Recovering Life

1. Recovering Life Leah Harris, M.A. Communications and Development Coordinator National Empowerment Center National Recovery Day Catonsville, MD September 11, 2013

2. My story

3. It’s not what’s wrong with you… • It’s what happened to you! • Factors in my emotional distress/suicidal feelings: • Unaddressed intergenerational trauma • Unaddressed early childhood trauma/neglect • Shame and stigma around parents’ mental health issues • Intense emotions not expressed in the family • Told by professionals I would end up like my parents • No mention of, or hope for, recovery of a life That was 20 years ago…

4. A New Paradigm The concept of recovery may back as far as 1830, when John Perceval, son of one of England’s prime ministers, wrote of his personal recovery from psychosis, a recovery that he obtained despite the “treatment” he received from the “lunatic” doctors who attended him. (Perceval's Narrative).

5. A Recovery Movement is Born • The Consumer/Survivor Movement: arose out of the civil rights movement of the late 1960s and early 1970s and the personal experiences of psychiatric abuse experienced by some ex-patients. • Key text: Judi Chamberlin's 1978 text, On Our Own: Patient Controlled Alternatives to the Mental Health System.

6. Recovery concepts Recovery represents "rediscovery and reconstruction of an enduring sense of the self as an active and responsible agent.” -- Davidson and Strauss (1992)

7. Values of the recovery movement • Peer-delivered and controlled supports and services • Meaningful peer involvement in all programs, services, and policies affecting them • Strengths-based • Empowerment • Self-determination • Recovery is non-linear • “Dignity of risk” • Holistic • Basically: we are people with the same wants and needs as everyone else on the planet!

8. Recovery enters the mainstream • 2003: President’s New Freedom Commission on Mental Health: • We envision a future when everyone with mental illness will recover.” (Commission Report, pg. 1). • “...care must focus on facilitating recovery and building resilience, not just on managing symptoms” (Commission Report, pg. 5).

9. Working definition of recovery SAMHSA: “A process of change through which individuals improve their health and wellness, live a self-directed life, and strive to reach their full potential.”

10. The Significance of Hope “For those of us who have been diagnosed with mental illness and who have lived in the sometimes desolate wastelands of mental health programs and institutions, hope is not just a nice sounding euphemism. It is a matter of life and death.” --Pat Deegan

11. The Conspiracy of Hope “We are refusing to reduce human beings to illnesses…We share in the certainty that people labeled with mental illness are first and above all, human beings. Our lives are precious and are of infinite value.” --Pat Deegan

12. How did I recover my life? 20 years ago, I… • Made a decision to renounce my patient identity and the “illness” narrative • Focused on my strengths, not deficits • Didn’t talk about my past for years – learned to avoid due to stigma! • Developed key relationships with people who believed in me and mentored me

13. How did I recover my life? • Began to re-integrate into various communities and society • Reframed my life narrative: the “systems” that treated me and my parents were “sicker” than we ever were • Getting mad! • Became active in the mental health consumer/survivor movement - activism heals

14. How long have you been in recovery? Clearer for those who consider themselves to be in recovery from substance abuse or addiction and who follow an abstinence model (sobriety date). “I, on the other hand, have many ups and downs.  There is no specific beginning to them (unless you count birth) and there will be no end (unless you count death). Yet, one of the statements that most drives me up the proverbial wall is that ‘recovery is a lifelong process.’ Just when was it decided (and by whom) that what you get to call ‘life,’ I have to call ‘recovery’?” --Sera Davidow

15. It’s about…living life!

16. Creating a life worth living What we call “wellness” is really about creating a life worth living • Self-care • Service to others • Meaningful work • Being a part of various supportive communities • Creativity • Spirituality • Going outside the comfort zone

17. It’s not about… We must move towards a values-based behavioral health system that is about the most important outcome: peoplecreating a life worth living in the community of their choosing. “client,” “consumer,” “peer,” “recovery,” “wellness,” “community integration,” etc…what will be the next buzzword???

18. 10 Years after New Freedom… • In 2003, the New Freedom report envisioned a future “where everyone with mental illness can recover.” • 10 years later, we have made progress, but we still have a long way to go • Continued discrimination and stigma • Many agencies only pay lip service to “recovery values” – dressing up the old in the language of the new • We need more voluntary, community-based peer-run programs and services! • We know these innovative programs work, but are not a research priority at NIMH

19. Examples of exciting new directions • Peer-run crisis respite/hospital diversion programs • Alternatives to Suicide Groups • Hearing Voices Groups

20. Peer-run crisis respite/hospital diversion programs • Voluntary, home-like environment where people in emotional crisis can access 1:1 peer support 24/7 • Stays range from 1 day – 2 weeks • Minimal wait to access services/minimal paperwork • Staffed entirely by people who have lived experience with emotional crisis and trauma • Small-scale valuations show excellent outcomes; multi-site large scale evaluation needed • Only 13 peer-run crisis respites in the entire country!

21. Alternatives to Suicide Groups • Due to fear and stigma surrounding suicide, people have been encouraged or have learned not to talk about it • Led entirely by people with lived experience having attempted or having thoughts of suicide • Premise is that empathic talking, coupled with alternative coping strategies, can reduce suicide • Only a handful of these in the country as well

22. Hearing Voices Support Groups • Offers a non-pathologizing, open way of understanding and supporting people through the experience of hearing voices • Assumes that hearing voices (as well as seeing visions and other sensory experiences) can be a normal part of human experience with a variety of meanings for people • Widely available throughout the United Kingdom and many other countries - just taking hold in the United States

23. What you can do • Encourage the development of peer run crisis alternatives in your area • Encourage the formation of an alternatives to suicide or hearing voices support group • Ensure that your organization is truly grounded in and operates from recovery values and principles • Promote the meaningful involvement of people with lived experience at all levels of your agency/organization

24. Resources National Empowerment Center - Peer Run Crisis Alternatives: http://www.power2u.org/crisis-alternatives.html Hearing Voices Network USA: http://www.hearingvoicesusa.org/ Western Massachusetts Recovery Learning Community http://www.westernmassrlc.org/ http://www.westernmassrlc.org/defining-principles.html

25. Contact me! Leah Harris Email: leahharris2@gmail.com Tel: 1-800-power-2-u Web: www.power2u.org