Winter2004/2005

FRO M TO UCHSTO NE MENTAL HEALTH

Kind Words VOLUME 4 ISSUE III WINTER 2004-2005

ACUPUNCTURE FOR THE MIND An Interview with Ingrid Bloom, Practitioner

Inside this issue INTEGRATIVE HEALING

3

WHY CHANGE OUR NAME?

4

ONE VOLUNTEER AT A TIME

5

CREATING INDEPENDENCE

6

DONORS

6

What is Acupuncture?

Acupuncture is a modality practiced in Oriental medicine that healers have used for at least three thousand years. Grounded in theories regarding the flow of Chi, a subtle energy that moves throughout the body and through all living things, Chinese medicine’s practitioners believe that the state of Chi affects our health and well-being. For example, Chi can be deficient or blocked.

When Chi is out-of-balance, dis-ease results.

Acupuncture adjusts Chi to allow it to flow more harmoniously, thus correcting the imbalance. To adjust Chi, practitioners insert very fine needles into specific points on the body.

How does its use help in the treatment of illness? How are providers using it?

Chinese medicine’s practitioners do not consider body, mind, and spirit as separate from each other. They treat all levels at once, and their treatments affect all levels.

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When working with someone who does not feel well, the healer makes a diagnosis by asking questions about all aspects of his or her functioning. A practitioner identifies a specific system of the body-mind as being out of balance and treats that imbalance with acupuncture. He or she promotes healing by directing and rejuvenating the Chi in a particular way.

In the community, practitioners use Chinese medicine to treat a wide variety of ailments; nothing is completely off limits. Some

hospitals are now providing it and some insurance is covering it, particularly for, but not limited to, pain control.

What does acupuncture mean as you are using it in our MICD (Mentally Ill and Chemically Dependent) project? How do you think acupuncture will help Touchstone’s clients?

For three decades now, healers have used acupuncture to help people with addictions, with very good results. We are excited to use acupuncture for our clients diagnosed with both chemical dependency and mental illness.

The discomfort of withdrawal from drugs and alcohol can be very intense and can undermine the efforts to quit. Symptoms include agitation, insomnia, physical pain, poor digestion, and reduced tolerance of stress. Withdrawal also can exacerbate other symptoms such as anxiety and depression.

Acupuncture reduces the symptoms of withdrawal and detoxification as well as the cravings for drugs or alcohol. Our procedures help the client’s body eliminate the toxic effects of longtime use. Our clients, who struggle with mental illness as well as addiction, benefit because our procedures address both types of imbalance at once.

How will your treatments be similar to treatments for physical illness? How will they differ because you serve persons who experience serious and persistent mental illness?

Continued on page 2

ACUPUNCTURE FOR THE MIND

Board Members Kelly Robert, Chair Jonathan Burris Bill Cochrane Michaela Diercks Sharon Toll Johnson Merrie Kaas, Ph.D. Liz Sjaastad

Administrative Staff Helen Raleigh, LICSW Executive Director Glen Albert, LICSW Director of Supportive Housing Birgit Kelly, LICSW Program Director Margo Cohen, LICSW Program Director Cheryl Butz Finance & Benefits Director Peggy Wright Administrative Assistant

The problems of addiction and mental illness clearly have physical components as well as roots in the mental and emotional realm.

Acupuncture’s healers do not need to know the original cause. Since Chinese medicine usually does not distinguish between the mental and physical, the practitioner directs the treatment toward all levels at once.

For instance, acupuncture’s needling can influence symptoms of depression, mania, anxiety, and feeling disconnected from the body. The acupuncture points that we use can produce pleasant sensations for clients suffering from these symptoms, since they provide a tranquilizing, calming, and grounding effect for the mind and body.

For instance, in our protocol, we use an acupuncture point for the Liver system, which treats several issues at once. It aids in detoxification on the physical level, eases frustration and depression on the emotional level, and addresses feelings of lack of hope or direction on the spiritual level.

Walk me through an Acupuncture session.

What happens?

Our clients meet as a group. They sit in chairs in a semicircle, and the healer treats them with acupuncture one by one. Soft music plays in the background, and hot herbal tea is available.

With respect to persons living with serious and persistent mental illness, whom do you think will benefit most from the treatments?

We do not focus on the type of mental illness.

All clients with an MICD diagnosis are welcome. Certain symptoms of mental illness are more amenable to acupuncture’s treatments, and the clients may notice more of a change in certain areas.

Editorial Staff Helen Raleigh Peggy Wright

The practitioner invites the group’s members to be quiet and even to fall asleep if they like. The needles remain inserted for 45 minutes. The healer instructs clients to move slowly when they finish, as they may feel a little subdued or sleepy for a few minutes.

What results do you expect? How will you measure results?

Clients usually experience increased calmness, settled thoughts, and increased mental alertness as an immediate result of a session. Over time, we expect a lessening of cravings and a reduction in some of the distressing sideeffects of detoxification.

We give clients a scaled measure for periodic self-evaluation to measure their experience.

Even though clients feel some benefit immediately, they must receive this treatment over a period of time, at least several times a week for a few months, to obtain its fullest value.

Programs ASSISTED LIVING APARTMENTS 7376 Bass Lake Road New Hope, MN 55428 (763) 536–8134 assistedliving@touchstonemh.org

How did you choose your first clients? Explain how you set up the project.

We invited all clients receiving Touchstone’s mental health services who have an MICD diagnosis. Participation is voluntary, and clients choose how often they attend.

CASE MANAGEMENT SERVICES 300 Clifton Avenue, Carriage House Minneapolis, MN 55403 (612) 874–6409 casemanagement@touchstonemh.org

Currently a grant awarded by Minnesota’s Department of Human Services funds our project’s operation. Deb Hesli, the MICD Project Coordinator, oversees our work. I am

RESIDENTIAL TREATMENT 2516 E. 24th Street Minneapolis, MN 55406 (612) 722–1892 residential@touchstonemh.org

TOUCHSTONE MENTAL HEALTH

Continued

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PRACTICING INTEGRATIVE HEALING What is a healing environment? How often do you ask your clients what this term means to them?”

On October 15, Touchstone Mental Health initiated a discussion of this topic between practitioners in the Integrative and Mental Health fields. Touchstone’s clients want access to integrative practices—such as Acupuncture, Healing Touch, or massage—because they are relaxing, lifeaffirming, and supportive of overall well-being.

Barriers exist for our clients in obtaining these services, including their lack of financial resources and insurance companies’ unwillingness to cover the services. If clients somehow overcome these barriers, integrative practitioners without mental health training may experience difficulties when serving them.

We began this dialogue between conventional and integrative practitioners with the intention of developing resources for both clients in the mental health system and the

practitioners who treat them. Dr. Henry Emmons, integrative psychiatrist and faculty at the University of Minnesota’s Center for Spirituality and Healing, spoke about his personal journey as an integrative practitioner in conventional medicine.

Representatives from Hennepin County’s Mental Health system, Hennepin Faculty Associates, Pathways Healing Resource Center, and People Inc. attended as did many other integrative and conventional practitioners from private and community-based settings.

The consortium took place at the Powderhorn Phillips Cultural Wellness Center and created discussion and enthusiasm. Facilitated group discussions generated a sense that the issues are complex and bear more consideration.

Touchstone Mental Health has agreed to host quarterly meetings during the next year for all interested parties. For more information, contact Kara or Birgit at Touchstone Mental Health, 612- 874-6409.

ACUPUNCTURE FOR THE MIND training with an acupuncturist who specializes in detoxification and who is helping us start the project by leading the group. I eventually will be facilitating the group myself.

Do you want to add anything?

In Chinese medicine, one does not strive toward a goal so much as toward balance. Given the right circumstances, a natural tendency toward health and healing exists that healers can support and encourage.

Continued

ment our clients need to replenish their Chi and reconnect to their own healing tendency and inner balance.

WISH LIST Clients’ Needs PERSONAL CARE ITEMS

• • • • • • • •

donations for medication copays shampoo & conditioner toothbrushes & tooth paste dental floss deodorant multivitamins gift certificates for new shoes YM or YWCA or health-club memberships

OTHER ITEMS

• • • • • • • • •

Bedroom Rug (approx. 3x5) Bus passes Craft kits Firm pillow Gift certificates to coffee shops Lampshade for large floor lamp Long-distance phone cards Magazine subscriptions Portable TV with built-in VCR/DVD • Table lamps • Movie tickets • Variety of art supplies

Programs’, Staff ’s Needs

Ingrid, a Case Manager with Touchstone Mental Health’s Case Management Services, is a Licensed Aupuncturist.

• • • •

IBM blank diskettes White copier paper Furniture dolly Services from a print shop • Black pens

Providing this support and encouragement is our goal in the MICD acupuncture group.

Acupuncture can provide some of the nourish-

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TO U C H S TO N E M E N TA L H E A LT H

WHY DID WE CHANGE OUR NAME?

by Helen Raleigh, Executive Director Touchstone:

An example of excellence that is used to test the excellence or genuineness of others; a concept worthy of imitating.

Whether as a for-profit, from 1982 to 1999, or as a nonprofit since then, we’ve always believed that the excellence of our services makes us a touchstone for the delivery of mental health services. Now our name reflects our reality.

Since all three programs have experienced significant change between January 2004 and January 2005, we saw an opportunity to be more intentional about our identity:  Many people in the community are unaware that our three programs are connected. Each program gains little benefit from its association with two other excellent programs.  Staff members have identified with the program where they work and not with the larger agency.  Fundraising requires better marketing and public relations as a unified agency if we are to develop new services and new supportive housing.

A marketing consultant from MAP (Management Assistance Program for Nonprofits) worked with our staff and clients over the past year to develop names that reflect our organization’s mission, values, and culture.

Our founding Board of Directors, all faculty from the School of Social Work at the University of Minnesota, chose the name Community Care Corporation. The words Community Care are fairly straightforward but don’t tell who we are or what we do. Touchstone Mental Health reflects the quality of our services and our goal of improving the wellbeing of our clients.

We made every effort to find names for the agency and the three programs that tell potential clients, family members, providers, and the public that we offer a continuum of services.

TOUCHSTONE MENTAL HEALTH

Also, as a for-profit, the use of the word Corporation made sense. As a nonprofit, it causes confusion and does not project a friendly image to the community.

We inherited the name Sentinel House from the Board and Lodge facility that we

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rented in 1982 to provide residential treatment.

We have wanted to change its name for some years. We never believed that our clients need a sentinel or guard. Touchstone’s Residential Treatment clearly states what the program provides.

Our founders named Breckinridge House after an early social worker at the Jane Adams settlement house in Chicago. Few people in Minnesota have heard of her, leaving us with a name without much meaning. Since Breckinridge House ceased to exist as a Rule 36 program on November 4th when we reopened as Touchstone’s Assisted Living Apartments, the timing was good for introducing a new name.

Project Connections had the most relevant and best recognized name, but many other organizations have used that name. Also, after being in business for so long, our program is a lot more permanent than the word project implies.

Touchstone’s Case Management Services more clearly describes what we offer.

Our agency’s and programs’ names may have changed to reflect the changes to some of our services, but our staff continues the same focus on building strong relationships and providing compassionate and quality care to persons living with serous mental illness. We look forward in the next year to building our identity as Touchstone Mental Health.

ONE VOLUNTEER AT A TIME “…It raises your self esteem to be doing something so important.”

Emily, on volunteering Emily currently lives in her own apartment with her dog and works part-time.

Committed to her own recovery, Emily has worked with Touchstone’s Case Management Services for over five years to reach these goals.

Emily likes to include healthy people in her life and to engage in healthy activities. She enjoys playing catch, going to a movie or out to lunch, going for a walk around the lake, making meals, playing sports, playing games like cards or board games, and working out at the gym; the possibilities are endless.

Emily believes personal connections with volunteers can be positive for both clients and volunteers. She says “It’s always helpful to have people in your life outside of the mental health system. A lot of people don’t have family or friends outside the system.” Clients need interactions with people who are not service providers.

In discussing the benefits of a volunteer program, Emily suggests. “I can have more fun with someone outside the system. We can talk about things other than mental health, participate in fun activities, and handle practical things, like going to the grocery store or running errands.”

For a number of reasons, including lack of transportation and anxiety or nervousness about being in public or on the bus, mundane tasks such as grocery shopping are often difficult for persons with mental illness.

Emily, who has volunteered in the past, thinks volunteering provides a good opportunity to

meet and get to know people, to develop friendships. She also found the experience boosted her confidence and her self esteem.

“A lot of times, you may not feel good for anything. It raises your self esteem to be doing something so important.”

Emily indicated the traits she wants in a volunteer—a good sense of humor, flexibility, and an easygoing nature. Volunteers must be able to establish healthy boundaries, be respectful of themselves and others, and be interested in spending time with their new friends.

Emily also believes volunteers will come to understand what people with mental illness go through. Of people with mental illness, she says, “We can be friendly; we enjoy activities that everyone likes to do; we enjoy healthy relationships.”

Touchstone’s staff works to develop positive and therapeutic alliances with clients that can lead clients to a stable life. Emily and other clients, however, need more authentic connections to people in order to thrive and grow.

Recovery from mental illness requires more than just independence. It requires community.

A volunteer program can support life-affirming activities for the individuals that Touchstone Mental Health serves. It also can support the overall health and well-being of the volunteers as well.

Emily also likes the idea of a peer mentorship program, where clients can mentor other clients who are going through situations similar to those the mentor has experienced. Emily sometimes has spent time with peers who are struggling and has been able to support them to make healthy choices, to see that things can get better, or to ask for help.

Touchstone wants to recruit volunteers with a wide array of experiences and expertise, including individuals diagnosed with mental illness and including those that Touchstone Mental Health serves. This program is an exciting prospect for our agency as we continue to search for ways to address the whole person and support the recovery of those we serve.

Our goals include enhancing the lives of the people we serve, reducing mental illness’ stigma, and providing opportunities for our clients and our volunteers to experience the healing benefits of community and relationship.

The greatest good you can do for another is not just to share your riches but to reveal to him his own.

Benjamin Disraeli

If you or anyone you know is interested in meeting Emily or in learning more about the volunteer program, please contact Touchstone Mental Health and talk with our Volunteer Coordinator, Bob Marion, at 612-874-6409.

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TO U C H S TO N E M E N TA L H E A LT H

VOLUNTEERS Glen Albert Jane Barron Marie and Dick Barron Sara Barron-Leer Tom Barron Judy Bernier Holly Cashin Kathy Cashin Margo Cohen Julie Davis Sumitra Dorner Michelle Ducayet Esther Folayan Suzanne Gregory Helena Hering Marcus Hering Anne Holzinger Sharon Johnson Peggy Kamholz Birgit Kelly Scott Leer Bob Marion Tanya Mellen

Teresa Meschini Allen Nelson Christine Nelson Jan Norwin Lynnet Obure Wendy Parks Helen Raleigh David Sagula Vi Sandgren Diana Schansberg Karla Schmitt Kari Skinner Cathy Smith Monica Smith Barbara Sobocinski Eve Stejskal Mary Sutherland Ann Tami’s friend Tami Swiggum Kara Vangen Mari Vangen Peggy and Milton Wright

DONORS 2004 Individuals

Anonymous (4) Glen Albert Alice Adamson Nancy Abramson Sandy Accola Patrick Alford Doug Anderson Jane Anderson Louise Anderson Marie and Dick Barron Sara Barron-Leer David Baune Brian Bergs Judy Bernier Rhonda Simpson Brown Jonathan Burris Cheryl Butz Teresa Carlyon Tim Cashin Judy and Ken Clapshaw Vicki Dalle Molle Sue Davies Marlys Denhardt Sumitra Dorner M. L. Drinkwitz Bonnie Dudovitz Signe Middlefort Dysken

Marilyn Ehline Vanessa Foley Sonja Funk Lyn and Michael Gerdis Kathleen Glynn Judi Gordon Ruth Graf Cindy Gunthier Judy Hanks Ken Hepburn Blake Holaday Judy Hornick Carol Johnson Greg and Janet Johnson Lorrie and Marlyn Johnson Barclay Jones Birgit Kelly Kraig King Brenda Knowles Barbara Koropchak Jennie Leskela and Douglas Choate Sandy Manning Diane Martin Mary Martin Nicole Mc Mahon David and Karen Miller Bonnie Morrow

Diane Murphy Allen Nelson Gayle Nissen Doreen Obi Kris Olson Pat Page Norma Prokosch Jean Quam Helen Raleigh Rosemary Raush Connie and Bill Riggs Kelly and Rafael Robert Patrick Robinson Julie Roles Mary Kay Romportl Mike Ronn Margaret and Carl Roser David Sagula Gloria Sagula Ann Sample Ellen Schmitz Carol Schoenecker Nancy Schultz Rick Schweikert Charlotte Sebastian Nancy Shannon Wendy Sharpe Jodie Siems

Carol Skube Elaine Sloan Barb Sobocinski Stan Sobocinski David Staehlin Lisa Stevens Maura Sullivan Devona and Harley Swiggum Carla Sykora Molly Tomczak Cathy Van Der Schans Fern Wilcox Charlotte Wieweck Carol Williams Milton Wright Peggy Wright

In Memory of

Anonymous (1) in memory of Cynthia Riggs Larry Bourgerie in memory of Cynthia Riggs Jane Garvin in memory of Hal Garvin

CREATING INDEPENDENCE Drugs and alcohol have permeated Anna’s life since before her birth. Her medical records suggest that she suffers from Fetal Alcohol syndrome.

Her father died at age thirty-nine from alcohol-related illness, and her mother continues to abuse alcohol and marijuana. They divorced when Anna was two-yearsold. Her two brothers also abuse alcohol and drugs.

TOUCHSTONE MENTAL HEALTH

At the age of seven, Anna began using marijuana regularly and also alcohol three times a week. At seventeen, she cut her marijuana use, but in the next year, she used cocaine two or three times per week, spending about $300 per week. In her early twenties, she received chem-ical dependency treatment at Abbott Northwestern and St. Joseph’s Hospitals, with little success.

Committed in November 1995 to AnokaMetro Regional Treatment Center (AMRTC), Anna moved upon discharge first to the Bill Kelly Residence for combined treatment of mental illness and chemical dependency, then into her grandmother’s home for several months in 1997, and finally to her own apartment after she received a rent subsidy and social security benefits in late 1997.

After high school, where she participated in special-education classes, Anna completed training as a nursing assistant and worked in that capacity for about 7 years. She lived in her own apartment, supporting herself during these years but also supporting a crack addiction. Married in 1994, Anna lived with her husband for less than a year before multiple hospitalizations began in 1995. All hospitalizations occurred because she attempted suicide by overdosing on prescribed medications. Anna and her husband separated in 1996.

Between 1997 and 2002, she experienced hospitalizations almost monthly, despite intensive supportive services, including day treatment, weekly case management, weekly home-health nursing, monthly psychiatric appointments, and weekly appoint-

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DONORS 2004 Continued Connie and Bill Riggs in memory of Cynthia Riggs David Sagula in memory of Cynthia Riggs Lisa Stevens in memory of Cynthia Riggs Jennifer Ward in memory of Kenneth Ring

In Honor of

The Gerdis family in honor of Janice and Lawrence Badje Lyn Badje Gerdis in honor of Alyssa, Jaden, and Abby Jeannette and Harold Nelson in honor of Allen Nelson

Businesses and Organizations

Minneapolis Foundation, J. Peter Brull Fund Healing Touch International

Foundation, Inc. Merwin Long Term Care Osseo Lions Club NW Mpls Chapter of Thrivent

In Kind Donations INDIVIDUAL Glen Albert Pearl Anderson Kathleen Bakke Angie Baratto Marie and Dick Barron David Baune Joan Bilinkoff Katy Boone Larry and Susan Bourgerie Sara Brew Holly Cashin Mary Gaetz Lyn and Michael Gerdis Kathy Halloran Roanne Klein Lori Krelitz

Dorothy Kroll Dr. Richard and Madeleine Linck Connie Long Ann Martin Ana Martinez Lorraine McGowan Christine and Allen Nelson Harriet Peterson Helen Raleigh Mike Ronn Richard and Ardelle Ronn Liz Sjaastad Richard Skinner Mark and Amy Smith Mike Smith Barb Sobocinski Pat Swantek Ronald Villejo Peggy and Milton Wright Patty Zlotkowski

CREATING INDEPENDENCE ments with her therapist. Prescribed ten to fifteen medications daily, she called her doctor at least three times per month, requesting and receiving changes to her medications.

Upon referral to Touchstone’s Case Management Services, then known as Project Connections, in January 1996, Anna was 26 years old.

Although she received consistent, caring support from her case-management team, her progress was slow until she began a work-training program at Tasks Unlimited in late 2000.

To support her new life, her two teams— community support and employment, began a strong behavioral management plan that provided incentives rewarding her for staying out of the hospital. When Anna finally started trusting her team and understood that she did not need to remain sick to continue with our services, she began making significant improve-

BUSINESS AND ORGANIZATIONS Chatterbox Pub Cub Foods Dick’s Bar Elim Lutheran Church Mark of Excellence Homes, Inc. Merwin Drug Minnesota Renaissance Festival Minnesota State Fair Minnesota Twins Baseball Club Pilgrim Cleaners and Launderers St. Paul Shrine Circus Startbright Cleaners U. S. Bank

E-mail Addresses Wanted In an effort to keep our supporters better informed, we plan to institute an e-mail newsletter. We will continue to publish our printed newsletter three times per year.

The new e-mail newsletter will come out irregularly. We will use it to give you news as it breaks, such as grants received, or to tell you about major accomplishments such as the completion of the Assisted Living Apartments.

We currently have recorded only a few e-mail addresses. If you wish to receive the e-mail newsletter, please send your e-mail address to Peggy Wright, pwright@touchstonemh.org.

Be sure to include your full name with the address.

Continued

ments in her life. She has remained employed at Tasks to the present.

Anna also started working with Tasks Unlimited’s psychiatrist and has not changed medications in approximately one year. Her home health nurse still visits weekly, but Anna has reduced her case manager’s visits to twice per month. She continues to attend AA meetings and meets with her employment counselor a few times per month. In 2004, she became her own payee, pays all her bills herself, and maintains her budget with periodic support from case management services.

Anna spends time with friends from work and with her mother on a weekly basis. Despite her mother’s continued use of drugs and alcohol, she has found ways to interact with her in a healthy manner. She knows she can leave if she starts to feel uncomfortable. She has had no hospitalizations since mid-year 2002!

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Up-Hill DOES the road wind up-hill all the way?

Yes, to the very end.

Will the day’s journey take the whole long day?

From morn to night, my friend.

But is there for the night a resting-place?

A roof for when the slow dark hours begin.

May not the darkness hide it from my face?

You cannot miss that inn.

Shall I meet other wayfarers at night?

Those who have gone before.

Then must I knock, or call when just in sight?

They will not keep you standing at that door.

Shall I find comfort, travel-sore and weak?

Of labour you shall find the sum.

Will there be beds for me and all who seek?

Yea, beds for all who come.

Christina Rossetti

TO U C H S TO N E M E N TA L H E A LT H

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