Aug 12
I have posted video of the lecture I gave at the Mental Health Symposium at Ridgewater College in Willmar, Minnesota on May 18, 2011. The links are below. Check it out.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9SBtFVopKK4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T-P5B93eHXQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4iZaym3omnE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WStj7hAxU3w
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K2JE_EoPRpg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S0eI0oAKr1k
May 14
Tomorrow is my 56th birthday. I’ll be having cake in the afternoon with my family. It has been a hard week for me. On Tuesday afternoon at 4:45 one of my clients stepped in front of a train to kill herself. The engineer saw her and tried to stop but trains don’t stop easy. At 4:20 she was sitting in the back yard smoking and laughing with her friends–saying what a nice day it was after so many rainy ones. She took her medications at 4:30, signed out of the house at 4:35 and walked up to meet the train. Did she know the train was comming or just decide at the last minute? We will never know. It is a tragedy–for her family, for the engineer, for the first responders and police who had to deal with the grizzly scene, for my staff and for her friends in the program. One of her friends in the program was so moved by her death that he tried to join her a couple days later. He is in the hospital now. But most of all it is a tragedy for her. If we have immortal souls–and I think we do–I can’t believe that the depression and rage that moves people to kill themselves goes away when they die. I know that sometimes suicide seems like the easy way out. I can’t believe that is really true. I have seem far too many people (myself included) work their way out of depression and learn to find joy. So tomorrow my birthday cake will taste all the sweeter with the knowledge of how precious this life is. I feel a genuine gratitude for everyone who helped me. This sad episode proves to me once again that mental health is a matter of life and death and it is everybody’s business.
Apr 30
I received this e-mail a while back. I have omitted the person’s name. While it is not strictly speaking a review, I thought it was relevant.
Dear Gary,
Someone close to me recently was experiencing mental distress. It was very difficult to concentrate on anything. I brought out your book and read sections of it aloud. It brought some calmness and hope. That person is now getting some help and things are going better. But I wanted you to know that your work is touching people.
Thank you for writing down your experiences and helping others.
Apr 30
Patsy L. Onstad (Minnesota) -This review is from: In Pursuit of Joy (Hardcover)
The author uses his own life experiences to encourage everyone to find the joy in their own life. He explains how he navigated poverty, alcoholism, and depression to find his way not only to self love and acceptance but to be able to help others with similar problems. You will come away feeling that you are a valuable person with the ability to examine your own thoughts and beliefs to discover what brings joy to you. I highly recommend this book.
This powerful book is an easy read. It tells the story of how a farm boy from Minnesota triumphed over poverty, emotional issues and alcohol. He is now the director of a regional treatment center where he helps others overcome emotional problems. Along the way the author dispenses many words of wisdom and insight into the human mind. This book leaves you with the feeling that anything is possible. A must read !!!!
Throughout the course of our lives, we will all encounter struggles of some kind. Whether in the form of mental illness, emotional trauma, or addiction, the spiritual storms of life spare none and can often prove rather overwhelming. Regardless of the particular storms we may face, ultimate recovery is possible – but only if we identify the specific root causes that led us into the internal conflicts from which we struggle to escape.
Throughout the pages of In Pursuit Of Joy, author Gary Green shares with the reader his dramatic journey from the dregs of depression and alcoholism to the joys of healing and lasting inner peace. More than just another tale of victory in the face of adversity, In Pursuit Of Joy takes the reader deep into the heart and mind of a spiritually conflicted individual determined not only to rectify his life but also use the lessons that he learned to help countless others who may find themselves in similarly hopeless situations. Going into explicit detail regarding the specific therapeutic techniques and successful strategies that he employed along the road to his recovery, Green’s insightful memoir doubles as an informative guidebook for anyone in dire need of the spiritual and emotional healing required to help them finally get their lives back on track.
Powerful and timely, In Pursuit Of Joy is a much needed guide to healthier living. A highly recommended read.
Dominique Sessons
Apex Reviews
Gary Green manages to thoughtfully educate and enlighten you all at once in this passionate expression of hope, motivation and realism. The techniques described are the very same ones accomplished therapists and treatment facilities employ and that have been found to be effective across the nation’s mental health field. They work! And this books helps to remind us all that everyone is in the same boat; we all have our unique challenges in life and we all have the capacity to recover from them. This belief alone is powerful and central to Mr. Green’s theme. His understanding of basic human nature and needs make this a book everyone can read and benefit from.
Apr 13
The Kindle version of In Pursuit of Joy has been nominated for a Dan Poynter’s Global eBook Award in the category in Psychology/Mental Health. While this is a fairly new award, I am happy to be nominated. Hopefully this will bring more attention to some important ideas.
Mar 27
I recently had an experience which validated for me the ideas I have tried to promote with my book (In Pursuit of Joy, http://www.amazon.com/Pursuit-Joy-Gary-Green/dp/1608603849/ref=tmm_hrd_title_0?ie=UTF8&qid=1289112001&sr=1-1 ) and this blog. In particular, the idea that people can and do recover from mental illness and that the process is essentially the same process that leads “normal” people to higher levels of consciousness; becoming more compassionate and joyful people in the process. That experience was a two day training sponsored by the Minnesota Dept. of Human Services relating to the supervision of Certified Peer Specialists. The idea behind peer specialists is that people who have had recovery experiences themselves are better able to help others with similar issues to resolve. While this is not new, chemical dependency programs have been using this principle for years; the idea that people with mental illness can recover is relatively new as is the notion that those same people could be helpful to others.
The training was put on by Recovery Innovations, Inc. http://www.recoveryinnovations.org/ They have been pioneers in developing practical applications of this principle. In so doing, they have revolutionized mental health services in Maricopa Co. Arizona. Additionally, they are demonstrating on a daily basis the truth of Gandhi’s statement “Be the change you want to see in the world”.
The existence of these change-agents and others like them give me hope. In spite of the troubles we see in the world today, the growth of the “recovery” movement suggests to me that things can and will get better.
There is a lot of recovery talk these days. We’ve all heard alcoholics say “I’m in recovery”. A few years ago the powers that be in the mental health realized that people can and do recover from mental illness. It is interesting to me that people often want to discriminate between the two “types” of recovery. The treatment program I work in serves many people that have both mental illness and chemical dependency. Often these dually diagnosed people will agree with one diagnosis and deny the other. “I don’t need that group. It’s for alcoholics and I’m not an alcoholic.” In reality the principles of recovery are the same for both as I discussed in my book “In Pursuit of Joy” http://www.amazon.com/Pursuit-Joy-Gary-Green/dp/1608603849/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1254119770&sr=1-1
I think one of my former clients said it best when he said that recovery is about “becoming more myself”. Recovery is also about becoming more functional, less selfish and more compassionate. It is about seeing reality as it is and accepting it even when it is hard. It is about learning to use both your emotions and your logic to make decisions. It is about making better decisions.
So, how does this apply to economic recovery? Well. . . . . Certainly one of the reasons we find ourselves in this economic mess is the accumulation of the results of millions of bad decisions. A lot of selfish people sold lies to alot of other people who often made the decision to believe the lie based solely on the emotional aspect of it. Millions of people not seeing reality because it was hard and they didn’t want to accept it. Well guess what, to get out of this mess we as a society are going to have to become more functional, less selfish, more compassionate. Recovery is recovery. Mental health is everybody’s business.
Feb 6
Super Bowl Sunday is finally here. I heard this morning that it is the second largest American holiday. Certainly a lot of cash changes hands. People buy new TV’s, party supplies, NFL merchandise, travel tickets and my personal favorite; Advertising. A 30 second spot costs 2.3 million dollars. Companies spend it gladly, believing they will make a profit on their investment. Clearly the Super Bowl is a big deal.
I see all this and more. I see schools, already short of funds, send food home with children on Friday so they will have something to eat over the weekend. I see sick people unable to buy the medication they need. I see people who are hungry, sick (both mentally and physically) and burdened by the pain and stigma of poverty. I see all this and I have to wonder about the priorities of the people who charge and pay 2.3 million dollars for 30 seconds of advertising. Even in our current state of economic affairs there are people who have a lot of money– and how they howl when anyone suggests they should pay taxes to help solve some of these problems.
I do try not to be judgmental. Being judgmental would prevent me from seeing what is really there. While I am not a football fan I can see that the Super Bowl is a great diversion for many. It just represents what I see as the screwed up priorities of our society. I try to do what I can to make things better. I accept that this is how things are— for now. I work at being effective in my own pursuit of joy and in helping others with theirs. My hope for anyone reading this is that you take just a moment to consider your own priorities and if they don’t seem right, change them.
Jan 10
So it happened again– someone went crazy and killed a bunch of people. We are all justifiably horrified. We want to know why. We want to prevent it happening again. One of the aspects of events like this that disturbs me is that it reinforces the stereotype that mentally ill people are dangerous. In reality it is a very, very, very small percentage of mentally ill people that are dangerous. However, tragedies like this should reinforce the notion that mental health is everybody’s business. I would ask the question: what is it about America that makes these things happen here? I mean–think about it. Back in the 60’s we had snipers on water towers shooting people at random. Later we had enough people shooting up post offices to add the phrase “going postal” to our language. Then we had the school shootings. So now we have a guy targeting a congress-woman and shooting a bunch of others for good measure. Perhaps I have led a sheltered life but I don’t remember hearing about these things in other countries. Certainly there are countries that are dangerous violent places, but generally those countries are less stable and the violence has political or ethnic overtones. It is generally not an individual that snaps and kills a bunch of people. As Americans we are fond of saying we live in the best, richest country on earth. In many respects this is true. However, clearly there is a lot of misery and despair here as well. There is enough despair to make people mentally ill. There is enough despair to drive people to violence.
The one bright spot in this most recent event is that individuals can and do make a difference. The actions of several individuals on the scene kept the carnage from being even worse than it was. A nation is made up of individuals. If we truly want to end the violence each of us needs to take a serious look at ourselves and ask the question “How do I contribute to the despair that breeds violence in this country?” I believe that if each of us strives to be more compassionate and effective in our choices and to promote personal growth in ourselves and others as I discussed in “In Pursuit of Joy”, then society at large changes. Society changes in the direction of reducing the despair and loneliness–and the violence goes away.
I, for one, plan to continue working on myself as I recommended above. That is the essence of recovery. I plan to accept another unacceptable event and do what I can to reduce the despair in others so they are less likely to snap and do something rash.
Jan 2
This is the time of year that any and everybody looks back over the preceding year and analyses things. So why should I be any different? Well, I’m not going to talk about all the big world wide events. I’m going to talk about me. My year had some good things and some bad things. I assume that to be true for everyone. I attended altogether too many funerals. There were a series of mechanical problems that kept finances tight. My job became more and more stressful. And just to make things more interesting, I have been battling a sinus problem since October. However, there were also good things. I raised the best soybean crop of my life and got the best price for it. My wife and I went to Las Vegas for the first time to visit my step-daughter and had a wonderful time. Additionally, there were hundreds if not thousands moments of joy with family and friends and even by myself. As I look forward to the coming year I can’t help but believe that it will be more of the same. Life has challenges and difficulties, but those help us grow and appreciate the joy when we find it. During this last year I developed the habit of cultivating my gratitude for the good things the universe has given me. Things don’t always go the way I want, but at the end of the day I can usually find something to be grateful for every day. My hope for myself and for all people everywhere is that we can learn to find joy and gratitude for at least part of each day. My intent is to use the principles I have used in my recovery and discussed in my book, “In Pursuit of Joy” to achieve that goal. Principles like: talking about things the way they really are (effective means), acceptance, Wise Mind, mindfulness and mindfulness practice, compassion for myself and others, and making sure my social needs are met. Perhaps if enough of us attend to these details of life, the larger events will take care of themselves.
