Tehachapi's Online Community News & Entertainment Guide
Tehachapi's Online Community News & Entertainment Guide
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Writing about mental illness, even during mental health awareness month, is a difficult task. I find that the stigma creates a barrier that prevents the natural flow of ideas from making it to the page. The issue tends to compound when I attempt to share my own story. I can talk and share about my struggles long past with ease, but the more recent pieces are more difficult. Maybe, because I am still attempting to process them. So here it goes… As many of you already know, I have struggled w...
The last year has come and gone faster than I could have imagined. It feels like only a few months have passed since Cornerstone reopened, but we have been serving the community for over a year. On May 25, Cornerstone celebrated a year serving Tehachapi with an official grand opening and Narcan training. For me, the event felt surreal. I did not expect so many people from the community to show their support. After the event I sat down with several of Cornerstone's clients, who volunteered for th...
In the mental health field there are dozens of avenues, or modalities, that can be used to help client's with their needs. They can be broken down into two categories, evidence based practices and non-evidence based practices. Evidence based practices are the modalities and treatments that have been studied and practiced and a proven high success rate. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Internal Systems and Motivational Interviewing are just a few of a long list of evidence based practices. At...
One look at the title of this article and many will move on. They will see the word accountability and the voice in their head will say, "No, thank you." Before you flip the page or move to the next article, bear with me for a moment while I explain its necessity. Accountability is a catalyst for growth; spiritual, social, emotional, career, etc. Allowing others to speak into our lives offers the opportunity to see from new perspectives, hold to commitments and goals, and have relationships...
One of the things my therapist repeats over and over again is, "If others talked to us the same way we talk to ourselves, we would never want to be their friend." In fact, we would not want them anywhere near us, yet many of us continue to struggle with negative self talk. The impact of our self talk on our self image is immense. One of the first exercises I take every client through is to look into a mirror and tell me what they see. Ugly, worthless, stupid, bad parent and unloveable are just...
After 10 years as a pastoral counselor, the number one issue I find between any two individuals is communication. I found this to be true between parents and their teens during the eight years I worked as a youth pastor. I have had several parents ask me to "fix their teen," but the problem was their teenager was simply being a teenager. Yes, there were some exceptions, but for the most part the kids were good kids. The issue was some of them had developed poor coping skills for dealing with...
Depression is difficult and hard to open up about. I have dealt with depression since I was in eighth grade. The few times I worked up the courage to speak about it I was told, "You just need more friends," "what do you have to be sad about?" and "there are people out there who have it worse." The message I and many others who struggle with depression and anxiety disorders receive is, 'if you just tried feeling better you'd be fine.' That is not how mental illness works. It would be like...
One of the hardest parts about reaching out for substance abuse help is a fear of what may happen when the problem is admitted. I receive calls from people who want help but are terrified that if they admit they have a problem they will lose their friends, families, job and be cast as a failure. To those who feel that way, I want to let them know that true friends want you to get help; your family wants their parent, sibling, child and cousin back; your job is required to work with you when you...
At Cornerstone Center for Substance Abuse Treatment, our main goal is to fight the stigmas around mental illness; substance abuse in particular. The stigmas turn a diagnosable treatable physical illness into character flaws, spiritual issues and a lifestyle choice that impedes those suffering from receiving the help they need. More often than not the stigmas result in an attitude of “pick yourself up by your boot straps” (a phrase that originally meant an impossible task, by the way), “ju...
