Aug 7, 2024 | Mental Health Ministry, Stronger Together Support Group
Good Morning Stronger Together Friends,
This week I propose discussing the following video that discusses a possible link between childhood emotional trauma and serious addiction. I don’t always agree with conclusions drawn from the proposed videos, but hope they are thought provoking and open up interesting discussions. We will see:}
Here is the video.
Here is the warmup question: If you had to wear a button with a maximum of six words on it describing your outlook on life, what would your button say?
DeAtley Barish
Jul 31, 2024 | Mental Health Ministry, Stronger Together Support Group
Hi folks,
This week I’m trying to fret less and focus on the good. I almost thought it would be helpful to discuss mental health during an election campaign, but I’m a chicken so I bring you the topic of gratitude.
Another way to think about gratitude is training our minds to notice the tailwinds, not just the headwinds, and the present moment, not just the past and future ruminations. Our minds are geared to focus on pain (for our survival!) but our mental health might depend on going against that aspect of our nature.
Here’s a video we will watch: The Power of Gratitude. Thomas Gilovich, the speaker in this video podcast, has done longer presentations on the topic, but this one will hopefully get us started.
Warmup topic: Tell a story about a lucky break or a close call you’ve experienced.
See you Thursday at 7 p.m.!
Kirsten
Jul 9, 2024 | Mental Health Ministry, Stronger Together Support Group
Hello Stronger Together friends,
This week’s topic is from a short article about appreciating ourselves. It is short enough to read together on Thursday. I think it is not only helpful for us to consider this technique, but to also to share personal “practices” we each use to find self value.
Here is the warm up question: What place would you really like to visit and have yet gone to, and why are you drawn to going there?
DeAtley
Jun 26, 2024 | Uncategorized
Hi folks!
This week’s topic is on a movie I really want to see but haven’t yet: Inside Out 2. (I haven’t seen the first one either!) This movie is getting applause for being a great illustration of how teens (and all of us) deal with anxiety and change, and for giving us some words to talk about it.
We’ll listen to an article/4-minute podcast from NPR: The ‘Inside Out’ movies give kids an ’emotional vocabulary.’
There’s also a 14-minute interview with a psychologist on what the movie got right. I won’t play that one tomorrow, but it’s worth checking out. It’s very affirming and normalizing of emotions and experiences surrounding anxiety.
Warm-up question: If you could hang out with any cartoon character, who would you choose and why?
See you soon!
Jun 19, 2024 | Mental Health Ministry, Stronger Together Support Group
See you soon! Hello everyone.
At tonight’s meeting, we will start with an icebreaker when we will discuss:
“If you were famous for something, what two companies would you want to sponsor you?”
The article that we will discuss for tonight’s stronger together conversation is one written by the Surgeon General; he wants to be able to add a warning label to social media sites that have not demonstrated that they are safe.
Some questions that might come up in the conversation are around:
- “how might social media or the internet be affecting our mental health–either positively or negatively?”
- “Would a surgeon general’s warning help us make choices that are better for our mental health?” If not, what could help us avoid things that are not good for us?
- Similarly, “are there things we can do to help those we love avoid things that are not helpful for their mental health and do things that support mental health?”
James
