This page shares resources & ideas about living with distress, madness and/or trauma. I am planning a major re-write of these resources, but if you find them helpful in the meantime you are welcome to use them for yourself or others.
For more ideas, read my blog, check out some of my public talks or follow me on social media.
All the resources on this page are freely available to use and share, although I do appreciate a reference if you are using them in a professional context.
Resources
Coping & survival Skills
Download flyer: Coping skills (pdf)
Coping skills might help us to survive difficult feelings and experiences — so long as you know they’re only ever a temporary thing, and there’s no form of ‘coping’ that works for everyone.
If they feel useful, coping skills can give us a break from our pain, a kind of little respite, which in turn might give us space to rest and catch our breath, or to find supportive community to be with, or to do the longer term stuff we might want that is more transformative.
Coping skills won’t solve our underlying issues, but they can be an important tool for some people, some of the time. I remember a time when I had never even heard of coping, though I imagine most people know about it these days. They are imperfect, and yet maybe they can at least give us more choice than the mountain of pills that doctors tend to rely on. Sometimes they can be life-saving.
I also want to say that all of us already have ways of coping – or we might even call it survival skills. There’s lots left out of this sheet and others like it, because some forms of survival are often judged. Things like self-injury, using alcohol or other drugs, or sex, or extreme sports, or lying about for 3 weeks sobbing to Mazzy Star.
These days, I’m really interested in doing activist work, and rest as resistance, to help me survive. Speaking out against power, recognising that my madness is rooted in political injustice and oppression (not my brain!) means that doing something, even if it’s just liking a great political post, or signing a petition, is doing something about the root causes of my pain.
I think we should honour all the ways we survive, including the stuff that some folks judge us for.
I also think we should honour those who don’t survive, because life is hard, and trustworthy support is rare. So really, whatever helps — good on you for finding it.
Please feel free to share this flyer with anyone who may be interested. Please also feel free to yell at it and tear it up if it’s annoying.
Living with Difficult Emotions
Download Booklet: Living with difficult emotions (pdf)
Difficult emotions like anger, fear, shame and sadness can cripple our lives. But finding new ways to understand and respond to these emotions can also free us from suffering and create new opportunities in our lives.
I created this 12 page booklet for people interested in understanding more about difficult emotions. It includes worksheets to explore your own experiences with difficult emotions.
I’m not sure I like it anymore, stay tuned for updates.
Resources I made while working in the mental health system
I feel really conflicted about this stuff below, and honestly I’m not sure what to do about it. Once upon a time I thought they were useful, but now I’m not so sure. Part of me wants to delete these, but I know others value them, and sometimes they are linked in other materials. For now I’ll just leave them here with the comment that you’re welcome to use them, but I’d much rather you just abolish the entire mental health system instead. Sigh.
Co-created notes
Download the Co-Created Notes Flyer
Has your organisation considered implementing co-created notes?
They’re a great opportunity to become more recovery-oriented, to create more respectful relationships, and to make notes something of value to consumers as well as the service.
In clinical settings, co-created notes can help staff to move away from subjective observations, and towards more therapeutic and respectful engagement with consumers. Staff will gain a deeper understanding of the consumer’s experience. And they’ll be out of the nurse’s station.
I implemented co-created notes at Voices Vic, Prahran Mission, and they were a great success with participants and workers.
Read more about my personal experience of typical notes, and co-created notes, in the blog post ‘Writing about me without me’.
The participation ladder: A consumer/survivor lens
People want to have a say about the things that affect their lives. The bigger the impact, the more say we want.
And if a service or system has the power to take away our human rights, if it can hurt us—then we should be the people whose voices matter most.
Are you thinking about setting up a co-design or co-production project?
Wondering how to set up participatory processes with consumers in an authentic and respectful way?
This short resource provides a consumer/survivor lens on the ladder of participation, including the difference between each level. It includes:
- A self-assessment tool to work out the highest level of participation that’s feasible for your project
- Best practices for engaging with consumers and survivors, regardless of participation level
- For each different level of participation, there is a brief overview of the key activities, implications and how power operates
Want to learn more? This thoughtful resource by Cath Roper, Flick Grey and Emma Cadogan provides a rich introduction to co-production.
