We are happy to announce that we are taking registrations for our Wellness Recovery Action Planning (WRAP) group. The group will start in February, and spots are limited. Please register early by contacting Wendy (Richmond Hill location) by email at wendy.reid@krasmancentre.com or by phone at 905-780-0491, ext. 117 or Sharon (Alliston) sharon.swaffield@krasmancentre.com or ext. 139.

The WRAP program involves an educational and planning process that is grounded in mental health recovery concepts such as hope, education,empowerment, self-advocacy, and interpersonal support and connection. Within a group setting, individuals explore self-help tools (eg. peer
counseling, focusing exercises, relaxation & stress reduction techniques)and resources for keeping themselves well and for helping themselves feel better in difficult times.

The Krasman Centre would like to wish everyone a happy and prosperous New Year. We would like to take the opportunity to thank you for supporting us through the last year, and the last decade.

Thanks to all of you, our holiday celebration this last year was a great success. We delivered gifts to the domiciliary hostels of York Region, and held holiday celebrations in both our Richmond Hill and Alliston locations.

As we look forward to this new year and the coming decade, the Krasman Centre will continue to strive to provide quality mental health peer support services to the residents of York Region and South Simcoe.

The staff and board at the Krasman Centre would like to wish everyone a safe and happy holiday season. We also like to welcome you to join us on Thursday December 24th for our annual Holiday celebration at both our Richmond Hill and Alliston locations. Join us for a traditional holiday potluck, and companionship. We will be open from 1:00 to 7:00 p.m. Meal will be served at 4pm.

We will be open holiday hours (12noon to 4pm) from December 25th to January 1st.

The Krasman Centre Warm Line will have extended hours (12noon to 12 midnight) from December 24th to January 1st.

The Holiday Season is upon us. We are looking for assistance this season with our Holiday Gift Drive.

If you have any knitted items (scarves, gloves, hats) or any new and unused toiletry items that you are willing to donate please drop them off at the Krasman Centre by Friday, December 18th. All the gifts collected will be given to consumer/survivor peers living in isolation at the various domiciliary hostels in York Region.

If you need more information, please contact us at 905-780-0491.

What does Mental Health Recovery Mean to You?

Photovoice is a research tool, where we ask people to use photography as a visual voice to reproduce everyday experiences. This project asks you to capture your thoughts about mental health recovery and the Krasman Centre. You will be provided with the tools (disposable camera) as well as a gift card for your participation. At the end of the project, we will create a visual collection (with your consent) and use it is a public art and education exhibit. Please see Wendy or Tanya for a package and more information. If you cannot come to the centre, please contact Tanya to have a package arranged for you.

Self-help/mutual aid: the basics

Self-help/mutual aid support groups are informal networks of individuals who share a common experience or issue. Members get together to share support. The primary focus of self-help is emotional support, practical support and information exchange. Self-Help/Mutual Aid is a process of sharing common experience, situations or problems. Self-help is participatory in nature and involves getting help, giving help and learning to help yourself as well as sharing knowledge and experience. There is no charge to participate, although a nominal donation to cover expenses is sometimes requested. Self-help initiatives are run by
and for participants, meet on an ongoing basis, are voluntary in nature and are open to new members. The primary focus of self-help is emotional support, practical support and information exchange.

Self-Help Awareness Week

This year, Self-Help Awareness Week is September 21-26, 2009. As part of Self-Help Awareness Week, we will be hosting Spencer Brennan from the Ontario Self Help Network on Monday September 21st from 1-3pm. Spencer will be covering the basics of facilitation skills-skills needed to run and manage self-help groups. To register in this workshop, please call Alex at 905-780-0491, ext. 119 or email: alex.cheng@krasmancentre.com. There are limited spots available, please contact Alex at 905-780-0491, ext 119 to register.

Facilitation Skills Workshop-Monday September 21st, 1-3pm

Krasman Centre Richmond Hill

Tanya gives a wonderful overview of the Krasman Centre’s work with consumer survivors of the mental health system. Her organization marked their 10th anniversary this year so this is a special interview to celebrate that milestone.

Her talk gave me greater insight into the values and approach a consumer survivor organization assumes in the day to day work of fostering and supporting the voices of those with lived experience. For those not familiar with the consumer survivor philosophy and practice framework, this interview with Tanya will be a good introduction.

When Tanya Shute, Executive Director of the Krasman Centre told me just how important and integral the Intentional Peer Support (IPS) framework was to Krasman programming for mental health consumer survivors, I was intrigued. Tanya explained that the Krasman Centre was hosting a special week long training on IPS and people were coming from across Ontario to participate.

As a volunteer with the Krasman Centre, I saw an opportunity to add a record of this event for the Krasman video library as well as my own video channel on my web site. It was also a chance to demonstrate how using social media is an effective way to disseminate knowledge and practice to a wide audience of people interested in social issues and change.

Without hesitation, I offered to do a video interview with Shery Mead, the consultant hired to conduct the training.

What follows are 3 video’s. The first one is with Shery Mead and the last 2 are with Ann Thompson, a Recovery Educator and participant in the training program. I think you will find them very enlightening in respect to the emerging field of mental health prevention and wellness programming.

I’ll start by providing a short introduction of Intentional Peer Support (from Shery’s web site).

What is Intentional Peer Support?

Intentional Peer Support is a way of thinking about purposeful relationships. It is a process where people (or a group of people) use the relationship to look at things from new angles, develop greater awareness of personal and relational patterns, and to support and challenge each other as we try new things. IPS has been used in crisis respite (alternatives to psychiatric hospitalization), by peers, mental health professionals, families, friends and community-based organizations.

Shery offers a broad range of training based on individual needs. These may include training in intentional trauma-informed peer support, warmline skills, peer run crisis alternatives, co-supervision, Facilitator training and training for professionals in recovery-based practice.

Ann Thompson – Recovery Educator – next page

The next 2 video’s are with Ann Thompson. She shares her lived experience story and talks about her vision for prevention and wellness programming within the mental health sector.

Ann Part 2

Do you have questions about psychiatric medications? Have you been self-managing your psychiatric medications with little or no support? GAM (Gaining Autonomy with medications) is a program developed by Quebec’s Alternative Mental Health Resources that explores self-management of psychiatric medications. The Krasman centre will be running a pilot GAM group on Tuesdays starting at the end of August (Tuesdays August 18th & 25th from 3-4pm).

The GAM model is about learning and understanding psychiatric medication and its effects on all aspects of a person’s life.  It is about questioning one’s needs and preferences with respect to psychiatric medication.  It is about making decisions, self-advocacy, taking risks and taking charge.  The ultimate goal of this process is to achieve a more satisfying quality of life.