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 Friends,
Today’s Journal entry is the beginning of a series of texts and podcasts of the journey of relationship with Joanne Greenberg. Joanne is now an elder woman in her late 80’s “living on top of the mountain” as she puts it, in Golden, Colorado with her husband Albert, who is also a dear soul. Joanne is the well-known author of I Never Promised You A Rose Garden (1964), which is a semi-fictionalized account of her severe psychotic illness and complete recovery. Joanne has gone on to be a successful fiction author, teacher, and mental health advocate. Years ago, those of us working in the Boulder Windhorse community learned that Joanne was our neighbor, and so we reached out to her. She responded with an open hand and an open door to her home. [Read more…]
Dear Listeners,
In this second entry of the two-part podcast on trauma (first entry #27) we, Dave Dunlap and Polly Banerjee Gallagher, along with the moderator, Chuck Knapp, delve into personal examples and experiences of working with trauma. As Dave expressed in his introduction to our first podcast, “the discussion we engaged in captures only a small part of the story. We are not pointing to a single way to treat trauma, or even the idea that trauma is something that can be treated away.” With that understanding we continue our discussion recognizing that trauma is a vast and deep topic that is difficult to articulate cohesively without getting lost in a fog and missing the heart of what we mean. To our wonder, what came out of this discussion was our genuine connection to our shared experiences as human beings. [Read more…]
Dear Readers,
In this offering we return to consideration of trauma as a significant mental health issue. In a previous journal entry (#027, posted in March 2019), Windhorse clinicians Dave Dunlap and Polly Banerjee Gallagher engaged in a dialogue about trauma as an inevitable part of what it means to be human. And rather than speak from the safety of their professional roles in that podcast, they offered insights drawn largely from their own personal experiences.
Trauma, in general conversation, is often and rightly recognized for its power to destabilize and even destroy a life. But in this written piece, Dave presents a view of trauma that receives much less attention: its potential for growth. [Read more…]
Dear Listeners,
We’re delighted to be sharing the second part of a conversation we had about a year ago with Elizabeth Mattis Namgyal; a spiritual friend of Windhorse Community Services and gifted Buddhist teacher and author. Closely following the publication in 2018 of her second book, The Logic Of Faith, we had posted Part One of this conversation (entry #021), under the title “Taking Faith Apart.” For both podcasts she was joined by Gretchen Kahre, who is a close friend of hers and a senior Windhorse clinician. [Read more…]
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…]