Happy Spring to our cherished Procovery community. We have an upcoming opportunity, specific to Los Angeles, which we very much look forward to sharing with you in the coming weeks!
Happy Spring to our cherished Procovery community. We have an upcoming opportunity, specific to Los Angeles, which we very much look forward to sharing with you in the coming weeks!
Kathleen Crowley, Executive Director, and Acasia Stratt, Director of Operations at Procovery Institute were honored to present our Gathering Support workshop to a packed room at Exodus Wellness on Vermont, last Thursday.
Here’s what Pollyanne and Gary shared with us after the workshop:
“Being a big Procovery fan, and running a Circle at my center for over 7 years, it was wonderful to be chosen to host a Procovery Workshop. The idea of having Kathleen Crowley run a workshop at our center was cause to celebrate! Our clients love the sage advice, the can do attitude of the book and the structure of the Procovery Circle. For the clients to meet the author of a book they are so familiar with was exciting but even more engaging is to learn firsthand stories of her life so that the author becomes a real person just like you or me. It was fun to plan the event and get other agencies on board — our turnout was great, and our community always fabulous. I felt supported and cherished at the event. To learn more about how Procovery came about was interesting and educational. Everyone should have an opportunity like this.”
“I had such a wonderful experience at Procovery Institute’s Gathering Support workshop at Exodus. Procovery never fails me! To see the happiness and enthusiasm for Procovery, from so many consumers and family members and staff, just brings an overwhelming sense of joy to my heart. And to see Acasia and Kathleen so, so, so happy and enjoying what they do over and over and over again — Procovery really enriches everyone. Thank you guys for including me and inviting me to participate and please believe me, I left there with another sense of awe about the amazing POWER of Procovery.”
-Gary Gougis, Senior Community Worker
Gathering Support is one of dozens of workshops Procovery Institute provides. Gathering Support can be a hugely beneficial component of healing, but can also be profoundly complicated for many reasons. In the workshop, we discussed some of the challenges associated with support.
The Gathering Support workshop was filled with many individuals, one of whom was Dr. Philip Valdez. Phil is the new Program Director at Exodus Wellness and he was able to take the time to join our workshop, participate and let us know his thoughts after the workshop.
“On August 25th, 2016 Exodus Recovery Inc. had the pleasure of a visit from the author of The Procovery of Procovery. I am the new Program Director at our Wellness Center here in South Central Los Angeles. It’s always a pleasure to have great presentations. One of our staff members, Pollyanne Hornbeck, has been facilitating a Procovery Circle ever since I’ve been here at the Wellness Center. It was a special delight to have this presentation at our site.
I was impressed by Kathleen Crowley and the personal story that she shared, so freely, with a room full of people. I was also impressed with the organization of the event. Kathleen and Acasia Stratt (Director of Operations at Procovery Institute) were very professional and they were quite timely; starting on time and ending on time. One of the things I heard is that there are only two Procovery Circles licensed to facilitate Procovery in Los Angeles. I believe a lot of people can benefit greatly from this book and the theory behind it. My hope as Program Director is that I can share this with other directors and have more and more Procovery licensed facilitators at all of our sites for Exodus.
The field of mental health has always been a great challenge. As a Doctor of Clinical Psychology, I’ve found that human beings still do not completely understand mental illness, even though it’s been around for a very long time. Anytime I see something new or different it warms my heart. We don’t have the answers. Anyone who says we do is fooling themselves or trying to fool someone else. It’s brave for someone like Kathleen Crowley to talk about herself and then to write a great book with great ideas in it like The Power of Procovery. I truly believe this program can save people’s lives and put them on a good track in life. Give it a read! Get licensed to facilitate these groups! Change people’s lives.”
Until next time… and with profound appreciation. Always.
Procovery Institute
“Even if you could do it all by yourself, why would you want to?”
As we posted last week, Procovery Institute announced, months ago, The Art of Moving Forward™ workshop contest. One applicant would receive a Procovery workshop of their choice, held at their site! When it came time for Procovery Institute to make the selection, we found some of the applications so compelling that we felt unable to select one winner… So we selected THREE!
Yesterday was the second workshop, this one held at Long Beach Mental Health Center. John Czernek, Senior Community Worker, submitted an application on behalf of LBMHC and was at the door, welcoming us the moment we walked in!
After the workshop, John shared the following —
Procovery Institute
Months ago, Procovery Institute announced The Art of Moving Forward™ workshop contest. One applicant would receive a Procovery workshop of their choice, held at their site! When it came time for Procovery Institute to make the selection, we found some of the applications so compelling that we felt unable to select one winner… So we selected THREE!
This past Tuesday was the first workshop, this one held at San Pedro Mental Health Center. Gail Sulser, Consumer Advocate, submitted an application on behalf of SPMHC and was there to greet us. We felt welcomed and appreciated from the start and were offered help by many. We were incredibly inspired and touched by each participant, and were honored to be there.
Gail selected Uncovering Hope as her workshop of choice. Uncovering Hope is one in an extensive series of Art of Moving Forward™ workshops available from Procovery Institute. Kathleen Crowley, co-founder of Procovery Institute and co-creator of the Procovery program, and Acasia Stratt, Director of Operations at Procovery Institute, facilitated the workshop and we had a wonderful time!
Much happiness was shared in the hope of feeling better, being better and starting anywhere in the art of moving forward! Our consumers enjoyed the workshop immensely and what I learned today was that not only do we want to grow hope but we also need to take action and protect hope. Hope is inside of all of us!
We look forward to next week at Long Beach Mental Health Center!
A warm smile and an outstretched hand were valued even above the offerings of modern science, but the latter were far more accessible than the former. I believe that nothing a hospital could provide in the way of technological marvels was as helpful as an atmosphere of compassion. — Norman Cousins
We appreciate the profound interest in Procovery and all of the thoughtful submissions to Procovery Institute’s recent Art of Moving Forward Workshop contest — we have completed our review and selection process!
We are very happy to announce that, due to the incredibly enthusiastic response, we have decided to award not ONE, but THREE contest winners with the workshop of their choice!
CONGRATULATIONS to Pollyanne Hornbeck and Exodus Recovery, Inc., John Czernek and Long Beach Mental Health and Gail Sulser and San Pedro Mental Health!!!
Kathleen Crowley, Executive Director of Procovery Institute and creator of the Procovery Program, will be providing the chosen workshops (outlined below) to the winning agencies from June-August 2016:
When spider webs unite they can tie up a lion. — Ethiopian proverb
Uncovering Hope — Without hope, motivation and inspiration are enormously difficult. With hope, motivation and inspiration can be just a short step. In this sense, hope is the engine of motivation and inspiration. This workshop seeks to increase hope, and inspire action, in the direction of your dreams.
He who has a why to live for can bear almost any how. — Friedrich Nietzsche
Community Integration — This workshop addresses the critical link between community integration and cultural diversity, and the power of embracing individual culture, strengths and preference to connect with others and, ultimately, to sustain healing.
Creating Change — This workshop helps to assess change desired, risk factors and ways to move forward.
Additionally, Procovery Institute can consult with you on a build-your-own workshop, tailored to your specific needs. Contact us at support@procovery.com to learn more!
Procovery Institute
“When spider webs unite, they can tie up a lion.” – Ethiopian Proverb
Yesterday we posted Portia Nelson’s wonderful “There’s a Hole in my Sidewalk” story. That story reminds me of so very many times that I was honored to be witness to someone learning not only that they wanted to walk down a different street, but that they could.
And it reminds me of a time when I learned this for myself.
In 1984, in a locked psychiatric ward at UCLA, a resident psychiatrist asked me, during a therapy session, what I wanted my life to look like in five years. This wasn’t the first time he’d asked this. He asked me nearly every therapy session, at the end, just before I left. I remember mulling his words over quietly, not responding, just wondering (as I always did) why in the world he would ask me this.
It just made me feel sad.
My life, as I’d pictured it, was crumbling and much of what I had always planned was now impossible. His question, that he asked gently and hopefully, just made me sad.
I remember finally asking him, what difference does it make anyway? I’d recently been diagnosed as one hundred percent mentally and physically disabled for life, so it wasn’t like it could ever look that way.
He gently said, “Just tell me, Kathleen.”
I said that I would like to leave my marriage that was miserably failing and hurting everyone involved, and I would like to move to my own apartment with my two beautiful young daughters, and focus on raising two healthy, happy daughters ….. and I would like to write.
I remember Dr. Jones, the resident psychiatrist, leaned back in his chair and smiled, he was quiet for a long time. I figured he was just satisfied that I finally acknowledged his question, but after awhile he said “So, Kathleen, that is all entirely possible.”
And I was honestly stunned.
I felt like I’d just said to him, I want to win the lottery, fly to the moon and become president of the universe.
When I read this now, I see how relatively modest my 5 year plan was, but honestly on that day it felt quite impossible.
That day I learned that not only did I want to walk down another street but that someone else really believed that I actually could.
We can do this for others. We can see their potential, and help them dream a new dream.
Until next time…
Kathleen
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