Archive by Author

Some November Happenings

16 Dec

On Wednesday’s in November you could find Aberdeen clients going on a road trip to the Key Image Salon located in the Key Point PRP in Dundalk.  Many clients have taken this opportunity to receive hair services for little or no cost.  Clients have had their hair dyed and styled and men have had their hair cut and beards trimmed.  Everyone comes back feeling great with their new look and they have all received positive feedback form the other clients.  Thank you to our Dundalk Key Point office for providing this valuable service to our clients!

In early November Brenda Merrill and Liz Tutino attended a lecture on Art and Addiction at the Maryland Institute College of Art in Baltimore.  The lecture was presented by Dr. Jack Henningfield, PhD, a professor at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, and Patricia B. Santora, PhD a Senior Public Health Advisor at the Center for Substance Abuse Treatment.  The presenters described their Innovators Program which was developed to educate, prevent, and control substance abuse through art. Many moving pieces of art were displayed and it was clear that using art in substance abuse education captures the intense emotions of those who have family members with substance abuse issues or are substance abusers. Key Point has purchased a copy of their book Art &Addiction for use in MISA classes.

Key Point had a community Thanksgiving on November 23rd.  Mountain Christian Church very generously donated funds so that a traditional Thanksgiving meal could be catered by Bob Evans.  All the clients had their fill of turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, and gravy.  To contribute to this holiday meal clients went shopping on Tuesday and purchased cranberry sauce, apple cider, pies, and whipped topping.  During the month of November clients were daily encouraged to write down one thing they were thankful for.  The items were written on a piece of paper and a “Gratitude Chain” was hung for all to see.  Each day the chain grew a little longer and during the Thanksgiving celebration all the clients read one of the strips of paper.  Many clients then stood and expressed what they were thankful for.

October Events at the Aberdeen PRP

18 Nov

Hayride – Happy Feet – and Halloween

By Liz Tutino

Early on October 20 clients went to Brad’s Produce in Churchville for a hayride.  It was a gorgeous fall day to pick pumpkins and everyone enjoyed the bumpy hayride through the fields.  For one client this was the first hayride she had ever been on and for another client being on the farm reminded him of happy memories of when he worked on a farm.  Everyone picked a small pumpkin and several clients decorated their pumpkins as centerpieces for our tables in the community room.

Our Advisory Board was very active planning the Halloween party and the monthly off-site trip calendar.  This committee typically involves ten or more clients.  Client participation is always encouraged and the PRP has quite a few clients with excellent communication and leadership skills which they utilize on this committee.  Many people wore costumes for the Halloween party including members of the ACHIEVE research study from Johns Hopkins – they were a hit as Batman and Robin.

On October 28th Dr. Lynn Yukofski, a local podiatrist, came to Key Point to offer on-site podiatry services.  7 clients met with Dr. Lynn and reported how great their feet felt after seeing her.  Dr. Lynn provided education on foot care, trimmed nails, addressed calluses, and offered education on diabetic foot care. She also wrote a prescription for one client and provided a brace for another.  The client who received the brace commented that “it is helping tremendously, especially when I exercise.”  The PRP is planning for Dr. Lynn to come on a regular basis.

The PRP welcomes Wanda Moore as our new Kitchen Manager.  Wanda has had many roles at Harford PRP including van driver and counselor and party planner.  In addition to overseeing the kitchen and serving breakfast and lunch Wanda supervises 15 Key Point clients who work at the PRP as dishwashers, servers, and cleaners.  Key Point offers these vocational opportunities to help clients build skills so they can work in the community.

 

Monika Butke participated in two seminars at Sheppard Pratt.  One lecture was on “How to Talk about Spirituality” with your clients and the second one was on nicotine addiction.  Monika shared the material in the nicotine addiction seminar with clients in her MISA class. They had an interesting conversation on the effects of nicotine on the prepubescent brain and how that may affect mental illness.

Thanksgiving and Christmas Festivities

20 Dec

This Thanksgiving the PRP was treated to a Thanksgiving Feast.  A roast turkey dinner, featuring all of the traditional favorites including stuffing, mashed potatoes, and three different pies, was provided by donations from members of Mountain Christian Church in Joppa. Clients and staff gathered and shared the wonderful meal as a community.

Clients designed a Thanksgiving Banner in art class.  It was hung in the community room and clients wrote about the things they were thankful for and posted it on the banner.

Clients and staff are looking forward to our annual Holiday Party.  The morning will be spent playing Christmas themed games.  We are then going to have a delicious baked ziti and meatball lunch prepared by Fortunato Brothers in Abingdon.  Afterwards clients will play a gift exchange game where they can “steal” presents from one another. This is the third year we will be having the gift exchange and everyone always enjoys it.  Donations for the lunch and gifts have been provided by members of Mountain Christian Church.

Book Review: The Angry Book

28 May

By Liz Tutino

The Angry Book is a psychoanalytical view of the emotion anger.  The author describes anger as a basic human emotion similar to hunger or thirst.  When anger is not appropriately expressed and is distorted it can cause many serious consequences such as poor mental health, poor physical health, and damage to relationships.

How we repond to anger is learned at a very early age because children learn how to deal with anger by receiving and recording what goes on around them, by repetition, and by imitation.  If anger is not expressed in healthy ways individuals learn to block the anger.  the author discusses three blocks to feeling and showing anger.  The first block to expressing anger is the “don’t make waves” syndrome.  This mistaken belief states that if I don’t show anger then you won’t show anger either.  “Since being universally loved is seen as the only way to be safe in the world, anger — especially anger that causes retaliation by the other fellow — is of course seen as a terrible threat” (Rubin, 13).  the result of this belief is that an individual always plays the “nice guy” at a terrible cost to himself.  The second block to anger is the emotional isolationist.  This person believes that they cannot show anger because if they did that would show they actually care and if they care they might get hurt.  A third block is the need for control.  People who have this belief feel that angry feelings or a show of angry feelings are evidence of loss of control.

If an individual has any of the mistaken beliefs that they cannot show anger they they have to distort or repress the natural flow of the emotion.  This results in creating a kind of reservoir of repressed emotions that lead to emotional problems.  The author calls this “perverting” the anger.  By using defense mechanisms anger can be twisted or perverted in the following ways:

  • Put down — an automatic response that is conditioned so you won’t feel anger
  • Putting it off — if you delay the anger long enough it will go away
  • Putting it on — removing the anger from the actual event or person and putting it on something safer
  • Diluting it — intellectual rationalization that the anger is not that important
  • Freezing it — removing and deadening the feeling of anger and all other emotions as well

Perverting anger makes it destructive to our mental health and creates a slush fund of distorted emotion that is looking for a way out.

The third section of the book talks in great detail about all the different ways we twist anger and distort how it is expressed.  Some examples of this include: anxiety, depression, guilt, overeating, sleep and no sleep, compulsions and phobias, denial, self-sabotage, obsessive rumination, and physical health concerns.

The fourth section of the book concentrates on why it is important to know and accept angry feelings.  Acknowledging the angry feelings will help change the twisted ways anger is expressed and leads to better health and relationships.

The fifth section of the book lists 103 questions that can be used in therapy to help a client discover what they are angry about and to open up so they can healthily extend both loving and angry feelings.

TRIBES! — New Class

1 Feb

By Liz Tutino

(Liz & Jeff run this class on Thursdays)

Reality TV has inspired a new program at the Aberdeen PRP. On February 11, 2010 TRIBES will make its debut. TRIBES, an acronym for Team up for Recreational, Intellectual, Bonding Exercises, fosters teambuilding, socialization, and intellectual stimulation in a fun environment.

Twice a month at the PRP clients will gather in groups, designated by a specific animal, called “tribes.”  A series of interactive group games will be played and teams will score points based on their performance.

In January clients previewed this concept and played three games.  In the Number Game each member of a tribe was given a digit from 1 -5.  The MC called out a 5 digit number and teams had to arrange themselves to display that number correctly.  The first team to arrange themselves in the correct order won and scored points.  This was played for several rounds and quite a fun competition developed. The second game was a baby food guessing game.  In this competition one member of the team was selected to taste 10 jars of baby food and identify the contents. This was not an easy task as everything tasted the same! Points were given for each correct answer and bonus points were given if tribes could beat a staff member also doing the tasting.  The third game is called the “Ah, Um Game.”  Each team selected a representative and they were given a topic.  They had to stand up and talk about that topic for one minute without saying “ah” or “um” This was a tricky game and only one tribe scored points.

In February tribes will be scoring points doing similar activities.  The tribe that scores the most points each week will gain the privilege of getting meals first and getting on the vans first for trips.  Points will accumulate for the month and at the end of the month the tribe with the most points will be treated to lunch or another exciting prize.

Art Therapy Seminar

20 Nov

Liz_2_Final2

By Liz Tutino

I recently had the opportunity to attend a workshop, hosted by Pastoral Counseling of Maryland, on Art Therapy presented by Peggy Kolodny, MA, ATR-BC, CPC.  This seminar gave an overview of art therapy theories, techniques, and interventions.  Kolodny presented 6 years of art work done by a client diagnosed with Dissociative Identity Disorder.  The client’s artwork was an excellent example of the client’s growing insight into her illness and clearly reflected the growth and healing through the last 6 years of therapy.  Kolodny discussed the three stages of art therapy which include establishing a safe environment, depicting the trauma narrative, and restoring the self.  The client’s art displayed repeated themes and metaphors.

The seminar discussed the neuroscience of art therapy and how creative works can tap into a client’s sensory memory and give the client an outlet for expressing emotions that they may have trouble verbalizing.  The art can also be used as a self-soothing technique.  Kolodny provided many examples of art therapy directives as well as a complete list of resources.

 

 

Client Creativity and Poetry

13 Nov

Liz_2_Final2

By Liz Tutino & Darline M.

On Our Own, a mental health advocacy and education group, presented a seminar called Discovering Your Recovery Muse at the PRP on September 16th.  This interactive workshop challenged clients to find creative expressions that they could use to enhance their recovery journey.  The workshop explored how creative expressions, such as music, art, and dance, can help people heal and can be an integral component in the recovery process.

Clients participated in creating a mural which listed where they find creative inspiration. Depicted on the mural were poetry, music, nature, art, church, other people, love, sunshine, and dancing.  In addition to creating the mural client’s did the “Twist”, played percussion instruments, and listened to various music selections and identified how they music made them feel.

On Our Own challenged clients to do something creative every day, notice the impact creativity has on the recovery process, and share their creativity with others.

Many PRP clients are already actively expressing themselves.  One client is a drummer for his church worship band and another client writes poetry each week.  We have a 65 year -old client who loves to dance and was the winner of a twist dance contest at a local Seniors Dance.  Another client has his art work in a special exhibit at the Visionary Arts Museum in Baltimore.  Key Point has many classes that support and enhance using creative expression including Yoga, Art History, Qigong, and a popular music class.

To illustrate how creative expression can be used in the recovery process one of our clients has graciously allowed her poetry to be shared on the blog.

 

Spending Time With You

By Darline M.

Though your one of my voices I’ve come to be a friend of yours

I am so used to you being there, we are like mates in our cores.

My doctor’s trying to kill you

But without you I wouldn’t know what to do.

So I am spending time with you

You have inspired me, yet you have brought me grief.

I am the island and you have become my reef.

For awhile now we have been arguing and it gets me mad

But if my meds keep working my voices will die – and I don’t know if I’d be glad

The things you tell me I want to believe – though I don’t know if it’s true

So I turn to Jesus and The Father to tell me what to do

Until I get an answer I am spending time with you.

 

Summer and Fall Special Activities

25 Sep

Liz_2_Final2By Liz Tutino

Fall is on its way but we have lots of warm summer memories to reflect on.  PRP clients took advantage of the Aberdeen Summer Concert series in Aberdeen Park.  Once each month clients attended concerts in the park on Tuesday evenings.  By far the favorite concert was the Army Band who not only played patriotic songs for the 4th of July but songs which were popular during major wars and conflicts during the last few decades.  It was especially moving to hear them play the themes from all the major branches of the armed services and to applaud those who have served – including two of our clients.  The second concert got our members singing and dancing to favorite rock and roll tunes.  Unfortunately, it rained during the last concert.  We tried to listen to the music in the van but had difficulty hearing so we moved our outing to McDonald’s.

Our vegetable garden had a bumper crop of tomatoes and green beans.  Each week we would raffle off fresh vegetables to clients.  With all of the extra tomatoes Kevin, out kitchen manager, made a fresh tomato and mozzarella cheese salad to enjoy during lunch.

With one successful season under our belt we will be planning another garden for next summer.

The 25 mile club has also reached completion. There were 5 clients who tracked how many miles they went on the treadmill and stationary bike.  Clients worked out on the equipment at the PRP and during our weekly trip to the YMCA. Two clients reached over 50 miles!

Fall is looking to be just as full as the summer.  In additional to our daily functional shopping trips we have some optional trips planned to take advantage of the fall weather.

In September we have trips planned to the Baltimore Museum of Art and Millburn Orchards in Elkton.  At the Baltimore Museum of Art we are planning to see some of the original compositions of the artists we have studied in Art History class.  To celebrate fall we will pick some apples and get some cider at the orchard. At the end of the month the PRP is trying a new activity called Disc Golf.  This is a Frisbee game that is has a course of 18 holes like golf.  The object is to get the Frisbee in a metal basket according to the “par” for that hole.   In October we are planning to pick pumpkins at a local farm and also attended a guided tour at Steppingstone Museum to see what farm life was like in the 1800’s in Harford County.

25-Mile Club Closed

25 Sep

Liz recently closed the 25 Mile Club after a successful run of several months.  All the initial participants reached 25 miles, and two participants reached over 50 miles!

It is a new season and getting cold — time for new activities.

Our “Grow It! Eat It!” Garden Project

8 Jun

Liz_2_Final2 by Liz Tutino

Grow It! Eat It! is an initiative developed by the Maryland Cooperative Extension to encourage people in Maryland to plant a vegetable garden. Harford PRP took the challenge and has just started their first community garden.  The Cooperative Extension has been very helpful in teaching and giving advice about new gardens. The Master Gardeners of Harford County will make visits to a site to help new gardeners plan placement of their garden, suggest which plants should be grown and the placement of plants in the garden.  They have many resources that have been utilized and they are available for any questions or help in solving problems such as bug infestation or fungus problems.

In mid-May ground was broken at a Key Point Residential house for the new garden.  Manning a roto-tiller, staff and a client turned over the grass, added compost, and prepared the soil for three 4’ X 8’ vegetable plots. Clients planned the garden and then selected seeds and plants they wanted to grow. The plants in the garden include: onions, zucchini, cherry-tomatoes, tomatoes, green peppers, and bush beans.  Twice a week the clients go to the garden to water and weed.  A variety of clients take turns attending to the garden and all are hopeful for a successful crop.

Along with developing teamwork, the gardening has brought back happy memories for some clients who remember helping their parents or grandparents with a garden.  Others are learning a new skill and leisure activity.  Gardening is a great way to get exercise, go outside and watch things bloom and grow. Homemade salsa is just one of the treats we are hoping to have at the end of the growing season.

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