The Village Dispatch: CMHRC's November 2024 Newsletter
Topic: Gratitude and Hope: Our Mission in Action
Giving Corner: Give Thanks By Giving a Gift

Clinical Seminar for Professionals: Part 2 Fight Flight Freeze: The Limbic System and Behavior Dysregulation

Book Club: Turtles All The Way Down

As Thanksgiving nears, all of us at CMHRC are thinking about our gratitude for one another and for you. Whether you attend our Book Clubs, webinars and seminars, Palliative Parenting^TM classes and drop-in groups, whether you are a donor, or one of our Wayfinder families every single one of you is a crucial part of our community. You are showing up to build a community of families and practitioners who are there for one another to understand, support, and provide resources.

So, as the days grow shorter and we head into winter we want to shine a light of appreciation on a few individuals within our community who have made a real difference this year. 

We're so grateful for Parker, a young man with a mission. At age 17, Parker lives with bipolar disorder and FOH, and he is a powerful voice advocating for children and teens with the same diagnoses. Whether it's on podcasts, participating in documentaries on bipolar, or advocating within his community Parker is dedicated to showing the world just how much youth with mental illness contribute to their community.

In October, Parker was awarded Mental Health Youth Advocate of the Year by Mental Health America of Spartanburg County. Way to go Parker! We love you and are all so so proud of you!

We're so grateful that Sara Schley joined our community this year! She's become a crucial voice for those living with Bipolar as the author of the acclaimed memoir, BrainStorm: From Broken to Blessed on the Bipolar Spectrum. A mother, grandmother, and community leader, Sara also has a Bipolar II brain. She's kept this mostly a secret for four decades. Until now. 

Sara has partnered with CMHRC this year in profound ways. With the publication of her book BrainStorm, she joined CMHRC in April for a webinar on how to thrive with a bipolar diagnosis, and she joined our Book Club that same month to discuss her book. 

In May CMHRC's executive director, Elizabeth Errico met with Sara and award winning filmmaker Bonnie Waltch to participate in the making of the documentary of Sara's book. Elizabeth brought the story of families living with bipolar disorder to the film. 

This Thursday, November 14th, Elizabeth will be a guest on Sara's podcast BrainTalk. They'll discuss the necessity that the mental health field acknowledge bipolar's impact on children and families, and promote accurate diagnosis and successful treatment in childhood. Thank you Sara for being a champion for all of us!

All of us at CMHRC are grateful for each and every one of our enthusiastic and dedicated volunteers. This year we want to say a special thank you to Lisa, co-facilitator of our Palliative Parenting^TM classes and all around amazing woman, therapist, mother, and friend. 

If you've been to one of our support groups, Palliative Parenting^TM drop-in groups, or October's webinar, you'll recognize Lisa. She brings kindness, empathy, and gentle caring to all of her interactions with our community. A trailblazer of Palliative Parenting^TM, Lisa's 

calm and steady reminders to prioritize our relationships with our children, to meet them where they are with compassion and love, and to always choose acceptance over judgement is a beacon of healing for all of us. Lisa, we so deeply appreciate knowing you and having you share your light with us!

CMHRC staff could not have been luckier than when we took a training with Dr. Georgia Ede earlier this year. Dr. Ede is a pioneer of metabolic therapy and the author of Change Your Diet, Change Your Mind, which combines the truth about brain food with the cutting edge science of brain metabolism. 

Dr. Ede not only joined us for a webinar on ketogenic therapy last June, she was also a part of CMHRC's July Book Club session discussing her book with our committed community of readers. 

Her unique approach to psychiatry has been an inspiration to so many in our community. We're so grateful that she's sharing her insight, wisdom, and expertise with us as medical advisor to our currently running study on ketogenic therapy for kids with bipolar. Thank you, Georgia for all you do everyday for your patients and our community! 

Of course, none of what we do would be possible without the generosity of our donors. Each and every gift, no matter the size, makes it possible for us to do the important work of supporting families and practitioners as they navigate the arena of children's mental healthcare. We are especially grateful in 2024 for the generosity of two institutional funders, the Baszucki Family Foundation and the Stavros Niarchos Foundation, both of which made transformational gifts to CMHRC this year. 

Through their visionary understanding of the intersection of metabolism and mental health the Baszucki Family Foundation has been supporting research into the growing field of metabolic psychiatry. It is through their generosity that CMHRC's pilot study and program on ketogenic therapy for children has been made possible. Each day of this study we learn more about what it takes to help families implement this cutting edge, high reward, low risk lifestyle intervention. All of the knowledge we're gaining and the support we're providing wouldn't be possible without Jan, David, Matt, and the other members of the Baszucki family. 

Stavros Niarchos Foundation works to empower humanity through education, healthcare, and social welfare. We're so grateful to them for their worldwide focus on the growing mental health crisis. Their support of CMHRC allowed us to launch our wildly successful Palliative Parenting^TM courses and to make sure that the cost to participate stayed as low as possible, supporting those who wished to participate in 2024. We appreciate their faith in CMHRC's ability to do so much good in the world. 

Thank you to the Baszucki family and the team at Stavros Niarchos! 

Ready to join the ranks of those who make all of this work possible? Want an easier way to give? 

Consider setting up a monthly recurring gift,A recurring contribution means steady support — that’s how real change happens!

On our safe and secure giving platform you can also make a one time gift or schedule an annual gift to our Giving Thanks campaign every year. 

Your contribution can make a big impact for those who need it most.

November 20th, 5:00pm Eastern Time

This is Part 2 of this critical series on understanding the role the limbic system plays in symptoms of mental health disorders. In Part 2 we will focus on how the limbic system contributes to

dysregulation and how it can be the key to de-escalation in times of crisis.

Traditional behavior modification techniques often don't work for children and teens with mood disorders, bipolar disorder, and Fear of Harm. This causes frustration for kids, parents, teachers, and their providers. Join us for a two part series to learn about the role the limbic system plays in common symptoms and behaviors associated with mood disorders and bipolar in children and teens. Part 1 on 10/23/2024: will focus on learning about each part of the limbic system and how they contribute to symptoms and behaviors that have traditionally been called "psychiatric" or considered to be "willful". 

November 21st, 2024 8:30pm Eastern Time

John Green, the acclaimed author of Looking for Alaska and The Fault in Our Stars, returns with a story of shattering, unflinching clarity in this brilliant novel of love, resilience, and the power of lifelong friendship.

Aza Holmes never intended to pursue the disappearance of fugitive billionaire Russell Pickett, but there’s a hundred-thousand-dollar reward at stake and her Best and Most Fearless Friend, Daisy, is eager to investigate. So together, they navigate the short distance and broad divides that separate them from Pickett’s son Davis.

Aza is trying. She is trying to be a good daughter, a good friend, a good student, and maybe even a good detective, while also living within the ever-tightening spiral of her own thoughts.

Book club sessions have a $5 registration fee, which helps us staff the book club sessions. We appreciate your support. 

Sent by CMHRC

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