A Wellness Path

How to Change The Anxious Motion out of the Emotion

How did I get here? Well, it was probably down a well-worn track in your brain that said ‘when you feel this feeling you do this.’ But we can choose new ways of behaving out of our emotions. When you are feeling anxious you can choose a new motion out […]

Spiritual Practices

Mental Health is … Learning to Listen for the Whispers

The noise of our world will never fully satisfy, but when we learn how to listen for whispers, we find a safe place for the soul. I wonder when the first sound was made? Was it a big bang or the quietest of whispers. As the sound waves vibrated out, […]

Helping Others Mental Illnesses

When the Darkest of Valleys becomes a Suffocating Despair

The darkest valley can become a suffocating tomb, a hole that feels impossible to dig oneself out of, but with the help of others, a step can be made, and light can shine again. Recently I went to see ‘Tolkien,’ a movie about the author J.R.R. Tolkien who wrote classics […]

Helping Others Mental health

Seven Tips for Counselling and Supporting Men’s Mental Health

Men are in crisis and need help for their mental health. But one of the obstacles they face is finding counseling and support that is suited to them—seven tips on how to counsel and support men. Nine counselors. Six men and three women. That is how many counselors I have […]

10 reasons men avoid therapy, including fear, DIY attitude, cost, and female bias in mental health counseling.

Getting Well Staying Well Mental health

Ten Reasons Why Men Don’t Go To Counselling

Men need help for their Mental Health but have reasons they avoid counselling and therapy. We need to understand men and the obstacles they face so they can get the help they need. When I suggested he go to see a counselor to get some help with his anger, I […]

Getting Well Staying Well Mental health

You’re Not a Problem. It’s Not Who You Are

The verbal abuse kept raining down until the thought ‘I am a problem’ got nailed into the brain. But then they discovered that a problem is a problem, not a person, and they began to separate their identity from the issues. It was abuse. Verbal abuse. Dished out every day […]

Patsy Clairmont Prayed for a Disease that Would Justify her Weirdness

Mental Illnesses People Like Us

Patsy Clairmont Prayed for a Disease to Justify Weirdness

Agoraphobia had gripped Patsy Clairmont to the point where all she could manage was to make it to her neighborhood grocery store and safely home again. With grunt work and grace, Patsy discovered recovery. She shares with us some of her story. I was a mopey child, a sad teenager, […]

Getting Well Staying Well Helping Others

More of Ruth and Less of Dr. Bob – Being a Companion

Nurses, doctors, counselors, etc. can all make a difference to our mental health recovery, but the more lasting help will come from a committed companion — someone like Ruth who will break bread with us. It was like a revolving door of people entering their life and then leaving it. […]

Helping Others Spiritual Formation

Church and Mental Health. A place for the 5%?

Church and Mental Health? How about sitting with someone and being gently curious about the struggles of their soul. Now that is what I call ‘Church.’ I once sat in a church service and seated in front of me were two men. One was a highly paid lawyer, a partner […]

People Like Us

Matthew McAllum shares some of his story

The life of a person with a mental illness is often accompanied by the necessity of taking prescription medications. My name is Matthew McAllum, I am 50 years old. I have been on mental health medication since 1991. I was raised in a Christian family in Dunedin, New Zealand until I […]