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WINTER 2009
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Featured Articles

» A Fight to Be

: "When you are diagnosed and treated for a major mental illness, your life's course is deeply affected by how you integrate that experience into your identity."

» The Tattered Tapestry

: "If her family’s love and care alone could have saved Kara, she would be alive today."

» “One Day My Soul Just Opened Up”
by Iyanla Vanzant, Life Coach

: "Faith is a process within us at all times."

» View All Winter 2009 Articles

A Fight to Be

A Psychologist's Experience From Both Sides Of The Locked Door

Ron Bassman

Ron Bassman has an insight not many others in the mental health field possess. Not only is he a provider of mental health services, but he is a person who has experienced psychiatric diagnosis and hospitalization as well. Ron Bassman knows about mental illness inside and out.

In this memoir, A Fight to Be - A Psychologist's Experience From Both Sides Of The Locked Door, the author writes candidly about his issues with mental illness and his life in general.

When Ron was in his early to mid twenties, he was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia. It was summertime when his... (Click Here to Read More)

The Tattered Tapestry

A Family’s Search for Peace With Bipolar Disorder

Kara Smith & Kevin Smith & Tom Smith

On Monday, January 13, 2003, a twenty-six-year old pregnant woman with a diagnosis of bipolar disorder, also known as manic depression, committed suicide. Her name was Kara Smith. This book is a record of a family’s nine-year battle to keep Kara safe and preserve the independence that Kara needed.
Tapestry is a narrative with three voices: Kara’s father, Tom Smith, Kara’s twin brother Kevin Smith, and from Kara in the posthumous publication of Kara’s writings. This book takes the reader through the unwinding threads that lead to Kara’s irrevocable act.
Tom Smith’s narration dominates... (Click Here to Read More)

“One Day My Soul Just Opened Up”
by Iyanla Vanzant, Life Coach

Lori Nalewajk

Out of the depth of darkness, I found a shining radiance. Iyanla Vanzant has put together a magnificent book touching upon human emotions and feelings, helping me to understand that wherever I am is exactly the place I am supposed to be at that particular time in my life.

One Day My Soul Just Opened Up shows the path I need to take in order to get where I need to go. I realize that the Divine is within me at all times. Becoming the Divine, letting the Divine into me, and opening myself to receive the Divine is key. The book is broken down by sections: sections by days, forty day and... (Click Here to Read More)