Home-Based Recovery of Mental Health, Inc.
The Windhorse Journal’s mission is to inspire compassionate approaches to recovering sanity.
We do this by creating an evolving forum dedicated to exploring contemplative psychotherapy and the creation of therapeutic environments for the wellbeing of all persons involved. We envision this to be a rich dialogue among people with lived experience, family members, psychology professionals, and anyone interested in whole person-mental health and the diverse expressions of human sanity.
Dear Reader,
Again, we are delighted to present a pairing of entries focusing on the work of Buddhist teacher, writer and student, Elizabeth Mattis Namgyel. In Journal Entries 020 & 021 Elizabeth shared from her book “The Logic of Faith: A Buddhist Approach to Finding Certainty Beyond Belief And Doubt”, which the editors at Windhorse Journal find extremely relevant to all aspects of the mutual recovery process.
Digging deeper into that same book, we’ve printed here an excerpt titled, “Emerging From Not Noticing”. Pratityasamutpada, the Buddhist study of the interdependent nature of all phenomena and experience, offers us a perspective of awakening to the more subtle and complex relationships that give rise to our world and our perceptions of it. Ms Namgyel writes:
Interdependence offers us a new way of looking at things by drawing us out of the narrow tunnel of self-absorption into a broader awareness. It shows us the way to live in sane relationship to our world, in grace. This understanding is not only inextricably linked with our survival but with basic sanity and insight as well. [Read more…]
Dear Listeners,
Today’s podcast, the last in an 8-part series on psychotropic medications, is an open-hearted conversation between Windhorse community members Emily Ashley, Joe Calcagno, Chris Emerson, and Eugenie Morton.
Looking back, we initially didn’t anticipate spending this much time on meds. But once entering the discussion—and knowing how critical it is to accurately understand the issues at hand—we decided to deepen our presentation with Windhorse staff and clients who actually use or have used them. Today you’ll hear a conversation with people who have extensive personal experience in this territory. [Read more…]
Dear Readers,
We continue our focus on the role of medication in mental health recovery with the second half of an article about clients’ lived experiences. Again, this is based on interviews with clients, who spoke candidly of the ways prescribed substances have figured in the management of their mental health issues. Acknowledging their act of trust, I bear the responsibility of accurately representing the variety of their experiences. And I hope I have done so.
Part One of this subject, posted on October 4, presented clients’ experiences with side effects, the process of finding a suitable medication (or combination thereof), and the perceived purpose of meds. Here, in Part Two, we explore the issues of autonomy and personal choice, social supports, and true collaboration with professionals in this process of reclaiming one’s mind and life. I hope you will find our clients’ experiences and insights illuminating. And we invite you to share your thoughts.
Thank you for reading,
Lori S. Heintzelman [Read more…]
Dear Friends!
Today’s podcast (part one of a two-part series) features the recording of an important conversation I recently participated in about the efficacy and pitfalls of using psychiatric medications. Joining me were members of the Windhorse community: Emily Ashley, Eugenie Morton, and Joe Calcagno.
This topic hits close to home for me as someone who was diagnosed with a chronic mental illness but no longer uses these medications for wellness. In this podcast, you will hear a variety of perspectives on this controversial topic from staff and clients who currently take or used to take these substances. We share our experiences, weigh the pros and cons of use, explore the nature of stigma, and offer what has helped us along our path. [Read more…]
Dear Readers,
You will notice that we have been focusing on the role of medication in mental health recovery in recent posts. One of those offerings was a podcast discussion between Windhorse clinicians with a collaborating psychiatrist, Earle Shugerman, and another was a written excerpt on the Windhorse view of medications from the core text, Recovering Sanity, by Dr. Ed Podvoll. The perspective of mental health professionals, as in these two offerings, is obviously important, but it is incomplete. What of the view from actual clients—who have first-hand experience of psychiatric medications? Most clients come to Windhorse on various prescribed medications and remain on at least one, albeit ideally at a reduced dosage or after changing to a more effective drug with fewer side effects. [Read more…]
Dear Friends,
In this podcast, we return to the conversation between Dr. Earle Shugerman and Windhorse senior clinicians Jeffrey Fortuna, Gretchen Kahre, and myself. Chuck Knapp hosts and facilitates the discussion.
In Part One, Dr. Shugerman reflected on what it is like for him to work with Windhorse teams and what makes the Windhorse approach unique in the field of mental health treatment. We also heard from members of Windhorse teams about their experiences in partnering together with clients and Dr. Shugerman. [Read more…]
Dear Readers,
Yesterday, my colleague Jeff Fortuna and I had the pleasure of spending the afternoon with our dear friend Joanne Greenberg. Many of you may know her as the author of the semi-autobiographical novel I Never Promised You A Rose Garden, and also as one of the very highly respected voices of authority around recovery from mental illness—the term she prefers over others such as mental health challenges. As we were leaving the hospitality of her wonderful mountain home, I shared with her that I’d be writing this introduction today and asked if she had anything to pass along about the use, or non-use, of psychotropic medication. [Read more…]
Dear Friends,
I hope you enjoyed the previous journal entry about my experiences as a psychotherapist with clients as they navigate their journeys with psychiatrists and medications. Here, we present you with a podcast which continues to explore the subject of medications and the relationship between psychiatry and Windhorse teams. This is a small group discussion between some of Windhorse’s senior clinicians and Dr. Earle Shugerman.
Dr. Shugerman has been a close colleague of Windhorse Community Services for many years. He is the treating psychiatrist for many of our clients, he participates in periodic team meetings, and he consults with our Team Supervisor group once a month. [Read more…]
Dear Readers,
This week’s entry introduces the complex topic of how we approach the use, or non-use, of psychotropic medications. Jeanne Christensen, one of our most senior clinicians, offers a window into the partnership she develops with the client while in the role of Intensive Psychotherapist (IP). Supporting, clarifying, creating as much safety as possible, and always working to develop a collaborative relationship between the client and the psychiatrist, what she’s describing is an aspect of how we attempt to tailor our therapeutic environments to the very specific needs of each of our clients and families.
Underlying the IP-client alliance around medications is a key element of our view, stated succinctly by Ed Podvoll, MD: “The major point of medication usage is to ensure that the integrity of the wakeful mind is protected. The natural and inherent precision that can accurately discriminate dream from reality requires protection.” Of course, in order for us to be of aid in that highly subtle process, developing an open, honest, and trusting relationship with the client is paramount. [Read more…]
Dear Readers,
Over the past year, Windhorse Journal has presented five entries on the topic of TSEWA. The entry you’re now reading will be the sixth. By now, it could be said, we have some kind of fascination with tsewa.
Admittedly, six journal entries examining a Tibetan word is perhaps excessive. Since there are two additional tsewa related entries planned for the near future, it might be a little premature to cry “excessive!” just yet. Let’s instead say that our present fascination with tsewa would be more accurately identified as “inspiration”. [Read more…]