My Training In San Antonio

By: Patti Spinks

Being out of my comfort zone has been a real struggle and fight for me these last few months, but having come this far my self esteem and my view has gained a healthier insight and opinion about this unique group of people that like myself have a diagnosis of some form of mental health issue whether it be Anxiety, Depression, Schizophrenia, PTSD. I get the privilege to be a part of daily, called Mental Health Peer Support Specialists.

In August I went to San Antonio for more MHPSS training and in the training, I learned that when sharing my mental health story which is referred to as lived experience, I don’t have to share the whole thing but just little snippets to give your audience a more relatable view, however real that struggle is. I now am better equipped.

You might ask what recovery looks like, in my opinion recovery is a meaningful journey, overcoming obstacles while coming out of darkness finding, forgiving and accepting yourself.

In the evenings I would go try a different restaurant and see the different parts of the city and then usually ended up in the pool visiting with new friends talking.