NAMI Blog Archives - Page 3 of 6 - NAMI Arapahoe/Douglas Counties

Depression Survival Guide

Jason Hopcus, CLC, MSLC August 29, 2017 NAMI Blog

Post submitted to NAMI Arapahoe/Douglas Counties by guest contributor: Larry Godwin, an excerpt from Depression Survival Guide: 35 Suggestions Although I am not a health care professional, I’ve seen depression from the inside. My expertise is rooted in the trials and errors of personal experience. Every person is different and therefore not all of these suggestions will work for you, just as they haven’t all worked for me. My hope is that through this list you can gain insight into at least one strategy that helps assuage your depression. Recognize That Depression Is Not A Sign Of Weakness It’s notRead More

Suicide Prevention- Finding Help and Hope

Jason Hopcus, CLC, MSLC July 31, 2017August 18, 2017 NAMI Blog

What Chester Bennington & Chris Cornell Can Teach Us About Suicide Prevention Article contributed by: Jennifer Scott, spiritfinder.org The morning of July 20th, 2017 started out like any other day. The summer sun was shining. Not a cloud in the sky. I’d been running errands and was outside enjoying the weather when I received the shocking phone call: Chester Bennington was dead. The news hit like a punch in the gut. I couldn’t believe it. The Linkin Park frontman was more than just a celebrity to me. He was one of my favorite singers. Surely, this was just anotherRead More

Mental Health College Campus Club

Jean Miller, Ph.D., LPC, NCC, ACS May 3, 2017August 18, 2017 NAMI Blog

NAMIWalks and NAMI on Campus Club College of Social Sciences, Colorado Campus NAMI, the National Alliance on Mental Illness, is the nation’s largest grassroots mental health organization dedicated to building better lives for the millions of Americans affected by mental illness. NAMIWalks is a 5K event that raises awareness and funds for NAMI organizations across the country. There are more than 80 NAMIWalks scheduled in 2017. This year, more than 50 thousand people in more than 80 communities, across the nation, will join NAMI and walk together to raise awareness of mental illness and raise funds for local, regional and state NAMI organizations.Read More

A Wholehearted Thank You to AllHealth Network!

Jason Hopcus, CLC, MSLC January 31, 2017August 18, 2017 NAMI Blog

AllHealth Network featured NAMI Arapahoe/Douglas Counties in its most recent Pulse newsletter. We wanted to share it with you. Thank you, AllHealth Network. We value you our partnership and look forward to the future. NAMI Arapahoe/Douglas Counties is a local Colorado affiliate of the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) and a true partner to AllHealth Network. Their mission is to provide education, support, and advocacy for people whose lives are impacted by mental illness. They help families and individuals with their mental health goals including support and recovery. NAMI Arapahoe/Douglas Counties provides support for AllHealth Network clients in manyRead More

Attachment

Jason Hopcus, CLC, MSLC June 5, 2016August 18, 2017 NAMI Blog

Attachment is an enduring emotional bond with another being across space and time. That’s a very lofty understanding of something we engage in every day, often take for granted, and often don’t pay a great deal of attention to until it is a source of discomfort or stress. It’s as small as the interactions with mere acquaintances, and as expansive as the most important relationships of our lives. It is typically the most important relationships that become the subject of counseling. It is those relationships that can take over and occupy our thoughts and feelings that we seek assistance inRead More

Staring at the Face of Stigma

Jason Hopcus, CLC, MSLC April 28, 2016 NAMI Blog

Recently, I was blindsided with an experience I could not have possibly been prepared for. I want to share it with you because of my shock and horror in realizing that stigma lives among us, not just from those unaware and uneducated. Rather people among us who claim passion for our cause. I have spent the better part of 5 years healing and recovering from an incredibly painful past. Throughout that journey, there have been peaks and valleys, but mostly it feels like it was all meant for my greater good. I have worked tirelessly to support an organization thatRead More

Making Connection through Struggle

Jason Hopcus, CLC, MSLC March 24, 2016 NAMI Blog

What led me to NAMI was a desire for knowledge and comfort in a very dark time. From the beginning, I found solace among peers who understood where I was. Their open hearts and kind faces made it feel safe to settle into a new and unfamiliar place, while I grieved a full life that had now come and gone. Listening to their own richly detailed stories offered hope and better prepared me for the potential challenges ahead. While no one story resonated exactly, the theme that resounded was EVERYONE STRUGGLES WITH SOMETHING. All of us! No one is immune. Read More

NAMI Colorado Affiliate Workshop

Jason Hopcus, CLC, MSLC March 20, 2016 NAMI Blog

Last Saturday, NAMI Colorado and Sandstone Care hosted an Affiliate Development Workshop. This collaborative event connected our Affiliates by allowing us to share ideas and information about our success and struggles. Elsa and Kendra from NAMI Colorado did an excellent job at planning the event and ensuring every detail was met in perfect timing. Their well developed agenda flowed smoothly and gave everyone a chance to have their community voice heard. A common theme emerged, each of us seem to have similar needs for development/improvement. A few examples of those are: Board member engagement/attraction Volunteer attraction/retention Fundraising opportunities Community marketingRead More

Do Mental Health Statistics Matter?

Jason Hopcus, CLC, MSLC February 24, 2016 NAMI Blog

It seems we are constantly being bombarded with sensational mental health statistics, each source offering one more shocking statistic than the next. With hopes of eliciting a reaction, many seem impossible to believe, their sole point only to provoke fear. Unfortunately, in the case of mental illness the numbers likely don’t exaggerate. A few of the most recent stats presented by NAMI National are: Approximately 1 in 5 adults in the U.S.-43.8 million, or 18.5%-experiences mental illness in a given year. Approximately 1 in 5 youth aged 13-18 (21.4%) experiences a severe mental disorder at some point during their life. ForRead More

Youth and Family Initiatives

Jason Hopcus, CLC, MSLC February 17, 2016 NAMI Blog

Collaboration is so important these days, especially when trying to meet the changing mental health needs of our Community. As always, NAMI Arapahoe/Douglas Counties is committed to offering quality programming to families, loved ones and individuals living with mental illness. Through our education, support and outreach we are able to steadily build awareness and reduce stigma, but one area requiring an immediate need still remains, youth programming. At this time, NAMI national is working toward meeting this need. Until then, NAMI Arapahoe/Douglas Counties has joined with local partners whose programming already meets many of the area family and youth needs.Read More