I am a person who helps myself out of my stress and anxiety by helping others. The worse things are within myself, the easier I find it to just help another person or stay busy baking yummy concoctions for my coworkers to enjoy. Doing something, anything, on a crappy stuck in my own head time to get outside of myself. For years, and mostly driven by my childhood I have wanted to support others in their journey with mental health struggles, but I had no idea where to start because I like my current line of work and I don't know where to start or how to do it.
Given my ongoing struggles with some behaviors that aren't healthy used as coping mechanisms to deal with my own personal hell, I've been dying to connect with a support group but I didn't know of any in my area that would help me. Yes, I drink, but I don't feel that I belong in AA. Yes, I love sex and have had more 1 night stands than I have actual relationships with human beings but I don't belong in SAA.
Rewind to 4 years ago. I was working at the switchboard of the hospital and something was shared via a colleague. It was a call Mental Health First Aide certification training. I was intrigued. I looked it up on the NAMI website and I was hooked. I took the full day training and it opened my eyes. The certification was good for 3 years and I'm due to go to another training - I even got my group at work to bring the training to the hospital but was unable to make it. I've kept an eye on their site but nothing was in my area.
Last year, I found a 2 day training that NAMI was having for a Support Group Facilitator certification. It was on the weekend so I didn't have to take time off from work. I signed up and I was so excited. My therapist was excited because he is on the front lines of knowing how helpful something like this in our area would be and how badly it's needed. I couldn't make it. I say I was sick that weekend, but honestly it was my Dark Passenger that took over and I was not functional enough. Looking back on it now, I was really struggling a lot and wasn't reaching out for help at all.
Anyways, that isn't the point of this post. Over the past year I have managed to find ways to deal with my mind. 2 weeks ago, I got an email from the coordinator for NAMI in my area, alerting me to another facilitator training being held in BELFAST!!!! I fell on the sword of my supervisor and she was able to get the time scheduled for me to go. I get 8 hours of education time for conferences/trainings so I didn't lose out on pay or have to use my vacation time.
I loved it!! I have learned so much that I can't wait to share. I am ready to hit the ground running.
Wish me luck!
