A counseling idea

I went to a NAMI meeting last night to hear about CIT training. NAMI stands for National Alliance for Mental Illness. There is probably an affiliate near you. They are all over the US. CIT stands for Crisis In Training which is what police officers receive so they can handle the mentally ill while they are in crisis. So situations don’t happen like they end up killing someone in psychosis or something. This is also all over the country – it is even international in some countries.

I think it is great that there is a training program for police officers to learn to handle the mentally ill. Why don’t you find out of your local police have a program like that. It is free to them for the training. It takes 40 hrs for the training. But it can save a lot of lives. It is well worth it. I think you can find out more about it on www.nami.org.

Anyways, after the CIT information, we had a support group session. I was talking with three guys. One guy asked a question about something. I suggested journaling. Now, men are not likely to journal. But, then I suggested like making a list each day of a phrase or two of what happened that day, a problem or two, that will bring that day to memory. So that when you are with your counselor, you can remember it.

I ALWAYS go with a list to my counselor. I never rely on my memory. I think that is why I have been able to make such progress in my recovery. On the days I go see my counselor, I go through my journal and make a list of the things I want to talk about, problems I had.

Then I have a list to discuss. I don’t rely on my memory. I can work on my recovery much more efficiently that way. Believe me, it works. I have done it week after week.

So, if you don’t want to journal, then just jot down a phrase or two of what will remind you of the problems of the day. Or even the successes of the day. Then take the list with you. You will be amazed at how much better things will get when you work on them with a purpose.

Try it.