You might think that twenty-five years of experience in the mental health profession would have prepared me for what to do when a mental health crisis strikes at home. It didn’t.
When a member of my own family needed urgent mental health care, I had little idea of where to turn for help. The process of discovery for my family and I was slow and painful as we progressed from sneaking suspicion to dawning realization, then to crisis, diagnosis and the aftermath.
Several years later, we are in a better place. Not perfect, but managing. I attribute this to the high quality of care from the wide array of mental health and related providers now in place. The interesting thing about this is that none of these providers were there at the start. It took us years to find the right people, organizations and interventions to help our family member, and every one of them was recommended to us, not by a mental health professional, but by someone we ran into, with a family member of their own, who had been through a similar experience.
This is why we now have Resources to Recover – to shorten the period of discovery from the initial realization that something is wrong, to assessment, understanding, treatment and recovery. Depending on where they are in this cycle of discovery, family members either have or need knowledge of the resources availabe to help their loved ones.
The purpose of this website and its related services is to shorten that cycle of discovery by pooling this knowledge in an online community of family members. Its success will depend on how many of you step forward to share your knowledge of the best resources to recover in each of your local communities.
Jay Boll
Family Member
Editor-in-Chief www.rtor.org
Vice President, Resources to Recover & Laurel House
As part of my regular blogging on rtor.org, I would like to open up a dialogue with you my readers…
How did you find the right services and providers for your loved one or yourself? And for those of you who aren’t quite there yet, why do you think you’re having trouble finding the right providers?
No need to mention provider names. I’m looking more for stories about your experience.
There are many sides to mental health recovery. Jay’s blog takes The Family Side.
- Silver Hill Hospital: My Family’s 35-Year History with a National Leader in Quality Mental Health Care - February 7, 2023
- Connecticut Mother Who Lost a Son to Overdose Shares Her Story and Hosts Wilton Fundraiser to Benefit Laurel House - November 9, 2022
- Laurel House Offers $10,000 Racial Equity Scholarship for a Black or Hispanic Student Pursuing a Master’s of Social Work Degree - June 8, 2022
