Therapists and peer supporters learn not to impose their beliefs on the people they help as part of their cultural competence training. Why, then, do so many people who suffer from psychosis flagrantly have beliefs imposed on them in treatment? A huge part of knowing how to provide treatment that does not impose beliefs involves […]

The Mainstream Worry: Stories related to psychosis can be intense and lead to traumatic recall when a sufferer retells them and does not feel contained or believed within the relationship. Perhaps this is the reason many therapists, family members, and psychiatric wards learn to shut down the telling of the story. Shutting down stories protects […]

https://www.blogtalkradio.com/bmorerealtalk/2019/10/18/baltimore-is-talking-live-with-clyde-dee   “Got to Keep the Devil Way Down in the Hole!” Every week, Rev. Dr. Q and co-host, Aaron Green broadcast from the city of the hit TV series, The Wire. I was honored this week to be invited to discuss my book, story, and mental health. Click on the picture to visit their […]

I contend that the trendy depicton of psychosis as a thought disorder misleads the public and can lead to misunderstandings that sabotage treatment efforts. I am writing to suggest that psychosis should not be defined as the result of spewing distorted thoughts that need to be corrected, but is actually the result of uncanny perception […]

I learned a lesson in spontaneity some twenty years ago that I try to bring with me to each workshop I do. At the time, I was heavily engaged in writing poetry. I explored socializing at poetry readings to meet other people who liked to write. In my notebooks and on the word processer I […]

Watching Buzzards Swirl: It has been my honor and privilege to work for fifteen years on an urban inner-city psychiatric unit that is currently being targeted for closure by a hospital system that is facing a budget crisis. There is a proposal on the table to merge our program with its suburban counterpart, taking away […]

No, I still don’t believe schizophrenia is an illness! Many would say I still demonstrate poor insight into my illness for the declaration. That’s okay with me. I received the diagnosis from a pony-tailed man wearing rodeo work boots with a decorative slab of leather along the base of his lace. He walked with a […]

“So, you have bipolar,” said the well-meaning psychiatrist, “So what’s the big deal?” I had been talking about the stigma associated with presuming that all mental health challenges were disorders. He interrupted me. But wait! This was the first time anyone ever suggested that I had bipolar! Was I supposed to give up my perspective […]

Perhaps we all go through periods of time when we are asked to redefine ourselves. As the summer is underway, I find myself challenged to find new ways to commit to my work supporting people who experience psychosis. If you are receiving this email or post, you are likely familiar with my blogs and efforts […]

When you think a person has a delusional idea, it is so important to remember that they often have amassed a significant amount of evidence to convince them they are correct. They likely know what they used to think, it is just that what they currently think seems to be more accurate. In fact, we […]