Transformation

NMPRC celebrates RESPECT Day 2012

The results are in, and the second annual RESPECT Day at Northwest Missouri Psychiatric Rehabilitation Center (NMPRC) is an official success. Participation in the event, held January 25, nearly quadrupled from the first held last year, with more than 180 people in attendance from the center and the community.

It was a "fabulous day," according to Dee Kinder, an NMPRC staff member who worked on the planning committee.

"We offered speakers throughout the day as well as activities designed to educate people," said Gail Current, RESPECT coordinator at NMPRC. "It was gratifying to have so many people turn out to hear our speakers’ stories, educate people on the effects of mental illness, and hopefully reduce some of the stigma attached to those who have mental illness.”

RESPECT speakers participate in college course videoconference

It's one thing to share your personal life story in front of a group of people. But to share with people in remote locations on a six-site teleclass is another. Two RESPECT speakers from northwest Missouri -- one a veteran speaker and one on his first speaking engagement -- did just that and were cool, calm, and collected throughout the process.

The outing started out normally. The two speakers -- Mark and Steve -- went to speak at a Social Work class at Missouri Western State University. But when they arrived, they discovered the DSM Psychopathology class was to be video-conferenced to six sites: Kennett, Cape Girardeau, Kirksville, Warrensburg, Blue Springs, and Columbia, with 42 students in attendance statewide and a local instructor.

"They did a wonderful job!," said Scott Clark, staff development officer at Northwest Missouri Psychiatric Rehabilitation Center (NMPRC) in St. Joseph, where the two speakers are based. "We knew Mark would handle himself well . . . and did. He attached the lapel mic and said 'test, test' a couple of times and launched into his talk. Stacy (Downey) and I cannot say enough about Steve's performance. This was his first time out. His presentation went really well."

Speakers find their "inner leader" in RESPECT Graduate Institute

The third phase of Missouri's RESPECT initiative has begun.

In phase one, RESPECT founder Joel Slack brought the message of RESPECT to Missouri, conducting seminars throughout the state, during which he shared his personal story of recovery from a mental illness and the role that respect played in that recovery. In phase two, Slack helped conduct RESPECT Institutes for Missourians living with mental illnesses, teaching them how to tell their own recovery stories. In telling those stories, the speakers not only educate their audiences to the realities of mental illnesses and that recovery is possible, they gain confidence and self esteem as they see faces change from confusion to understanding and empathy.

Now, in phase three -- the Graduate Institute -- some of those speakers are being helped to refine their stories to emphasize the importance of respect in the recovery process.

St. Joseph Psychiatric Center holds first RESPECT Day

submitted by Gail Current, NMPRC RESPECT Coordinator

Northwest Missouri Psychiatric Rehabilitation Center’s (NMPRC) very first RESPECT Day was held Tuesday, January 11, 2011, with more than 50 patients, staff, and outside guests in attendance. The hospital’s RESPECT committee members and eight RESPECT speakers planned and worked the event.

Both staff and speakers worked the registration desk from 8:00-8:30 a.m., providing everyone who signed in a schedule of events for the day as well as a RESPECT stress ball and pen. RESPECT International founder, Joel Slack, spoke from 8:30 to 11:45 a.m., followed by Gail Current's announcement of the first-, second-, and third-place winners of the RESPECT Poster Contest. Prizes of canteen coupons were given out. The entries to the Poster Contest, an activity that was held to coincide with RESPECT Day, were displayed for a week prior to the event. Door prizes, including five DVDs with the theme of respect as well as an Aretha Franklin CD, were given out. RESPECT speakers and committee members handed out evaluations and certificates of contact hours for the morning session.

RESPECT featured in Chaplains webinar

The Association of Professional Chaplains will feature two RESPECT Initiative veterans in a January 18 webinar. Joel Slack, founder of Respect International, and Chaplain Jane Smith, DMin, coordinator of the RESPECT Institute at Fulton State Hospital, will lead the webinar, entitled "RESPECT: The Core of Spiritual Care among Persons with Mental Illness."

 The webinar is designed to explore mental illness and spirituality, to enable caregivers to help those in crisis, and to identify interventions. Dr. Smith and Mr. Slack will use their experiences in working with people who have mental illnesses to guide chaplains and other spiritual caregivers in using respect as a primary tool in crisis situations.

TWG welcomes new members, RESPECT speakers

The Mental Health Transformation Working Group welcomed two new members and heard two personal stories of recovery during its December 17 meeting in Jefferson City.  

Candice Shively represents the Children's Division in the Missouri Department of Social Services. Cindy Wilkinson is the Deputy Administrator of the Healthy Family and Youth section in the state Department of of Health and Senior Services.

The meeting's attendees also heard from two members of the RESPECT Speakers Institute. Joe Heriford and Angie Esser, both from Fulton, shared their personal stories of recovery from mental illnesses with the group. The RESPECT Speakers Institute, an initiative of Missouri's Mental Health Transformation efforts, helps to combat the stigma associated with having a mental illness by providing the public with insight into the lives of people with mental disorders. RESPECT speakers are available in all regions of the state by contacting statewide coordinator Leigh Gibson at the Department of Mental Health in Jefferson City at 751-8088 or 800-364-9687 toll free.

Note: Angie Esser is featured in a YouTube video on the Transformation web site at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rE-9W2zMw70.

Focus on RESPECT: Two new YouTube videos

Continuing with a focus on the RESPECT initiative, two new videos are available on the Missouri Mental Health Transformation YouTube channel. In the first, Joel Slack, founder and director or Respect International, provides his perspective on the program in Missouri, which played a part in expanding his vision of the initiative. In the second, Angie Esser, a graduate of the RESPECT Institute, gives viewers a glimpse of her journey to recovery from a mental illness by telling a portion of her personal story.

In both videos, the message of recovery through self-awareness as well as respect comes through. Click here to view the videos.

RESPECT participants "speak out" about the benefits in new YouTube video

The RESPECT movement in Missouri has had a significant impact on the participants in RESPECT Institutes, as noted by two RESPECT speakers and the founder of the movement in the latest video on Transformation's YouTube channel, titled Perspectives on the RESPECT Speakers Initiative.   

During the four-day RESPECT Institute, people who receive mental health services learn to tell their personal stories of recovery in a public setting to promote understanding and awareness of  mental illness. 

RESPECT facilitators receive training to help consumers find their "voice"

Department of Mental Health and community mental health provider staff representing all six regions of the state gathered for two days to formalize training procedures for Missouri's RESPECT Institute. Joel Slack, founder of RESPECT International, made his way back to Missouri to give guidance to staff who will facilitate RESPECT Institutes in their respective regions. 

The RESPECT Institute is a four-day training program that teaches consumers of mental health services  how to help others get a better understanding of mental illness by telling their own personal stories of recovery. In addition to enhancing public understanding of mental illness, speakers find the process therapeutic as they ponder that cycle of recovery. During the past year, all six of the regions have conducted a RESPECT Institute -- some for the first time -- with the assistance of Slack; Leigh Gibson, statewide RESPECT coordinator; and Dr. Jane Smith, Fulton State Hospital chaplain. The institute had its beginnings at Fulton State Hospital in 2000, led by Slack and Smith.

St. Louis completes its third RESPECT Institute

The St. Louis RESPECT Institute added nine graduates to its total from the latest session held May 18-21. Hosted again by St. Louis Psychiatric Rehabilitation Center (SLPRC), coordinators Barbara Black and Helen Logan worked with consumers receiving services from SLPRC, Independence Center, and Adapt Institute.

Included among the graduates is one peer specialist. Peer specialists are trained to provide assistance to other consumers in their recovery. "Having a peer specialist go through the institute just adds another tool for that individual to support people in recovery," said Leigh Gibson, statewide RESPECT coordinator. "The RESPECT philosophy is so helpful in providing a new perspective to one's mental health challenges -- one of educating and inspiring others to persevere in their efforts to improve their quality of life."

RESPECT Institutes have been conducted in all regions of the state. The RESPECT initiative is expected to grow this year with the development of a graduate program for consumers and others to learn to conduct the institutes, thereby assisting other consumers in their recovery efforts.