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Building Community: Through Finding Our Voice and Engaging in
Dialogue, Part 1By Daniel Fisher, MD, PhD
National Empowerment Center
www.power2u.org
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Principles of Recovery(From research at NEC)
§ Trust§ Self‐determination§ Hope: believing you’ll recover§ Believing in the person§ Connecting at a human level
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Principles of Recovery(From research at NEC)
§People are always making meaning
§Having a voice of one’s own
§All feelings are valid
§Important to follow your dreams
§Relating with dignity and respect
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Long‐term studies: people can recover from schizophrenia
Study Sample Size
Follow-Up (in years)
% SignificantlyRecovered
Bleuler (1972) 208 23 60%Huber et al. (1979) 502 22 57%Ciompi & Muller (1976) 289 37 53%Tsuang et al. (1979) 186 35 46%Harding et al. (1987) 269 32 65%
1. Bleuler (1978). The Schizophrenic Disorders. New Haven, Yale Press2. Huber et al (1975). Long‐term followup…Acta Psychiatrica Scand. 53:49‐57.3. Ciompi & Muller (1976). Lebensweg und alter…Berlin. Verlag Springer.4. Harding et al. (1987). Vermont longitudinal study…Am. J. of Psychiatry 144: 718‐735.5. Tsuang,M. et al (1979). Long‐term outcome…Arch. Gen. Psych. 36:1295‐1301
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Severe emotional distress
1. People lose touch with others deeply, emotionally2 They repress anger, sadness, and fear and
“their heart no longer talks to them”3. They lose hope and suffer a “loss of dreams”4. They lose their own, unique voice and at times
become mute because they feel unable to affect others5. They lose their sense of self and identity6. They seek guidance and validation from outside7. They hear voices that speak through them, the TV,
radio, and newspapers have special meaning
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Recovery through connecting, hoping, and empowerment
1. People best assist others when they can “deeply be there for the person suffering”
2. People can nourish hope in the heart of persons in distressby having hope in their heart
3. Treat people as if they were what they could be and you will help them to become what they are capable of being
4. Empowered through connecting and believing
5. The principles of recovery from trauma and disaster apply equally to people labeled with mental illness
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Personal Connections
• The more you can share of yourself the more others will share: they can relate
• Taking a personal interest: makes friends• Informal schmoozing is vital• Nonverbal expression as important as verbal
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Passion
• Listen to your heart• Passion resonates in every heart• Choose a cause you feel very strongly• Transform anger, fear, and sadness into passion before doing advocacy• Allies and audience help transform anger• Affect don’t alienate: be attuned• Compassion: based on passion + understanding
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Principles
• Recovery‐based, consumer‐driven system• Believe in yourself• Self‐determination because it is your life• Trust through dignity and respect• Nothing about us without us• Coercion and control are traumatic• Know when to hold them and when to fold them
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Positive Future
• Hope needs to reside deep, insistently inside one’s being to inspire others to hope again
• People who survive despair are uniquely suited to inspire others
• People need to borrow hope when theirs has dried up
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Purpose
• Deep purpose gives life meaning• Vision quest and follow your bliss• You have a dream and eyes on the prize• The power we have is the power of truth• Making a difference in the world gives meaning
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Practical Prioritized Plan
• Always enter prepared with a plan of what you want with main points written
• Plan based on principles, i.e. consumer driven: policies, training, evaluation, services
• Practical means achievable and understandable
• Leave written record of your plan
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Persistence and Perseverance
• Sally Z: Persistence personified
• Linda Corey: “Knock on doors, express my ideas, know I said what I had to say, [know] I was heard, not give up till issue resolved”
• Ken Wireman: “I never give up, never quit..
With enough persistence anything can come to
be… what we believe can become reality”
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Presence and Pride
• Showing up is 90% of life• Being visible• Being a witness to proceedings• Pride: stand tall, good posture, strong voice• Poise: unflappable in resolve• Politeness: present very nicely what they don’t want to hear
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PRIDE Comes From...
• Disability Community and Disability History
• Rejecting a Double Standard– Not accepting that “disabled is less”– Separate is never Equal – There is only 1 “yardstick”
• Knowing Our Rights– Knowledge is Power– Your civil rights are law
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