person.  Just take your medicine.  Go to your doctors.  Why is it so hard?  Because LIFE.  I understand this.  I am married to a very supportive person.  He takes over the household responsibilities when I’m not doing well.  If I have an exhausting day, he’s there to cook dinner for my two children, while he gives me time to rest.  Not everyone has that.

 

I don’t always eat healthy meals, like I’m supposed to. The other day, I ate an Arby’s sausage biscuit for breakfast, a double cheeseburger from McDonald’s for lunch, and Taco Bell for supper.  I’m still alive somehow.  I don’t always get enough sleep, like I’m supposed to.  I get too busy to make appointments with my therapist when I need to go.  I try to be Super Mom to my kids, a Band Mom to 48 high school band kids, and work full time.  Who has time to go to doctors, even if the therapist will see me on Saturday, which he will? That’s not an excuse, or shouldn’t be for me.  It is incredibly easy to forget that I am not quite like everybody else, as much as I like to feel like I am.  I can’t short-cut my health, or I might end up hospitalized again.  Bipolar I is a serious mental illness, and I have it.

 

Medicine gets stolen (truly).  Cars get flat tires and appointments are missed.  Life gets overwhelming, especially when the mentally ill person has no one supporting them.  It takes work to be a productive person who lives a self-directed life if one has a serious mental illness.  Sometimes, despite good intentions and efforts, forces beyond the person’s control may keep the person from doing what he or she needs to do to become healthy.  If you know someone with a mental illness, giving them a little support might make a world of difference.

 

Rebecca Coursey, KPS
Peer Support Specialist

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