recovery Archives

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, […]

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 […]

Mental health Spiritual Formation

Only Brave People Come Here – The Place of the Soul

If you want abundant life then you need to be brave and explore the inner world. The secrets you keep maybe keeping you sick. The chief thief is the belief beneath. I remember the first time I went to see a counselor. I was so afraid as I thought that […]

Mental health Relationships

Don’t be Loyal to the Delusions of an Emperor in Undies

When we are loyal to our lies, we are like an emperor in undies. Delusions believed as truth will destroy. We need to be open to others gently telling us when we have been conned. One of my favorite stories from Hans Christian Andersen is “The Emperor’s New Clothes.” Here […]

Getting Well Staying Well Spiritual Formation

God is Pruning Me for Love, Joy, and Peace

Thinking patterns can autopilot us into a jungle of destruction. With the loving care of a gardener, pruning takes place. We need to trust in a loving God that desires to prune and shape our lives for the fruit of love, joy, and peace. ‘I’m sorry but I am going to […]

Helping Others Relationships

Stop The Bully. Stop The Shouting.

When the verbal vomit from a shouting bully has been heaved over your life, you need to recover and get smart. Empower yourself with some worded wisdom. It wasn’t just the loudness of voice; it was also the barrage of words. Condemning, harsh, judgemental words flowing wild and free like […]

Mental Illnesses Spiritual Formation

Do you know where I found God? In a Prison Cell

I can hear you yawning from here. Not another Prison Cell Story. The thing is, there is nowhere you can go in a Prison Cell. It is only you, 4 walls and a window with bars. You could turn the radio up really loud but that only lasts for so […]

Mental health

I Want to Die – 530,000 Google Searches per Month

As you read this post, someone somewhere will be typing in to the Google search ‘I want to die.’ But what are they truly searching for? I believe it is a connection and a simple plan to get out of the hole. A year ago, in February 2018, I wrote […]

Getting Well Staying Well Mental health

What You Need to Remember after the Memory Trigger has Been Pulled

I don’t ever want to go back there again, but whenever I drive past the place, a trigger is pulled, and I go immediately to that place and that time when the trauma happened. It might be a smell, a taste, seeing someone or something. It could be a sound, […]