Read the official newsletter of Community House Fall 2021!
This issue includes recent photos from Community House outings and events, client led interviews, Un-Common Art, Fall 2021 schedule, and Ask Christina.
Ask Christina
Advice Column Ask Christina, from The Common Thread Vol. 1, Issue 4, Pages 2-3
Bonus (Attention): There will be an advice column in the newsletter that will say, “Ask Christina” of any personal recovery based questions you would like to receive advice on, and I will do my best to help you. I am a certified Crisis Counselor, volunteer, and I have been volunteering for 3 years. It will be an exciting place in the newsletter to help and inspire others. Turn your questions into the suggestion box at the front desk.
Recovery from mental health and addictions is a long-term process that requires effort, consistency, and determination. My recovery in the last couple years has been a long and sometimes painful process, but it has led to an amazing rewarding time of peace, inspiration and hard work. The starting point that led to my recovery is awareness of the challenges and difficulties from the past. The loss from my daughter being adopted into another family and trauma I had been through helped me to see aspects of my life I have changed. I realize I desire to devote time to myself and take care of my own needs before I take care of anyone else.
The environment that I was raised in the past by my family affected how I perceived the world and my perception of myself. The first step was to take control of my life and it led me to volunteering as a Crisis Counselor. I wanted to use my personal experiences to help others and to make a difference. The struggles I experienced taught me to have sensitivity towards others. I learned as a Crisis Counselor to put my feet in others’ shoes and have a high level of compassion. It helped me to realize to be grateful for the life I have because others are unfortunate. I had learned humility and to have acceptance for others.
The next step I learned was coping skills, and these skills were learned from the hospital before I came to a group home. The hospital prepared me to be independent and take care of myself. Some coping skills that have helped me are listening to music, writing in a journal, watching inspirational YouTube videos, crocheting, church services and a lot more. These coping skills gave me a way to cope with negative thoughts and focus on something positive.
In addition, I have attended recovery meetings of the 12-step program, and they gave me the motivation and willingness to improve every area of my life. Other aspects I have improved are self-soothing and learning to process my emotions and accept my feelings while reassuring and reinforcing positive affirmations. Also, expressing my emotions helped me to heal from the past. I have learned to love myself by saying, “It’s okay, Christina. You are learning. You got this!”. The turning point of my life is when I became “sick and tired of being sick and tired”. This is when I was willing to change and accept help. It may take 1,000 or more mistakes to learn and change habits. The importance I have learned is to not give up when life gets hard and there is always hope no matter how difficult situations become. I realized I am stronger than I think I am. I kept striving and reaching my goals and I feel blessed from the help I received from Community House and the group home to become a “better me”.
– Christina Chacon
