Please join us for one or all of our Self-Help groups in November! If you are not yet connected with MHA, call 518-962-2077 to request an intake.
Please join us for one or all of our Self-Help groups in November! If you are not yet connected with MHA, call 518-962-2077 to request an intake.
If you would like to participate in any of our self-help activities, please contact our office at 518-962-2077.
Download a PDF of the Calendar of Events HERE.
Please review our September 2018 Self Help Calendar for activities and workshops this month. If you are not yet connected with MHA, call 518-962-2077 and request an intake today. Need someone to talk to? Call our Hopeline at 1-800-440-8074 for 24-hour listening support.
Download the calendar here: September 2018 Self Help Calendar
Mental health advocates delivered over 25,000 letters of support for increased funding for community-based housing.
Read more details here:
The next series in MHA’s Self-Help program will be Anger Management, beginning Wednesday, January 10, 2018. This weekly series of self-help workshops is designed to be used by participants in mental health and/or substance abuse treatment programs, but all are welcome to attend. The curriculum includes an overview of anger management, recognizing events and cues, designing your own anger control plan, learning about the agression cycle, working with a conflict resolution model, learning about anger and how it affects the family and much more. Participants can attend as they are able, you don’t need to attend all of the sessions to be able to participate.
If you are an active member of the Mental Health Association in Essex County and would like to register for Anger Management classes, you can click here , call Kellie or Transportation at (518) 962-2077.
If you are not yet an active member of the Mental Health Association and would like to attend, please call Kathy at (518) 962-2077 and request an intake. Please call prior to January 4, 2018 to allow sufficient time to process your intake.
Curriculum source: Anger Management for Substance Abuse and Mental Health Clients, SAMHSA
Kellie Trombley, MHA’s Self-Help Advisor, recently conducted a series of groups on the topic of life skills, with the mission to remove mental health barriers to employment and education with exercises that promote practical outcomes. Participants learned about coping strategies to deal with emotional concerns while gaining knowledge about the culture of the work environment. By identifying personal strengths, participants learned about dealing with stress-related issues, becoming empowered to pursue educational and employment goals while improving general life skills.
For those who were not able to attend, please find the workshop handouts here:
The Right Frame of Mind
1A Attitude
1B Motivation
1C Responsibility
How to Handle the Tough Stuff
2A Conflict Resolution
2B Dealing with Anger
2C Stress Reduction
How to Put Your Best Foot Forward
3A Communication/Non-Verbal
3B Communication/Verbal
3C Communication/Interview
The Nuts and Bolts
4A Money Management
4B Time Management
4C Decision Making
The Balancing Act
5A Setting Priorities
5B Home/Work/School
5C Family/Friends/Myself
Time to Act/Stop Procrastinating
6A My Personal Plan
6B Design a Resume
Adapted from the Life Skills Support Group Curriculum, County of Los Angeles Department of Mental Health, CALWorks Supportive Services, 2007. Find a link to the full original document here: http://passthrough.fw-notify.net/download/318796/http://file.lacounty.gov/SDSInter/dmh/171974_LifeSkillsFinal3-18-08.pdf
On November 1 and 8, MHA will host two opportunties to participate in The Kindness Rocks Project. We’ll be making rocks for ourselves and for the upcoming Survivor Day event on November 18.
Check out more details here: Kindness Rocks Presentation
For information about participating in MHA’s Community Center activities, call our Westport office at (518) 962-2077.
Click on each title to access the presentations and handouts from the Financial Wellness Workshops held at MHA Westport.
Module 1 – Assessing How You Manage Money
Presentation
Goals Worksheet
Spending Diary
The Money Quiz
Module 2 – Creating a Budget
Presentation
Budget Worksheet – blank copy
Budget Worksheet – completed example
Budget Summary
Module 3 – Credit
Presentation
How to Request Your Credit Report
Credit Score Quiz
Debt Worksheet
Module 4 – Banking
Presentation
Sample Checks
“Damper” Check
Sample Checking Account Statement
Sample Checking Account Register
Module 5 – Planning for Retirement
Presentation
Module 6 – Shopping and Housing
Presentation
Shopping Worksheet
Joshua Gordon, director of the National Institute of Mental Health, believes more work must be done on connections between suicidal thoughts and overdoses.
As fatal opioid overdoses continue to rise, the causes of each death have become all too familiar: They usually involve a lethal cocktail of heroin, painkillers, and increasingly, the powerful synthetic opioid Fentanyl. But often left out of these tragic stories is the inner turmoil going on inside each victim, and researchers have started examining trauma and depression as well as social connectedness as possible factors in the rise of overdoses.
In addition to the spread of painkillers and cheap heroin, some fatal overdoses may in fact be suicides. Dr. Joshua Gordon, the director of the National Institute of Mental Health, believes that there may be a stronger link between the opioid epidemic and suicide than previously realized.
“There are, of course, links between addictions in general and opioid addictions in particular and suicide,” Gordon told HuffPost. “There is a lot of concern that many of the overdose deaths could be suicides. We need to learn more about the prevalence of suicidality amongst opioid addicted individuals.”
Many of the same drivers behind suicidal thinking can be found in those addicted to opioids, from feelings of isolation and despair to economic anxieties and histories of trauma.
For complete article: https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/opioids-suicide-depression-public-health_us_59d55486e4b0380b6c9a14e1