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 … Continue reading Using Writer’s Block to Sharpen my Writing Platform
Twenty years ago, I experienced what might be termed a break from reality while I was working as a mental health worker. I worked in a last resort section 8 housing project that was rife with crime. It was called “The Hotel of Horrors” in an article in the local media. For six months, I … Continue reading A Glimpse Behind the Iron Curtain of the Mental Health System
In creating a new definition for psychosis, I contend that we not only consider internal processes operating during a psychosis or special message crisis, but also external ones. Though much of the eight-part definition for psychosis I propose is in fact internal, the last three components are not. This article is about the first two … Continue reading Behavioral Solutions that Arise in Psychoses Focus Groups:
In these happier days, I am extremely thankful to have my wife and my dog with me. This Thanksgiving we have escaped the urban psychiatric backward upon which I work for a few days in Lake Tahoe. Still complex trauma must be managed. I am bound to have unpleasant holiday memories bubble up, no matter … Continue reading Simple Formulas for Surviving Complex Trauma Over the Holidays
Twas the night before new years and up in the houseThe APA approved therapist fell asleep on the couchThe patients kept on talking ‘neath bulbs translucent glareGrateful that working through psychosis was permitted there . . . The last two holiday seasons I have spent Christmas in bed with a fever and here I sit … Continue reading Season’s Greetings
Sometimes I think therapy practitioners and mental health administrators don’t really think about what they are doing when they adhere to industry standards in trying to promote mental health for those marginalized in the mental health system. Whether working in the mental health system, administering mental health programs, or working out of their own … Continue reading Why Lived Experience and Curiosity Deserve Your Respect:
I have found that artful self-disclosure is a needed skill for cross-cultural work in psychotherapy. I am writing to assert and justify the use of self-disclosure particularly for people who experience “psychosis” in which complex cultural barriers appear to be present. Historically, it has seemed that many in the psychotherapy establishment have tended to … Continue reading Ways Self-Disclosure Can Help Cross Systemic Cultural Barriers and Help People Who Experience “Psychosis”
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 … Continue reading Advancing “Psychosis” Treatment Locally
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