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 culture of psychosis amid people who are institutionalized. I believe I have good therapy skills and want to branch out an be more independent from the bloody system.

I may have a number of job interviews coming up yet, wonder if can I get hired self-identifying with lived experience with psychosis? Furthermore, most paths forward seem to include insurance panels and group practices that seek people who can work with depression and anxiety. It feels like a niche of psychosis is only for pioneers.Without belonging to a group practice or focusing on brief interventions, it may be hard to get on insurance panels.

One thing I have never wanted to do was leave behind people who suffer from psychosis. It has never seemed fair that people train and fail to acculturate to people with psychosis and then move on to a paying class. Unless I open up a private practice, it seems unlikely that I will be able to develop my niche. That means paying for health insurance and taking a blind leap of faith and perhaps a per diem job. Gulp!

Blog Updates:

Currently the dilemma of finding work has interrupted my efforts on the blog this month. I have only written three blogs and had one podcast interview since my last update. That said, I did manage to get published on Mad in America.

In the process of getting that post edited, I was given a perspective that may affect my work. I realize that I have two voices. One is professional and that is what Mad in America wants me to build on. I also have an authentic and creative voice that is present in my memoir and that I seek to reserve for my narrative essays, which are more creative in nature.

For a long time, I wanted to merge those voices. I wanted to write a therapy book that was full of one-line zingers and maintain a snappy outsider perspective. I’d find myself quoting rappers to teach my concepts rather than other therapists.

When the Mad in America editor suggested that my voice was me becoming retraumatized when I refused to stop letting it rip, it let me know a little more about my audience when it comes to speaking to other providers or family members. I realize I have to develop the professional voice in order to be heard. My creative writing is where I can use my authentic voice and let out the part of me that is an artist.

I guess it is a good time to work on that professional voice as I am preparing to follow my dream and potentially open a private practice. My next projects may need to be more professional. I do have to say, I am currently writing a creative essay and am enjoying it. It will show up on my blog in future months. Perhaps I may try to publish it in journals first.

Speaking Updates:

I also have some upcoming opportunities to present my training.to a local clinic over the next two weeks.

Additionally, I will be co-facilitating the Hearing Voices Network family group starting on Monday this week.

Finally, in February I will have the opportunity to do a reading of my memoir and other writing at a book store. So, I hope there will be more opportunities to connect with you very soon!!!

So, I am hoping my followers will stay close over the next months as I transition to marketing efforts for the potential of a private practice. Transitions are stressful!!

The post The Niche that Doesn’t Seem to Exist appeared first on Redefining "Psychosis".

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 to use my experience to help change the way psychosis is approached. A large part of my writing platform depends upon having meaningful work that enables me to share experiences with others and that financially supports me in doing so.

Early this summer, the company I work for announced that programs will be getting cut and closed to address a huge budget shortfall. More information was released and we learned that there is a proposal to merge the urban Highland Program where I work with the suburban Fairmont Program.

This could function to devastate a community that has supported me. It is Highland that allowed me to create my special message group which gave me the opportunity to learn how to redefine psychosis.

The potential loss of this community breaks my heart. I worry for the clients who don’t want to acculturate to the new community. What will they do to stay busy and get support? But I have to confess that sometimes I fear that without this supportive community, it is I who will not be able to thrive and create content that matters. Giving to others and seeing them happy clearly feeds me and keeps me going.

I do believe that I will be okay, but this change ushers in fundamental changes towards who I am and how I have been able to survive. I have already started straining to find an alternative course of income in the event the merge or in the event that my position gets eliminated. Talk from the company has been tough and has made me question the stability of my union entitlement and right to “bump” a less experienced worker.

I have kept my writing practice up to the best of my ability and have some irons in the fire in terms of new blog posts to publish. Still, my confidence as a writer is shaken my need to create a new identity. Relationships with new colleagues will be very different if I am selected to continue my service in Alameda Health System. The issue has caused me to evaluate my values and professional options. How do I make a living without selling out my values and passion for understanding and working through psychosis?

If I go to private practice, how do I fill that practice with people who can benefit from my expertise? How do I get on insurance panels? What if private practice causes me to stray away from my passions? Can I be as open and forthright if I work with people who don’t relate to psychosis? Do I need to hide my identity on my blog and as a writer? These are dilemmas that currently interfere with publishing the posts I am working on

Are there some ways that this change might help me grow for the better?

The post How Will I Let the Next Three Months of My Life Define Me? appeared first on Redefining "Psychosis".