Healing the Mind, Body & Spirit Through the Creative Arts, Education & Advocacy

 

Hope, Healing & Help for Trauma, Abuse & Mental Health

 

“Out of suffering have emerged the strongest souls; the most massive characters are seared with scars”. Kahlil Gibran

 

 

The Surviving Spirit Newsletter February 2025

 

“Music is a great healer. Begin and end your day with music.” – Lailah Gifty Akita

 

Music & Thoughts To Share - “Songs For The Keys To Your Life” by Michael Skinner @ YouTube

 

The genesis to the writing of this song came from a few sources. I was thinking of how trauma disconnects us from others and ourselves; this rings true in the neglecting of our passions and creativity. And yes, I believe we are all creative in one way or another. Pursuing our muse, whatever it may be is instrumental for healing. There is no need to compete or strive to be a professional in what brings you joy; just doing it is key for your spiritual health.

 

The other creative spark for this song was my interactions with friends of mine who were all talented musicians. Some of them had been in bands before but now they were busy climbing the corporate ladder and getting ahead. Sadly, they neglected the music that had been so important to them in their lives.

 

You can also hear and see a performance of this song in a four song set -

 

Songs of Life, Love, Loss & Hope - Set 1 - Healing Trauma, Abuse & Mental Health Injuries @ YouTube – Recorded live at Bob Cat Studio

 

Thanks and take care, Michael

 

“It’s not about being good at creativity, it’s about creativity being good for you.” - James McCrae

 

“Life beats down and crushes the soul, and art reminds you that you have one.” - Stella Adle.

 

 

Newsletter Contents:

 

1] San Francisco homelessness: Park ranger helps one person at a time By Susan Freinkel @ The San Francisco Standard

 

2] My Experience with Mental Health in the Jewish Community By Linda Baron Katz @ OC87 Recovery Diaries

 

3] The PERCH Journal Submission Manager - The PERCH • Social • Vol. 8, Fall 2025

 

4] Nature: A Remedy for the Bullying Epidemic By Jennifer Fraser Ph.D. @ Psychology Today

 

5] Wounded, recovered and back to war. Ukrainian soldiers are returning to battle after amputation By Hanna Arhirova, Evgeniy Maloletka and Vasilisa Stepanenko @ AP News

 

6] Nursing Homes Overprescribing Drugs to Silence and Subdue Patients - The Brown Firm

 

7] Hearing Voices Out Loud: A Schizoaffective Disorder Short Film @ OC87 Recovery Diaries

 

8] Quiet, please! The remarkable power of silence – for our bodies and our minds By Sam Pyrah @ The Guardian

 

9] Psychotherapist: 10 phrases the most mentally strong people use daily By Amy Morin @ CNBC News

 

10] 5 Ways Music Helps With Healing - Sheltering Arms Institute By: Audrey Weatherstone, Music Therapist

 

11] The Chosen Reject By author Phillip Fleming

 

12] 5 Easy Vagus Nerve Exercises for Reducing Stress, According to the Experts By Kerry Law

 

13] Intensive and Sustained Engagement Team (INSET) - Greater Mental Health of New York

 

14] Mothers* Of Adult Survivors of Incest and Sexual Abuse (M*OASIS) - For People Supporting Survivors of Incest and Abuse

 

“Be kinder than necessary; For everyone you meet is Fighting some kind of battle.” Author Unknown

 

“When you love someone, you love the person as they are, and not as you'd like them to be.” Leo Tolstoy

 

1] San Francisco homelessness: Park ranger helps one person at a time By Susan Freinkel @ The San Francisco Standard

 

Article excerpt - Her job is to remove homeless people from SF’s parks. Her methods are extraordinary. To watch park ranger Amanda Barrows is to be faced with a disturbing question: If this is what it takes to help one unhoused person, how can we manage thousands?

 

Kaine moved into Golden Gate Park sometime in the late 1990s. He’s vague on the date or details that led to him living outside. But he remembers exactly what he brought with him: “a big-ass backpack,” two sleeping bags, and a 12-person Coleman tent that was so hard to set up he got thoroughly drenched his first night.

 

Kaine, whose real name is Kevin Horton, settled into the woods surrounding Hellman Hollow. For more than 20 years, no one could figure out how to help him get a real roof over his head. Kaine became a fixture of the park, known by locals for carrying a staff he’d carved from fallen trees, accompanied by his yellow Lab, Honey. He knew all the park’s hidden trails, the best places to pick blackberries “as big as my pinkie finger,” and the hive in an old cypress where he could collect honey to mix with his vodka. People would tell him, “Damn, Kaine, you know more about that park than the park rangers do,” he recalls.

 

“The ability to simplify means to eliminate the unnecessary so that the necessary may speak.” - Hans Hofmann

 

“Everything has its wonders, even darkness and silence, and I learn, whatever state I may be in, therein to be content.” - Helen Keller

 

2] My Experience with Mental Health in the Jewish Community By Linda Baron Katz @ OC87 Recovery Diaries

 

Article excerpt - What is recovery from mental illness? Can someone recover once, twice, ten times in their life? Can one stop caring about their own mental health when something truly tragic happens in their life? Yes, they can, as I did. Much of my life had revolved around the difficult diagnoses in my family as well as the mental health industry as a whole, and still, I turned my back on it.

 

My mother was the first person in our family who was diagnosed with acute depression; I was diagnosed with bipolar disorder, but somehow fought back, recovered, graduated college, got married, and became a peer specialist. My sister, however, developed paranoid schizophrenia in her 40s not long after our father had died. I thought my father’s death would be very upsetting to me, but it was my sister’s suicidality, schizophrenia, and death that caused me to lose faith in the mental health system altogether.

 

A year and a half later after my father died, my sister Susan started acting very strangely, hearing voices and seeing hallucinations. I tried to get her help by suggesting she see a psychiatrist and therapist, but she was very stubborn. Early on in her diagnosis, we were moving things from my father’s old apartment, and she got so frustrated that she shoved me and blocked me from leaving the home. I could not understand her behavior at the time. I was terrified and unsure of how to handle her episodes, so I went to my therapist and she advised me to call 911 if my sister got aggressive. I was scared and felt I was betraying my sister in some way, so the first time I called 911, I told them not to mention it was her sister that made the call.

 

“The practice of inclusiveness is based on the practice of understanding, compassion, and love. Increasing our understanding and compassion makes our heart grow greater.” - Thich Nhat Hanh

 

“Don’t judge your creativity based on external validation. Measure your creativity by the inner fulfillment of self-discovery and expression. The reward is in the process, not the results.” - James McCrae

 

3] The PERCH Journal Submission Manager - The PERCH • Social • Vol. 8, Fall 2025

 

This is a peer-reviewed open call—all are welcome to submit pieces for consideration! Please submit your stories or artworks by MARCH 30, 2025. We anticipate a SEPTEMBER 2025 publication date. Email graziela.reis@PROTECTED with questions or concerns.

 

The PERCH is a creative arts journal with mental health themes focused on original voices.

 

Many studies have shown the significance of being social and that of social support networks in promoting wellness and recovery from mental health and substance use, as well as physical health challenges. The PERCH’s new SOCIAL issue will explore various forms of what it means to be SOCIAL in 2025! What does being social look and feel like today? How is it experienced? What does social support look like? What does the lack or loss of social support feel like? How have social networks changed or expanded? What does it mean to be in connection with others—in person or virtually? What are people doing to stay connected and counteract loneliness and isolation?

 

We seek poetry, creative nonfiction, fiction, artwork, virtual art, and scholarly pieces that illustrate the many aspects of social support and its relationship to wellness and recovery. Narratives may include personal stories about seeking and finding social support; the loss of social support and its consequences; and the complex range of thoughts and feelings that one may have in relation to their support systems. Submissions should reflect social support’s many forms, including but not limited to friendships, relationships, mentorship, peer support and support groups, community, and social media. We are looking for specific and in some cases unusual or unexpected stories and images.

 

“Do what you can, with what you have, where you are.” - Theodore Roosevelt

 

“You either get bitter, or you get better. You either take what's been dealt to you and allow it to make you better, or you allow it to tear you down.” - Iona Mink

 

4] Nature: A Remedy for the Bullying Epidemic By Jennifer Fraser Ph.D. @ Psychology Today

 

Article excerpt - Research documents nature’s capacity to reduce the stress of bullying.

 

Key Points:

• Bullying can cause serious stress to the brain and leave neurological scars.

• Extensive research dating back to the 1970s documents the ability of nature to repair stressed brains.

• Nature can lower stress levels and improve health when we actively enter into green spaces.

• Nature prevents and calms our stress responses even in the form of indoor plants or nature imagery.

 

If we examine bullying behaviours through a medical rather than a moral lens, a proven strategy to change this destructive conduct is through exposure to nature. If we treated bullying outbursts as indicative of a brain health issue, we might respond with a remedy rather than punishment. This different way of thinking and responding is not meant to remove accountability. Rather, it acknowledges that the way we handle bullying at present frequently fails to prevent it or stop it. In fact, accountability increases when we recognize that bullying behaviours are comparable to an illness that the perpetrator has, and that must not be allowed to infect targets and bystanders.

 

“At the heart of liberty is the right to define one's own concept of existence, of meaning, of the universe, and of the mystery of human life. Beliefs about these matters could not define the attributes of person-hood were they formed under compulsion of the State.” - Justice Anthony Kennedy

 

“We can do anything we want to do if we stick to it long enough.” - Helen Keller

 

5] Wounded, recovered and back to war. Ukrainian soldiers are returning to battle after amputation By Hanna Arhirova, Evgeniy Maloletka and Vasilisa Stepanenko @ AP News

 

Article excerpt - The Ukrainian intelligence soldier doesn’t know how long his clinical death lasted after an explosive detonated beneath him.

 

All Andrii Rubliuk remembers is overwhelming cold, darkness and fear. When he regained consciousness in his shattered body — missing both arms and his left leg — excruciating pain engulfed him, and hallucinations clouded his mind.

 

“It’s an experience you wouldn’t wish on anyone,” the now 38-year-old says.

 

Two years later, Rubliuk is again dressed in military fatigues, his missing limbs replaced by prosthetics — hooks in place of fingers, one leg firmly planted on an artificial limb.

 

From the moment of the explosion, Rubliuk knew his life had changed forever. But one thing was certain — he vowed to return to the battlefield.

 

“Fighting with arms and legs is something anyone can do. Fighting without them — that’s a challenge,” he says. “But only those who take on challenges and fight through them are truly alive.”

 

Many Ukrainian brigades have at least one, and often several, amputee soldiers still on active duty — men who returned to combat out of a sense of duty amid the grim outlook for their country.

 

“We won't always know whose lives we touched and made better for our having cared, because actions can sometimes have unforeseen ramifications. What's important is that you do care and you act.” - Charlotte Lunsford

 

“I have not the shadow of a doubt that any man or woman can achieve what I have, if he or she will make the same effort, and have the same hope and faith.” - Mahatma Gandhi

 

6] Nursing Homes Overprescribing Drugs to Silence and Subdue Patients - The Brown Firm

 

Article excerpt - Elder abuse is a disturbing reality that many seniors face, often silently and out of public view. One particularly alarming form of elder abuse taking place in nursing homes across the country is the overprescription of antipsychotic drugs and sedatives to keep residents docile and easier to manage. We’ll take a closer look at this pandemic in this article.

 

What the Research Shows - Multiple studies have shown that nursing homes frequently administer antipsychotic medications to residents even when they do not have a medically valid psychiatric diagnosis warranting such drugs. A recent government report found that 80% of seniors on Medicare were prescribed antipsychotic medication, despite only around 5% of the senior population having a diagnosis of psychosis. That’s roughly a million patients a year.

 

Clearly, a significant portion are being prescribed these powerful drugs inappropriately. Antipsychotics such as Risperdal, Seroquel, and Zyprexa are often used “off-label” in nursing homes as a chemical restraint to suppress agitation and unwanted behavior. Sedatives like Ativan and Valium are also used excessively to keep seniors sleepy and less prone to complain or cause trouble.

 

The Dangers of Overmedication - This pervasive practice of overprescribing antipsychotics and sedatives puts seniors at serious risk. Antipsychotic drugs in particular have many hazardous side effects in the elderly, including:

• Increased risk of stroke, heart failure, and sudden cardiac death. One study found seniors taking antipsychotics had a higher risk of sudden death compared to the general elderly population.

• Parkinson’s disease-like symptoms such as tremors, muscle rigidity, and shuffling gait. These irreversible movement disorders can leave seniors severely disabled.

• Confusion, disorientation, loss of balance and falls. Falls are the leading cause of injury deaths among the elderly. Sedated seniors are especially prone to losing balance and cognitive awareness.

• Extreme sedation, unresponsiveness. Excessive doses can leave seniors in a zombie-like state, unable to interact or communicate. This infringes on their basic human dignity.

• Blood clots and pneumonia. Immobility from sedation increases seniors’ vulnerability to dangerous clots and respiratory infections.

 

“Experience is the child of thought, and thought is the child of action.” - Benjamin Disraeli

 

“Don't wait for extraordinary opportunities. Seize common occasions and make them great.” -
Orison Swett Marden

 

7] Hearing Voices Out Loud: A Schizoaffective Disorder Short Film @ OC87 Recovery Diaries

 

“I think that honesty is the best way to bring people into my experience,” says writer Sarah Myers a remarkable human who lives with schizoaffective disorder. I am collaborating with Sarah on a short film about her life with the disorder. It’s been an incredibly rewarding creative adventure.

 

One aspect of her disorder that Sarah has difficulty explaining to others is the fact that, at times during the day, Sarah hears voices.

 

“Usually there’s a sense of low-level voices that happen all the time. In my daily life, if I’m more stressed or if I am upset or something, they become louder. They’re constant waves, and then they’ll spike if I am triggered, and then they’ll go back down. But they’re always there.” This experience is remarkably stressful for Sarah but is difficult to explain to others. “How do you communicate to people invisible things that they can’t hear?” she asks.

 

In brainstorming with Sarah about ways to share her story in a film, we decided to recreate (to the best of our abilities) her experience hearing voices.

 

Sarah wrote a script for actors who were invited to a recording session in Philadelphia. She directed the actors in terms of tone, emotion and delivery. Once she was satisfied with the audio recordings, Sarah worked with a talented sound designer named Peter Rydberg from Studio 1935 to edit the recordings so that they felt and sounded true to her.

 

What is it Like to Hallucinate? - YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4E05n7yA79Q

 

“We are all faced with a series of great opportunities - brilliantly disguised as insoluable problems.” -
John Gardner

 

“Here’s to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The trouble-makers. The round heads in the square holes. The ones who see things differently. They’re not fond of rules, and they have no respect for the status-quo. You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify, or vilify them. But the only thing you can’t do is ignore them. Because they change things. They push the human race forward. And while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius. Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do.” - Jack Kerouac

 

8] Quiet, please! The remarkable power of silence – for our bodies and our minds By Sam Pyrah @ The Guardian

 

Article excerpt - Quiet, please! The remarkable power of silence – for our bodies and our minds

Our increasingly noisy world has been linked to cardiovascular disease, anxiety and depression, as well as hearing loss. But that’s not the only reason we need more peace and quiet in our lives.

 

No dogs barking. No lawnmowers. No revving engines. No sirens or car alarms. No planes. No construction work. No delivery lorries. Just pure, blissful silence. My ears could barely believe what they weren’t hearing when I opened the door, stepped into the garden and listened. It was autumn last year and I had just moved 600 miles north, from south-east England to Abernethy Forest in the Scottish Highlands. Occasionally, the wind shushed through the tree tops, like a slow wave breaking on the shore. Then it was quiet again. I lay in bed that night, letting my ears explore the faint thrum of silence, and for the first time in ages I didn’t reach for my earplugs.

 

In the ensuing months, my ears let go, by degrees, of a tension that I hadn’t been aware I was holding. I almost expected to look in the mirror and find them drooping, like those of a drowsy puppy. “Isn’t it a bit quiet for you there?” people asked – either mystified by our move, or concerned that we wouldn’t hack it. But I can’t get enough of it.

 

A 2006 study from the University of Pavia on music unexpectedly revealed how much the body and brain appreciate silence. The researchers were investigating how different types of music – from classical to techno, ragga to rap – affected markers of stress, including blood pressure, heart rate and breathing frequency. A two-minute silence was randomly inserted between the tracks as a control measure; but it turned out that listening to this silence elicited the lowest readings of all. “This relaxation effect was even greater than that seen at the end of five minutes of quiet rest [prior to the study beginning],” the authors wrote.

 

Spending time in silence – through meditation, prayer or going solo in the wilderness – has been integral to spiritual and religious practices for millennia: a path to self-discipline, knowledge and self-actualisation and a way to get closer to the god or gods you choose to worship. “The fact that it arose as a central feature, across different continents and eras, speaks to its importance,” says Gordon Hempton, an acoustic ecologist and campaigner for the preservation of quiet places.

 

“Constant kindness can accomplish much. As the sun makes ice melt, kindness causes misunderstanding, mistrust and hostility to evaporate.” - Albert Schweitzer

 

“We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.” - Albert Einstein

 

9] Psychotherapist: 10 phrases the most mentally strong people use daily By Amy Morin @ CNBC News

 

Building mental strength isn’t just about what you do, it’s about how you speak — to yourself and others — every day.

 

As an author of six books on mental strength with 25 years of experience as a therapist, I’ve seen how powerful words can be. They become essential tools for creating boundaries, shifting perspectives, and building resilience.

 

Here are 10 sentences I say regularly and why they matter for building mental strength:

 

1. ‘It’s understandable I feel that way right now.’ - Feeling nervous, frustrated, or sad doesn’t mean you’re weak. It means you’re human. Acknowledging those emotions, however, takes strength.

 

2. ‘What’s one thing I can control right now?’ - When life feels chaotic, it’s tempting to try to fix the situation. But not all problems can be solved. You can’t force someone to change their behavior. You can’t rewind the clock and undo the past. Focusing on those things will only stoke your anxiety.

 

You’ll start feeling better (and inching closer to a solution) as soon as you focus on what is within your control. Whether it’s taking a few deep breaths, sending an email, or decluttering your space, even the smallest action can empower you to move forward, one step at a time.

 

3. ‘How else can I look at this situation?’ - Perspective is everything. When you’re stuck in a negative thought loop, this sentence can remind you that there’s always more than one way to look at a situation.

 

Maybe a setback is really a setup for something better. Or maybe a challenging situation is an opportunity to practice. Reframing your challenges can help you start looking for solutions with a renewed sense of optimism.

 

Amy Morin is a psychotherapist and host of the Mentally Stronger podcast. She is the author of the best-selling book “13 Things Mentally Strong People Don’t Do,” and several other books in the series including “13 Things Strong Kids Do: Think Big, Feel Good, Act Brave.” Her TEDx talk “The Secret of Becoming Mentally Strong” is one of the most viewed talks of all time.

 

“Transformation is not five minutes from now; it's a present activity. In this moment you can make a different choice, and it's these small choices and successes that build up over time to help cultivate a healthy self-image and self esteem.” - Jillian Michaels

 

“Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet. Only through experiences of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, vision cleared, ambition inspired and success achieved.” - Helen Keller

 

10] 5 Ways Music Helps With Healing - Sheltering Arms Institute By: Audrey Weatherstone, Music Therapist

 

Music therapy takes a unique approach to rehabilitation by using creative and expressive arts as a tool to address physical, cognitive, emotional, social, and spiritual goals.

Elements of music can affect significant changes to our brains and bodies, as well as tap into our emotions in powerful ways.

Music is an essential part of healing, especially in a rehabilitation setting, as it can make movement, speech, memory, and self-expression more accessible.

Here are 5 ways music helps with healing:

 

1. Self-Expression - Self-expression is crucial for processing stressful, painful, or traumatic circumstances, though it can be difficult to articulate the language to express these experiences. Music can be used as a tool for both verbal and nonverbal self-expression through improvisational music, songwriting, lyric analysis, or recreating preferred music. Music therapy has been shown to reduce agitation and anxiety by providing an accessible outlet for self expression.

 

2. Physiological Benefits - Music has remarkable effects on the body, and music therapy interventions can be tailored to reduce perceived pain and improve sleep. Music therapists use the “iso-principle,” a technique that matches the musical elements (rhythm, melody, pitch, tempo, etc.) to a person’s physiological state. Gradually, the music is altered to affect the desired outcome, as vitals such as heart rate, respiration, and blood pressure entrain to the music. Music stimulus has also been shown to block pain receptors or reinterpret pain signals, decreasing pain perception. Music therapy can be used as a non-invasive tool for distraction, relaxation, and procedural support for reducing pain and discomfort.

 

3. Emotional Support - Listening to or creating music is directly related to increased dopamine levels, which is one of the neurotransmitters that gives us feelings of pleasure and happiness. Many people experience dopamine deficiency due to medications, lack of movement or sleep, stress, depression, or specific conditions such as Parkinson’s disease. Similarly to physiological responses, we have emotional responses to music, which can also be altered using the iso-principle. When music is altered to meet a person where they are emotionally, and gradually shifted to the desired emotional state, people can experience benefits of elevated mood and reduced anxiety.

 

“We who lived in concentration camps can remember the men who walked through the huts comforting others, giving away their last piece of bread. They may have been few in number, but they offer sufficient proof that everything can be taken away from man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms - to choose one's attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one's own way.” - Viktor Frankl

 

“When obstacles arise, you change your direction to reach your goal; you do not change your decision to get there.” - Zig Ziglar

 

11] The Chosen Reject By author Phillip Fleming

 

This book is dedicated to all the chosen rejects, the underdogs, the ones who have been told they're not good enough or will never be good enough. To those who have faced rejection, abandonment, neglect, betrayal, ridicule, and adversity, but still found the courage and strength to rise above it all and continue to move forward in life. You are not alone! Your story is a testament to the power of the human spirit, and your resilience inspires us all.

The words “the chosen reject” was inspired from the Kurt Cobain's "Chosen Rejects" interview and is a reference to an article written by Kurt St. Thomas titled "The Chosen Rejects", which was published in the book Nirvana: The Unseen Diary in April 2004. In the interview, Cobain discussed his early life and how he and his bandmates felt like outcasts and rejects. He also talked about his music and how it was a way to express his feelings and connect with other people who felt the same way.

The book talks about how to overcome and success in this world, despite feelings of negativity, rejection, failure, the feeling of not measuring up, and other manners of struggle, loss, trials, and tribulations.

 

Rev. Dr. Phillip Fleming, CRPA, NYCPS-P, EFIT, Hon. D. Div. is a New York State-Certified Peer Specialist (provisional) and a Certified Recovery Peer Advocate with 15 years of experience in peer support. He is dedicated to promoting peer support values and principles and empowering peers to lead self-directed lives. Phillip volunteers at Fountain House, the New York Association of Black Psychologists, and Community Tax Aid NYC and is an ordained minister with Universal Life Church Ministries. He completed his education at Berea College, Columbus State Community College, and Ohio State University.

 

“Those of us with psychiatric disabilities are not the problem, we are part of the solution.” Pat Deegan

 

“Life's most persistent and urgent question is, 'What are you doing for others?” Martin Luther King, Jr.

 

12] 5 Easy Vagus Nerve Exercises for Reducing Stress, According to the Experts By Kerry Law

 

Article excerpt - Stimulating your vagus nerve can help you achieve peace, calm and better sleep – and it’s easy to do if you follow these expert-backed tips.

 

If ‘more sleep’ or ‘less stress’ are goals for you, then you’ll probably have tried to introduce a few changes to your routine. You’ve hung blackout curtains, tried to finish dinner by 8pm and stopped scrolling on TikTok in the evenings. And yet, here you are, still feeling tired. Maybe that’s because you’re missing one crucial stress-busting element: the vagus nerve.

 

“The vagus nerve is responsible for a huge number of signals from the digestive system and organs to the brain and vice versa,” says Dr Deepak Ravindran, author of The Pain-Free Mindset. “It’s an important part of the parasympathetic system, the so-called ‘rest and digest’ part of the nervous system.

 

“While the sympathetic system is responsible for the ‘fight and flight’ aspect, we need the parasympathetic system in full readiness to support us when needed.”

 

You can engage this system through vagus nerve stimulation – non-interventional exercises that help improve the tone of the nerve. Dr Ravindran explains: “Vagal tone is an internal biological process that represents the activity of the nerve. Increasing your vagal tone activates the parasympathetic nervous system. Therefore, having a higher baseline vagal tone can allow the body to relax faster after stress.”

 

So, tone up your vagus nerve and you’ll be mentally and physically fitter to deal with stressful situations. The good news is that there’s a wealth of quick and easy DIY ways to achieve this – from yoga to massage and singing to cold exposure. Here’s what the experts recommend.

 

Hum, sing and vibrate for more calm - Singing, humming, chanting and even gargling can improve vagal tone because the vagus nerve controls your vocal cords and the muscles at the back of your throat, explains Dr Ravindran. A brain imaging study even found that the humming involved in the meditation chant ‘om’ reduced activity in areas of the brain associated with depression.

 

“If we hope to create a non-violent world where respect and kindness replace fear and hatred, we must begin with how we treat each other at the beginning of life. For that is where our deepest patterns are set. From these roots grow fear and alienation - or love and trust.” Suzanne Arms

 

“All human failures are the result of a lack of love.” Alfred Adler

 

13] Intensive and Sustained Engagement Team (INSET) - Greater Mental Health of New York

 

INSET is a voluntary, peer-led, mobile engagement approach to support individuals that have historically not engaged with the mental health system for various reasons and/or who are at risk of being placed into involuntary treatment approaches. Multidisciplinary INSET Teams focus on providing support to enrolled individuals and their peers in the community of their choosing and in the least restrictive manner. Of significant value and a key objective of INSET is the kindling of hope and connection for vulnerable people, the inspiration that recovery is indeed possible, and that they are not alone.

 

INSET may help bridge the gap for people who are currently in hospitals, jails, or who have recently been discharged or released by providing more intensive support and facilitating connections to the community, treatment, natural, and other supports. INSET is distinct because of their holistic approach and does not place rigid timeframes on success outcomes.

 

Working with a peer specialist in the INSET program my voice is not only heard, but valued. This gives me space to learn about myself. I’m learning what works and what doesn’t. My peer and I are currently working on creating my wellness recovery action plan.

 

I really trust my INSET Peer Specialist, and I know I can always count on her - even when others have let me down.

 

You have accepted me for who I am and met me where I was without judging me.

 

“You are not here merely to make a living. You are here to enable the world to live more amply, with greater vision, and with a finer spirit of hope and achievement. You are here to enrich the world. You impoverish yourself if you forget this errand.” Woodrow Wilson

 

“Recovery is more than a lack of symptoms. It's the return of meaning, sense of self, and quality of life.” Victoria Maxwell - Bi-Polar Princess

 

14] Mothers* Of Adult Survivors of Incest and Sexual Abuse (M*OASIS) - For People Supporting Survivors of Incest and Abuse

 

A safe place to find resources and community

 

Breaking the stigma and shame of incest and childhood sexual abuse by offering resources and a place of refuge *for anyone supporting an adult survivor (not just mothers!).

 

About Me - I am the mother of a sexually abused child. When my daughter was in college, I learned that she was a survivor of incest. It was a devastating day to learn that she endured six years of abuse and did so in silence as so many who are abused do. It is one of the worst nightmares you can wake up to as a mother and parent. It was equally devastating to learn that it was my father.

 

I am not a therapist, nor do I have any professional training in abuse. I am a mother who wants to share her story with others so we can shed the shame, open the dialogue on this issue, and work toward ending childhood sexual abuse.

 

Is M*OASIS Just for Moms? - No, it's for anyone looking to understand how to support a survivor of incest and sexual abuse. While I am a mom and some of the resources and articles may be skewed toward that perspective, my hope is that M*OASIS will be a resource for friends, partners, siblings or any family member trying to figure out how to support an adult survivor.

 

Why was M*OASIS created? - When I first learned of what happened to my daughter, I immediately looked for others who may have had a similar experience. I found lots of resources for survivors and parents of children who were abused. There are even a few resources for partners and spouses. But if you are a parent of an adult survivor, the resources really start to dwindle. M*OASIS aims to fill that need.

 

https://www.moasissupport.com/resources - We seek shared experiences with others, especially in times of difficulty and pain

 

“Knowledge is learning something everyday. Wisdom is letting go of something everyday.” Zen Proverb

 

“We can easily forgive a child who is afraid of the dark; the real tragedy of life is when men are afraid of the light.” Plato

 

 

Thank you & Take care, Michael

 

PS. Please share this with your friends & if you have received this in error, please let me know – mikeskinner@PROTECTED

 

Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter. Martin Luther King, Jr.

 

A diagnosis is not a destiny

 

The Surviving Spirit - Healing the Mind, Body & Spirit Through the Creative Arts, Education & Advocacy

 

https://shop.survivingspirit.com/shop/ - web store

 

The Surviving Spirit Facebook Page

 

mikeskinner@PROTECTED 603-625-2136 38 River Ledge Drive, Goffstown, NH 03045

 

Twitter https://x.com/SurvivinSpirit https://x.com/MichaelSkinne11

 

Michael Skinner Music - Hope, Healing, & Help for Trauma, Abuse & Mental Health - Music, Resources & Advocacy

 

Live performances & advocacy @ Michael Skinner – You Tube

 

"BE the change you want to see in the world." Mohandas Gandhi