county of san diego peers linking peers · for more information on positive psychology, you can...
TRANSCRIPT
County of San Diego Peers Linking Peers
April 2018
The Network of Care is a valuable site for behavioral health resources
http://sandiego.networkofcare.org/mh/
Volume 10 Issue 4
Funding provided through the County of San Diego Health and Human Services Agency Adult and
Older Adult Behavioral Health Services and the Mental Health Services Act (MHSA)
Positive Psychology Focuses on Strengths By Jeffrey Najarian, CMT
Positive Psychology is the study of what makes us happy. Traditionally Psychology has focused on dysfunction, such as
mental health challenges, and how to treat those. In contrast, Positive Psychology focuses on the strengths that allow
individuals to thrive and experience authentic happiness.
A wonderful and free tool is the “Authentic Happiness” website created and hosted by University of Pennsylvania. Once
you create a login to the site, you can take tests developed to help discover your strengths and other aspects of yourself.
The VIA Character Strengths is a test that measures 24 different character strengths people have and helps identify your
top three. The idea is that the more you use your innate strengths the more effective you are in your endeavors. Research
indicates people who use their strengths everyday are 3 times more likely to report having an excellent quality of life and
six times more likely to be engaged/satisfied at work.
Authentic Happiness contains other useful tools such as: authentic happiness measurement tests, gratitude surveys, and
optimism tests. www.authentichappiness.sas.upenn.edu/
For more information on Positive Psychology, you can read the book Authentic Happiness: Using the New Positive Psy-
chology to Realize Your Potential for Lasting Fulfillment. It was written by the father of Positive Psychology, Martin E.
P. Seligman, Ph.D. It is available at online at merchants like Barnes and Noble or Amazon for as low as $1.99. Enjoy!
2018 Summit Highlights Wellness
(L-R) Kassandra Fisher, Richard
Van Dyke and Calvin Wilkerson
greeted attendees at the registration
table.
RI International Staff hosted the 2018 San Diego County Summit.
The theme was “Building Blocks of Wellness” and included sev-
eral inspirational speakers, discussion panels, and a resource fair.
Eastwind Clubhouse performed sev-
eral multicultural songs and ended
with “God Bless America”.
Funding provided through the County of San Diego Health and Human Services Agency Adult and
Older Adult Behavioral Health Services and the Mental Health Services Act (MHSA)
Team Adds New Peer Liaison
By Richard Van Dyke, MS
Think Dignity is a non- profit in San Diego that strives to give dignity to those that live on the streets in San Diego. This
non–profit provides several positive programs to help those living on the street get over hurdles of living on the streets.
Some of these programs include the following; East Village Cleanup, (HYLAP) Homeless Youth Legal Advocacy Pro-
ject, Know Your Rights, Legal Referral and Advocacy Clinic, Mod Squad: Fresh Start Showers, Street Boutique, Street
Café, Survival Supply Distribution, Transitional Storage Center, & Water Distribution. To contact Think Dignity use the
following email address; [email protected]. On this website you will find a calendar of all of their monthly events
including the above listed programs.
Think Dignity, (619) 537-8736
3525 30th Street, San Diego CA 92104
www.thinkdignity.org/
Think Dignity By Kassandra Fisher, BA
Hello, my name is Richard Van Dyke. I was born in Winnebago, Nebraska
and I am an enrolled member of the Omaha (UmonHon) Tribe. I have been
married to my wife Joyce for over twenty-five years. We have one daughter,
Jeanette who is twenty years old. She is currently attending Mesa College in
pursuit of her Nursing Degree.
I have worked for SDYS, Southern Indian Health and Job Corp. Additionally,
I worked for twelve years at San Diego Unified School District as a Case
Manager.
I am an honorably retired twenty-year U.S. Navy veteran. Upon retiring from
the U.S. military I decided to pursue my education with an emphasis in Social
Services. I graduated from San Diego City College with an AA degree in Be-
havioral Science and a certificate in Alcohol and Other Drug Studies. I then
decided to pursue my Bachelor of Science Degree in Behavioral Science. Up-
on graduation I chose to continue my studies and in November 2017 I gradu-
ated again from National University with a Master of Arts in Educational
Counseling.
In my spare time I like to play golf and I try to stay very active in my Native
American culture by participating in dancing and ceremonies. This past summer my family and I spent a month in Eu-
rope. We were blessed to be able to experience London, England; Paris, France; Rome & Venice, Italy as well as Ath-
ens, Greece. We look forward to returning to Europe.
I’m excited to be a part of the RI organization and I look forward to working with my fellow team members representing
RI in their Mission Statement. If you see me out and about in the future, feel free to introduce yourself so we can get to
know one another.
Funding provided through the County of San Diego Health and Human Services Agency Adult and
Older Adult Behavioral Health Services and the Mental Health Services Act (MHSA)
Wellness and Relationships Are Important
By Sandy Opsal BA
Our wellness depends a lot on our personnel relationships. It’s not something we can take a
pill to cure. Developing and maintaining meaningful relationships is an important role in our
personal wellbeing. The healthy connections we have with others affect our quality of life.
The benefits we receive from our relationships aren’t all of it. We also gain so much from
what others give to us. These people share in our hopes and dreams. Sharing a lazy after-
noon can brighten our mood and bring a sense of meaning and purpose in life. These indi-
viduals can help us remember who we are and help us when we are struggling to remember
to be all we’re meant to be.
These connections can be with family members, friends or partners. They are people we can be our true selves around
knowing they will not judge us. It can remind us that person thinks we are important! It can be the source of the close-
ness we need. Facing challenges together is an opportunity to learn more about them and ourselves. Through open and
honest communication you can avoid many disagreements and misunderstandings. The real threat to the relationship is
not the issue itself, but how the conflict is handled. You can come out on the other side with a deeper, stronger relation-
ship.
How do we acquire these relationships? RI International’s Wellness and Empowerment in Life and Living (WELL) class
could be a great help. The class includes a workbook with many interesting topics to think about. If you are interested,
call our office for the time and place for the class.
Social Networks Available in San Diego By Daphne Galang, MHA
Social networks connect us with other people, help us find information, and allow us to share
text, images and video. Some of the most popular social networking sites include Facebook,
YouTube, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn.
Meetup is another popular social networking site founded in 2002 with the mission:
“Creating a meetup everywhere about most everything”. Meetups bring together people in
cities around the world to “do, explore, teach and learn things” in face-to-face groups via an
app or the Meetup website. According to the website, Meetup does not charge members to
create an account, join a Meetup group, or go to Meetups. However, some organizers may collect fees from members to
maintain the group’s online subscription.
San Diego has an active Meetup community. An example of a Health & Wellbeing Meetup is the Depression & Bipolar
Support Alliance (DBSA). The DBSA San Diego group has low-cost social events, such as lectures, picnics, and bon-
fires, for people with any type of mental health challenge, and their families and friends.
An example of a Language Practice Meetup is the San Diego Chinese Language Meetup. People interested in learning
or improving their Chinese-speaking skills meet weekly with other learners. The recent Chinese New Year celebration
also shared Chinese culture, customs and food.
A third example is the San Diego Movie Nights Meetup. This film group is focused on watching new movie releases at
discounted prices once or twice a week. Sometimes before or after the movie, they go to local restaurants for drinks and
food. For more information on Meetup, visit www.meetup.com.
3838 Camino Del Rio North Suite 380
San Diego, CA 92108 T: 858-274-4650
Mary Benson Peer Liaison Team Lead [email protected]
Cell: 619-952-2155
Peer Liaison Team Contacts
Peer Liaisons assist people in advocating for their needs
and rights. We act as a two-way conduit to gather and dis-
seminate information between San Diego County Behav-
ioral Health Services Administrators and people receiving
services and their families. We provide hope, encourage-
ment, and connection to the community through county-
wide forums, focus groups, county meeting attendance,
resources and our monthly newsletter.
Liaison: (noun) communication or cooperation that facilitates a
close working relationship between people or organizations. Origi-
nally from the Old French word for binding.
Funding provided through the County of San Diego Health and Human Services Agency Adult and
Older Adult Behavioral Health Services and the Mental Health Services Act (MHSA)
Editor and Team Lead, Mary Benson
Kassandra Fisher, BA
Daphne Galang, MHA
Robert Labelle
Marcus McGuire
Jeffrey Najarian, CMT
Sandy Opsal, BA
Dalila Valencia
Richard Van Dyke, MS
Mercedes Webber, BS
Join the Peer Liaisons for our next County Wide Speak Out and Learn
Topic: Advocacy
Where: Mission Valley Library 2123 Fenton Pkwy, San Diego, CA 92108
When: Tuesday April 24, 2018 12-2pm
Lunch is included *Free
Lunch*
*Free
Lunch*