Creating Balance

I don’t plan to make this Blog chronological . My goal is to share ideas and thoughts and invite conversation about them.

Early in my mental health career I felt uneasy with the concept of applying diagnostic labels to folks. I can recall staff meetings that involved therapists asking “What is the diagnosis?” as if that would create the solution for the medication needed or the next intervention. I was guilty of being on the bandwagon for a while. It seemed to provide at least a template for treatment. I learned though that the diagnosis could become a label that just boxed the individuality of the person who was underneath the label, into a corner.

Somewhere in the late 1990’s, I attended a NAMI (National Alliance on Mental Illness) conference in Indianapolis and a psychiatrist gave a talk about looking at each patient through the eyes of their unique symptoms rather than as a single diagnosis. I do believe that was the beginning of a huge shift in my outlook about how we perceive mental health and mental illness. No two folks with any diagnosis are alike. When we look at symptoms and allow the person (who is the expert on themselves) to lead the way , I believe healing can begin.

Curious if other folks out there have had similar experiences.