Apr 13, 2023 | Mental Health Ministry, Stronger Together Support Group
Hello friends,
We’re back to our regular day and time (Thursdays at 7pm) this week for Stronger Together, and I’m excited for this conversation because we’re going to focus on a very compelling and evocative survivor testimony.
We’ll start by watching a 10-minute
video from Sharon Wise, who recounts her experiences with mental illness, addiction, homelessness, loss, and ultimately recovery. Her story is quite moving, so we’ll take time after the video to process as a group and reflect on what we heard and how it affected us. This topic is all the more important to discuss as
our nation faces new and even deadlier challenges in the addiction crisis. As always we will approach the conversation with empathy, humility, and compassion.
Our warm-up question for this week:
Tell us about a time when you saw someone do something incredible…something you thought wasn’t possible, or couldn’t imagine being able to yourself.
Apr 5, 2023 | Mental Health Ministry, Stronger Together Support Group
Hello friends,
We have another wonderful installment this week in our series healthy relationships. But we get to that, however, please remember that we’re meeting Wednesday evening at 7 pm since it’s Holy Week!
We’ll be talking about friendships: how they differ from other types of relationships, how powerful they can be in keeping us well, and whether or not there’s a “friendship recession” affecting our communities today.
To understand the issue a bit better, we’ll watch a brief video featuring Richard Reeves, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution who has studied this topic extensively. It’s the perfect video and topic to share with friends!
Our warm-up question for this week:
Did you have a “best friend” as a child? What was your favorite memory with this friend?
Mar 30, 2023 | Mental Health Ministry, Stronger Together Support Group
Hello friends,
We’re continuing on the theme of healthy relationships this week, this time focusing on trust. While trust in relationships is a very relevant topic for all of us, it can take on new meaning when you are living with mental illness.
To get the conversation started we’ll watch a 10-minute video on the foundations of trust by social scientist and author/speaker Brene Brown. She introduces the acronym “BRAVING” to describe the essential elements of building and maintaining trust in relationships. We’ll discuss how these themes have played out in our own lives, and in particular the challenges we’ve faced when mental illness is involved.
Our warm-up question for this week:
Tell us about a time you laughed uncontrollably. What (or who) made it so funny?
Mar 16, 2023 | Mental Health Ministry, Stronger Together Support Group
Hello friends,
Attachment is an important concept in psychology that influences a lot of how we interact with others, from romantic partners to total strangers and everyone in between. We’re going to take an initial dive into this topic by exploring the four main attachment styles.
These attachment “styles” are often discussed in the context of intimate partner relationships, but you’ll see clearly in this overview how they shape all sorts of relationships in our lives. This is different from personality traits, which is something we’ll probably touch on as well.
Our warm-up question for this week:
What was your favorite or most memorable school field trip?
Feb 23, 2023 | Mental Health Ministry, Stronger Together Support Group
Hello friends,
You know the “5-second rule,” right? Well this week we’re going to talk about a new 5-second rule that has nothing to do with floor cleanliness. This one is all about how we establish first impressions of people so that we less likely unconsciously categorize them in biased or unfair ways.
We’ll watch
a brief video featuring Quita Christison, a youth empowerment activist who, due to a rare form of dwarfism, is often mistaken for a preteen at first impression. The acronym tool she urges her listeners to use is STOP, which stands for “see the other person.” We all want to be seen for who we are, so what better way to help make that happen than to start by paying it forward!
Our warm-up question for this week:
Who did you think was the “coolest” person when you were a kid, whether they were a celebrity or someone you knew in your day-to-day life?
Feb 19, 2023 | Mental Health Ministry, Stronger Together Support Group
Hello friends,
I think we’d all agree that excessive screen time is a real challenge facing our youth. But what about you and me? Do you know how much time you actually spend looking at a screen between work, time on your phone, and even watching a “traditional” TV (yes, those are screens, too!).
In this week’s Stronger Together conversation we’re going to talk about screen time: the good, the bad, and the backlit. We’ll listen to a brief episode of the Verywell Mind Podcast on how to improve mental strength by better managing screen time, and since it’s audio only we can even look away from our screens while we listen along!
Our warm-up question for this week:
What’s your favorite app on your phone or tablet, and why?
Alex Trouteaud
