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 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
Hi Stronger Together folks,
This week’s video is about a retired military veteran helping other veterans through art therapy. (Thanks, Brian, for the video!)
She talks about the difficulty of leaving military life and adjusting back to civilian life. For many veterans the expression of feelings, pain, and vulnerability has been greatly discouraged, leading to isolation and in some cases substance abuse. By encouraging non-verbal expression through hands-on making (with or without any art skills) she has helped some veterans find the adjustment more tolerable.
She also talks about creating one’s own “Mental Health Care Kit” for coping with stress, change, and loss.
Today’s warmup question: If you could add a room to your home that was for a specific, just-for-you purpose, what would you use it for and what would you put in there?
See you at 7 p.m. Thursday, June 6!
Kirsten
Hello everyone.
This evening, we will discuss things that we have found that seem to help our mental health, so that we might get some tips from each other. To start our conversation, we will watch a video:
https://www.cbsnews.com/amp/bo
To start our meeting, we will discuss an ice breaker question: “What type of clothing represents the way you are feeling right now?”
See you all soon!
In Christ,
James
Hello friends,
We’ve talked about forgiveness on multiple occasions, and each time it proves to be a tricky but interesting topic. Maybe that’s because we realize how important forgiveness is, but also how challenging it can be. This week we’re going to explore an important dimension of forgiveness in mental health: forgiving ourselves.
For inspiration, we’re going to watch a brief video on a rather stunning act of forgiveness…though not on mental health per se. As you watch the video try not to focus just on whether or not you would forgive the same way the woman in the video eventually does. Instead, put yourself in the perspective of the young man who admits he wasn’t ready to forgive himself. Can you relate to him in this way?
Our warm-up question for this week:
Tell us about a time when you felt overcome by something so beautiful or wonderous that it stopped you in your tracks.
See you soon,
Alex