Jan 10, 2024 | Mental Health Ministry, Stronger Together Support Group
Hello friends,
The quote, “change is the only constant in life” is typically attributed to the ancient Greek philosopher Heraclitus, though I prefer two alternate translations: “all entities move and nothing remains still” and “everything changes and nothing stands still.” I like these two translations because they frame change as a natural state of being, rather than as a disruptive force.
Who am I kidding, though: change feels inherently disruptive.
That’s why this week we’re going to watch a quick video titled, “The Four Stages Of Coping With Change” and talk about our own experiences managing (or maybe just suffering through) these stages of change. This is a good time of year to contemplate how we might better cope with change in the months ahead… or at least better prepare ourselves for the possibility of change.
Our warm-up question for this week:
When you were a kid, what was a big change/hope/dream you wished for?
See you soon,
Alex
Jan 2, 2024 | Mental Health Ministry, Stronger Together Support Group
Hello friends,
I realized at 11:59 pm on New Year’s Eve that I didn’t have a resolution ready to go, so I quickly searched the web for some ideas for how I might improve myself over the next 527,040 minutes. Here were some top hits from my (literally) 11th hour search:
- Order every drink on the Starbucks Menu.
- Stop blaming my own foul odor on the dog.
- Perfect my favorite celebrity impression.
- Learn to fold fitted sheets.
- Look busy while doing nothing.
Perhaps sensing the existential dilemma I created for myself, Dee emailed over a couple of helpful resources that got me back on track. The first is a super short video on the problem with New Year’s resolutions, delivered by an “influencer” who really speaks my language.
The video helped me get in the right headspace for the more challenging and provocative opinion piece titled, “This Year, Make a Resolution About Something Bigger Than Yourself” (PDF version also attached, with source link in the file header). I don’t want to give anything away here because it’s better if you read it for yourself; it’s a short essay that will only take a couple of minutes. Suffice it to say I’ve scratched the top hits for resolutions from my last-minute internet search.
Our warm-up question for this week:
What’s a New Year’s resolution you wish someone dealing with mental illness would make?
See you soon,
Alex
Dec 28, 2023 | Mental Health Ministry, Stronger Together Support Group
Hello friends,
I hope you had a very merry Christmas and, if possible, have been spending lots of quality time with loved ones. I’m enjoying time with extended family here in Georgia, but it’s not all perfectly smooth sailing. It got me thinking: what strategies should we use when time with family challenges our mental health?
I came across this really wonderful article on coping with family dynamics during the holidays. The author recalls a favorite dessert — “The Dysfunctional Family Sundae” — offered at a nearby restaurant:
The Dysfunctional Family Sundae, a blend of three ice creams, brownies, chocolate cookies, whipped cream and sauces (chocolate, butterscotch, and strawberry), all topped with a cherry. This dessert required sharing among multiple friends. The tag line went something like this: all the ingredients are good on their own, but when placed together are sure to elicit indigestion, just like a dysfunctional family. Thus, cope with the dysfunction by sharing with friends.
Fortunately the author also offers more than a dozen practical strategies for preserving (or gaining back) positive mental health when the family sundae brings about distress, gastrointestinal or otherwise. In fact, many of these strategies are great to use for building strong family bonds even if there are no mental health concerns! I look forward to discussing them together as a group this week.
Our warm-up question for this week:
What “TV family” (e.g., The Brady Bunch) is most memorable for you, and why?
See you soon,
Alex
Dec 19, 2023 | Mental Health Ministry, Stronger Together Support Group
Hello friends,
Over the past few weeks we’ve watched and discussed some really inspiring videos about how people have turned their personal struggles with mental illness into profound acts of courage and generosity. It’s not your typical Christmas content, I suppose, but Christmas is a celebration of hope and these stories are nothing if not hopeful.
This week we’ll watch one more from Carson Daly (if you grew up on MTV he needs no introduction), who speaks candidly about his struggles with anxiety and panic disorder. One of my hopes is that, in just a few years’ time, we hear even more of these personal testimonies…not just from those affected by depression and anxiety, but also from people affected by types of mental illness such as schizophrenia and borderline personality disorder that are still considered taboo.
Our warm-up is a Christmas-themed guessing game!
Name two Christmas carols, and see if everyone else can guess whether you love one and despise the other, love them both, or give them both a “bah humbug.”
See you soon,
Alex
Dec 13, 2023 | Mental Health Ministry, Stronger Together Support Group
Hello friends,
We have some really creative and artistic people in this discussion group. There’s also people like me, who perhaps aren’t naturally artistic but strive to be more creative and appreciative of the art we encounter. This week we’re going to explore a few different ways in which mental health and art can intersect, from giving us a language to express complex feelings to connecting us with people and ideas that can bring healing.
Our warm-up question for this week:
Check out this website of Texas Mental Health Creative Arts Contest winners. Which image stands out to you, and why?
See you soon,
Alex
Dec 6, 2023 | Mental Health Ministry, Stronger Together Support Group
Hello friends,
One of my favorite things about our group discussions is that we get to go pretty deep into mental health topics that don’t come up in conversation often enough. It’s good also to step back on occasion to “see the forest through the trees,” as the saying goes. All the topics we discuss are about people, after all. It’s not about illnesses, or treatment paradigms, or biases, or strategies; it’s about the people in our lives, and about ourselves.
We’re going to watch a beautifully composed 7-minute video to bring this point into focus on Thursday. It’s the story of Kevin Love, who you may or may not be familiar with as a longtime star player in the NBA. His story is both extraordinary because of who he is and how he has shaped his life in response to mental health challenges, while also being entirely ordinary and relatable because of the honesty with which he talks about these challenges. He sums up his approach as “putting all my cards on the table.” Deal!
Our warm-up question for this week:
What is your favorite game to play, whether a sport, a card game, or anything else?
See you soon,
Alex
