Category: One of these days I’m going to get organized!

How To Be A Healing Presence Without Becoming Anxious, Power-Struggling, Or Referring the Mad Person To A Hospital   How It Works Starting this November in two-hour sessions on Sunday evenings, I will teach you a new model for understanding psychosis that will help you be able to relate with a person in madness in […]

Over the last fifteen years, I have dedicated significant chunks of my weekend towards writing. I wrote a memoir, I developed draft after draft of my special message material, I built a website, and I grew my writing platform. It used to feel comfortable, like all this work was a natural part of my healing […]

Okay so creating an online course these days is quite the rage these days. Every entrepreneur and their cousin are out to sell you an online course. Therapists are becoming coaches and selling courses so they don’t get trapped in the therapy mill. I must say that fifteen years ago when I started work on […]

It has been a long time since I have written a blog post. I turned my efforts away from creative essays and introspective exploration. Instead, I focused on creating a 12-16 hour Master Class entitled: Redefining “Psychosis:” A Cultural Approach to Working with Madness, A Roadmap to the Rabbit Hole. Time away from weekly writing […]

Readers may have noticed that my productivity on my blog has decreased in recent months. Over the past couple of years, the community mental health program where I have worked for seventeen and a half years has undergone change. This has been a significant source of grief for me as the community has lost six […]

In a personal story I am currently working on for publication in Mad in America, I am starting to realize the impact of the 2015 release of my award-winning memoir: Fighting for Freedom in America: Memoir of a “Schizophrenia” and Mainstream Cultural Delusions. Six year later I am still dealing with a sense of alienation that preoccupies me. I […]

I am writing to alert my community and tell them to WAKE UP. I am coming out of hibernation! I have always been grateful to my community of readers and want to thank you for supporting me. But I admit my emails have been personal amblings and links to my blogs. First, they were monthly […]

In the upcoming months I will be doing a number of training/workshops that I wanted my supporters to know about. First I will participate in a panel discussion in a panel discussion at UCSF from 10-11:30 on Wednesday, September 9th representing the hearing voices network perspective. Then, later the same day I will be utilizing some portion […]

May is Mental Health Month!! Celebrate with me online with Solano County! I am excited to report that I will be providing two online events for Solano County this month: On Friday May 8th I will tell my story for peer counselors:.Entitled: Finding Meaningful Work, this event will stream online on Solano County’s Facebook Page . Check it out […]

The Corona virus is shutting down our social institutions. Our streets are full of displaced people living in shelters or tent encampments. The Federal Government is steering services away from the poor and the elderly in ways that seem to be working. Sure, it’s affecting me, man! But I am still here, scheduled to lead […]

Practice Updates: Have you ever felt that there is no way forward that doesn’t sell out your heart and soul? I believe the clinic I have worked for over the last fifteen years is fixing to be shut down. I am facing a crossroads. I have spent years developing skills that seek to reconstruct a […]

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 […]

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 […]

With Upcoming Program Closures Announced, How Confident Should I Feel? A few years ago, a co-worker said, “We could come into work tomorrow and the job might not be there for us! That’s why I always try to put family first!” My job of fifteen year was there for me before I got married and […]

I’ve never thought much about it, but maybe the fact that I attract few friends and develop mostly adversaries is a disadvantage in my life as a writer. Historically, I have used this kind of rejection and disinterest to increase my focus on the craft. At a certain point, I stopped trying to get others […]

The Hearing Voices Network training that I attended in the end of January turned out to be a time for self-reflection and personal growth. I experienced a mixture of validation and a profound sense of alienation. One of the trainers, Marty, sensed this in me and asked me to reach out after the training was […]

Since I started writing my memoir ten years ago, I have not struggled with writer’s block. It’s true, I have produced drafts of my second book that were so bad, I scrapped them. But I was always able to use writing to help organize my thoughts without feeling defeated. Sure, I have taken a few […]

Twas the night before new years and up in the house The APA approved therapist fell asleep on the couch The patients kept on talking ‘neath bulbs translucent glare Grateful that working through psychosis was permitted there . . .   The last two holiday seasons I have spent Christmas in bed with a fever […]

In the month of October, there have been some exciting developments in the local efforts to make hearing voices groups available to the public. HVN-USA is coming out to San Francisco to provide a three-day training for twenty-five individuals, including several people who have been attending groups in East Oakland where I provide a free […]

As the summer wanes, there is still that sense of loss. The traffic in and out of work always thickens, the days shorten, and we in California must start to pray for rain. Last weekend my dog turned two and she and I are readying ourselves for our weekly hike. Last weekend I flew back […]