Category: Uncategorized

by Nancy Casey

For today, you will need a topic to write about, someone or something.  Perhaps that topic has already popped into your head.  If it hasn’t how will you come up with one?

You can always close your eyes, open a book, a magazine, or your folder full of writing and then stick your finger in at random.  Open your eyes and find the “someone” or “something” that is closest to your finger.  There’s your topic.

You might prefer to re-imagine yesterday and choose something or someone you encountered during the day.  Or you could choose someone or something that you expect to come into your life today.  You could choose a someone or something that is so big and important to you it’s overwhelming.  Or to challenge yourself a little, you can choose someone or something that’s so insignificant you think you will have nothing to say.

• Then write down one thing that person or object does.
• Then write down one thing that person or object never does.
• Then write down another thing the person or object does.
• And another thing they never do.
• Keep going. You get the idea.

For instance, you could write about the couch:

• My couch sits against the wall beside the window.
• It never moves of its own accord.
• When I am stretched out on the couch it hears everything I say and think.
• It never interrupts.
• The couch collects dust all day long whether I am there or not.
• It never complains when I vacuum all of its dust away…

You could write about your best friend.  Or the most annoying person you know.  Your pet.  Your hammer.  A certain tree.  Anything or anybody will work because there’s nothing and nobody who always does everything, and nothing and nobody who never does anything.

If you get tired of one topic, switch to a new one.  You might end up writing one long thing or a series of short ones. You can find some more examples here.  Don’t forget to give your page a title and write the date on it.

You can share this writing with a friend by leaving out the name of what or who you are writing about and turning it into a guessing game.  For instance, writing about the couch, I could say:

I am thinking of something that sits against the wall by the window and never moves.  It hears everything I say and never interrupts.  It loves to collects dust, but doesn’t complain if I take it away…

At a later time, go back and visit what you have written.  Make up a story in which the person or thing you first wrote about does all the things that you say they never do.  It might come out something like this:

While I was eating breakfast this morning, the couch walked across the room and settled down in front of the bookcase.  I started to tell myself that this was not possible, but before I even got the thought out, the couch said, “Things are different now.  Trust me, you will like it…”

Which is harder to think up, what somebody/something always does, or what they never do?  How often does it turn out that as soon as you say “never” about something, it happens.

Nancy Casey coordinates Recovery Radio, a program put together by volunteers from the Latah Recovery Center.  Listen at 1:10 pm on Thursdays on KRFP 90.3 FM on the Palouse.  She teaches at the Recovery Center on Thursdays.  Check the calendar for classes and times.  All are welcome.  Call the Recovery Center  208-883-1045 or email latahrecoverycenter@gmail.com for more information.

Here is the flyer with all the registration details.

RC Training in CDA 2017

Nancy Casey has started a radio show!  Let us know if you want to help.  Contact latahrecoverycenter@gmail.com

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B0_1XbCKXazmckQzZ3JfdUhHWDQ/view

This weeks Write for You blog by Nancy Casey is here:  https://latahrecoverycenter.org/2017/04/10/write-for-you-details-details/

Nancy is also doing a radio show, and could use your help!  Contact us to find out how.  Listen to the show here:  https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B0_1XbCKXazmckQzZ3JfdUhHWDQ/view

We have a few specials this week at The Center:

4/11, 4pm is our monthly Board meeting.

4/12, 12-1 is a webinar on SMART Goal setting

4/13, 7-8:30 Latah Alliance on Mental Illness:  Family Support program is meeting.  This group is support for families that have a member dealing with mental illness.

4/15, Alcoholics Anonymous is having a speakers meeting from 11-2:30.  It is open to nonmembers.

We have two mental health related conferences coming to town:

1. NAMI spring conference May 20-see attached flyer for details.
2. Palouse Continuing Education Consortium has an excellent opportunity to earn CEUs at their Spring conference.  The CEUs are sponsored by WSU Counseling and Psychological Services.

Workshop description:

Are you working with your clients for an hour and coming back to square one next week?

As health providers and educators, lately, have you felt tired, exhausted, powerless, burned-out, worried, and even short of breath?

Health care providers are in the front line of facing the traumatic stress of modern society, whether it’s presented with client’s unsafe behaviors, hostile attitude, or worsening symptoms. Mental health professionals may find some clients’ intense emotions intimidating. Body-focused health professionals may feel frustrated with some clients’ tendency to coming back to the exact same pain spots.

This workshop is designed to quickly equip you with basic resilience to traumatic stress. Through recent developments in neuroscience research and somatic psychology, you will gain a better understanding of how traumatic stress affects our body and brain.

By applying basic principles, we will together explore ways to enhance our own self-regulation and explore possible ways to facilitate clients moving forward. Also, by understanding how unprocessed trauma is stored in both body and mind, we will gain the initial capacity to collaborate with other health professionals to build a better trauma prevention and recovery network.

Potential participants for this workshop:

Mental health providers (counselor, social workers, psychologists)

Body-focused professionals (massage therapists, physical therapist, occupational therapists, acupuncturist)

Medical providers (nurses, doctors)

Educators (teachers and school psychologists who are interested in developing trauma-inform schools to serve students from underprivileged background)

Presenter:

Chia-Chi (Alicia) Hu, Ph.D., Psychologist in Private Practice

Before completing her counseling psychology doctoral dissertation in adult children-parent attachment, Alicia was trained and worked as a university counselor in Taiwan. Since 2008, she specialized in the trauma recovery field. In recent years, she received further training in Sensorimotor Psychotherapy, an approach in somatic psychology that integrates interpersonal neurobiology and attachment theory.

With her Eastern background and interest, she received yoga RYT-200 training and other body-based movement techniques rooted in TCM (Traditional Chinese Medicine). Understanding how traumatic stress is often stored in the body, she is going through TRE (Tension/Trauma Release Exercise) training this year.

Currently, she provides individual and conjoint therapy in Moscow, Idaho. With the goal of promoting trauma-informed care and trauma-sensitive schools, she wrote a popular psychology book in Chinese Mandarin in 2014.  Most recently, she co-created, along with Ann Westcott, a series of three trauma resilience children storybooks in English, which will be published in both the UK and the US later this year.

———- Forwarded message ———-

Palouse Continuing Education Consortium

Spring Workshop

May 5, 2017 8:30 am to 4:30 pm

Gladish Community and Cultural Center

115 NW State St. Pullman Washington

Two Opportunities for Continuing Education

Register for Just One or Both

Registration ends April 28, 2017

Cost for one            $45 Professional                Cost for Both          $90 Professional

$25 Student                                                            $50 Student

Register on Evenbrite

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/spring-workshops-mind-mood-meds-more-building-resilience-to-trauma-tickets-33295791609

Lunch on your Own

Here is our April calendar!

April at the Latah Recovery Center

Alcoholics Anonymous                                                                       Every day, noon

Positive Affirmations                                                                          Mondays and Weds 1:10-2

YOU Can Create Your Own Job                                                       Monday 4/3, 6

Life Skills                                                                                            Tuesdays 5-6

Chess w/Steve                                                                                     Tues and Thurs 5-6

Narcotics Anonymous                                                                         Tuesdays and Fridays 5:30-6:30

Domestic Abuse Support Group                                                         Tuesdays 6-7

Prescription Addiction Support Group                                               Tuesdays 7-8

SMART Goal Setting                                                                         Wednesday, April 12 12-1

Parenting Support Group                                                                    Wednesday 10-11am starting 4/19

Families and Caregivers of Addicts Support Group                          Wednesdays 6-7

Get It Written (Writing Group)                                                          Thursdays 11-12 AND 6-7

Write For You                                                                                     Thursdays 3-4

New Volunteer Orientation                                                                Thursdays 4-5

LAMI:  Family Support Program                                                       2^nd Thurs of month 7-8:30

Knitting and Spinning                                                                        Fridays 2-4

All Recovery Meeting                                                                         Fridays 5-6

Movie/Games: F. Gump, H. Gilmore, Legally Blonde, Dodgeball    Fridays 6:30-9

BINGO!                                                                                              Sat. April 22, 4-8

AA Speakers Meeting                                                                         3^rd Sat of month 11-2:30

Learn to Crochet & Rewire your Brain                                              4^th Sat of month, 10-12

Adult Children of Alcoholics, Women’s Meeting                              Sundays 6-7:30

Classes and Groups are ALWAYS FREE OR AT COST AND OPEN TO ALL.

RSVP LatahRecoveryCenter@gmail.com Bolded=Regular offering.  Plain text=Special offering for month.

Need an understanding person to talk to?  We have Recovery Peer Volunteers here to help you in recovery from mental health and addiction issues all hours of operation. We are here to help!