Aug 3, 2023 | Mental Health Ministry, Stronger Together Support Group
This week we’re going to consider two unrelated but complementary personal perspectives on mental illness. We’ll start by watching a brief clip from an installment in a PBS series called “Mysteries of Mental Illness.” In this clip, pastor Michael Walrond talks about labels, race, the church, and his experiences with depression.
After discussing this video, we’ll then listen to the poem “in this season we heal” by poet Trapeta B. Mayson. We’ll talk about how these two videos tap into a similar set of experiences, but also how they represent different ways of thinking about the pain and loneliness that can accompany mental illness.
If you haven’t been able to join one of our conversations in a while and are unsure when is the right time to drop in, I might suggest that this week is a perfect opportunity to reconnect. We’ll be so glad to see you!
Our warm-up question for this week:
If you could live in a world that was just like a board game, which board game would you want it to be like, and why?
Jun 22, 2023 | Mental Health Ministry, Stronger Together Support Group
When we think about being “burned out,” we might be tempted to assume it’s an issue just for people in high-pressure workplaces. The truth is, you can experience burnout from volunteerism, family/health/medical issues, school, and more.
Of course we want to prevent burnout wherever possible, but just as importantly we want to find healthy ways to bounce back from burnout when it inevitably affects us. In this week’s conversation we’ll watch a video together to understand burnout better and how it differs from stress, and then talk about how we help ourselves and each other recover. Some things to think about between now and then:
- What did we use to call “burnout” before the term became commonplace?
- What cues do you look for in your own life to know when you’re at risk of being burnt out?
- Have you ever felt like you’re on a recurring cycle of feeling burnt out, taking a break to recover, and then getting burnt out again?
- How do you help other people when you sense they are feeling burnt out?
Our warm-up question for this week:
When was the last time you trusted someone “blindly,” and why?
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?
