Friday, November 21, 2008

Christmas time is ALMOST here!

It's been a while since my last post so I wanted to bring you all up to speed. We had a great Walk! We had over 1,100 people there and I know everyone had a great time.

We also had our annual Heroes in the Fight Awards. The Governor and the First Lady were there to receive the Wings Award and Joe Toy, CEO of Bluegrass Mental Health was there to receive the Lifetime Achievement Award. Thank you to both of them for their committment to improving the lives of us living with mental illnesses.

As for the new hospital, it is moving along smoothly. The RFP came out recently giving us some more information about how many beds may be in the hospital. We are very excited about that. There are several more steps until we break ground but our dream is getting closer and closer! I'll keep you posted.

Right now, we are gearing up for our Annual Blue Christmas Service that will be held on Sunday, December 21, 2008 at 5:00pm at Central Christian Church in Lexington. This service is for anyone feeling isolated, lonely, sad, grieving, hurt, overwelmed or empty. We ask that you come to this special service to "Rest your soul."

Our Annual Consumer/Family Christmas Party will be held on Sunday, December 7, 2008 at 2:30pm-4:00pm at the Faye Morton Consumer and Family Center on the grounds of Eastern State Hospital. We will have lots of good food and fun. We will also have a brief business meeting to elect new officers to our NAMI Lexington Board of Directors for 2009-2010. So all NAMI members please try to attend.

As for me, personally, I have begun a new therapy called EMDR (eye movement desensitization & reprossessing). I am seeing Dr. Barbara Hensley in Cincinnati for this specialized form of therapy. It is for trauma survivors. I have had significant childhood trauma. This treatment seems to be working!! I am so excited that I have found something that actually seems to be treating the root of the problem rather than just the symptoms. If you are interested in more information on this life changing therapy please email me at blind.justice@insightbb.com.

Hopefully, I will get to post before Christmas but if not, have a safe and Happy Holiday Season!!!