This article appeared in the Daily Times; Maryville, TN; July 3, 2011. (Click picture to enlarge article.)

7:00 p.m. Tuesday, July 5th at:

Blount County Public Library
508 N. Cusick Street
Maryville, Tennessee

TRANSCRIPT

I’m Mary Elizabeth Van Pelt and I wanna talk about support groups, I wanna talk about the power of peer support. I am a psychiatric survivor, a former mental patient, and after my first hospitalization, on a psych ward, it was six years before I met somebody that was on a path of recovery that had experienced as intense of a break as I had and was on a path of recovery and that person really helped spur me forward.

I’m gonna read just a little bit about the importance and power of peer support from my book In Silence I Speak. Peer Support is the idea that individuals who have successfully navigated the system and found their own path of recovery can help others find their way. In Denver I attended my first bipolar support group meeting where I quickly connected with strangers who truly understood what I was going through. It wasn’t long before I organized a support group in Alamosa. And that support group was affiliated with SCCORE. And this is a little bit of our Colorado history that’s really important to me. SCCORE was an organization that lasted not quite six years. Was organized in Denver. And because of SCCORE I was able to get little mini-grants, two hundred dollars at a time, and help facilitate support groups. We had a small group in Alamosa. We met every other week in my home for more than two years. So we’ve got quite a rich history. I’ve got a lot of photo albums with pictures and I was recently reviewing all the history and I was really struck by when I look at these photographs how close we are to each other and the sense of community that was between us as we traveled and met new people and talked about recovery. People were meeting for the first time somebody else that was diagnosed and so those little sparks of hope kept me going. I always wanted to meet one more new person and help somebody in our group or help somebody in a new group connect with our group and realize that they were not alone. So that was the peer support group work that we did and um my sadness is that we just discount this history and I think that it’s so–so valuable. What’s still valuable is the importance of peers connecting with peers and showing each other the way. And that can get caught up in a lot of negative in-fighting and the group can destroy itself and I think ultimately that’s what happened with SCCORE. But I still remember all the things that SCCORE helped me to do. Helped me make these trips and helped me connect with people at the national level. People like Rae Unzicker, Judi Chamberlin, David Oaks — Pat Risser was our first president and Bob Hiltner was our last president. We had six presidents during the-the lifetime of SCCORE. But the group did come to an end and I did finally decided that I needed to pass the photo albums on. And I-a I decided I would take them to a program at the Community Mental Health Center. It’s called the Clubhouse. It’s a pre-vocational program that teaches people basic living skills and employment skills and I decided that was where the photo albums belonged because there were still people around that had participated in the group activities who were still a part of the community mental health center. So I donated the photo albums to their library um and about six months later someone called me up and said oh they’re changing everything, they’re throwing things out, there’s new staff, there’s a new program, they’re gonna toss your photo albums, you’d better come get them. So I went and got them, but I felt really sad that it was like all the work that I had done, it wasn’t acknowledged, we weren’t acknowledged by the community mental health center. Our history was not valued and that was really very disappointing. So I brought the albums home and I’ve kept them for more years. But what do we do with this history? How much do we hold on to? What is of value? And I think what’s still of value is the connecting with others that-that peer support. And I find when I tell my stories that I find other people have experienced the same thing. The same struggles with agencies. The same struggles to connect with other people.

 ”I realized I’m not quite ready to think about The End.” But now I just see the end as a new beginning. I really do — looking over this history. Going out into the world in a bigger way.

I’m Mary Van Pelt. My book is In Silence I Speak. My website is www.InSilenceISpeak.com and my e-mail is mary@InSilenceISpeak.com

ALAMOSA—It took 10 years to write but only four months for Alamosa author and self-described psychiatric survivor Mary Elizabeth Van Pelt to sell out of In Silence I Speak. Her publisher Mercury HeartLink has since printed more.

Mary’s book begins by disclosing experiences with her family, friends and foes that lead into the issue of job discrimination among those diagnosed with a mental illness.

“I had to explain what I had been through in order to make the point about discrimination,” she says, adding that much of her life has been a journey through madness; dangerous because many like her take on the identity of a psychiatric diagnosis and never recover. Choosing not to be defined by her diagnosis, Mary also refuses to be resentful.

“Because those things happened to me I was pushed forward to look at my life in a new way and to rebuild my life in a new way.”

Writing the book was part of this process. Today, her story is used as a tool to educate people in the mental health care and vocational rehabilitation systems.

“In Silence I Speak is a battle cry for our peers who envision, as Mary does, a new, bold, and creative movement to create meaningful and sustainable employment for people with psychiatric disabilities,” says Steve Bell, executive director for the direct service division of the Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance of Colorado.

University of Denver Professor of Social Work Susan Manning, Ph.D., says the book gives mental health systems, providers, families, educators and other survivors a foundation to move forward with innovations that celebrate strengths and share power across all stakeholder groups.

While such comments inspire Mary, her family’s remarks surprise her.

“I had to say some things about my mother that were very difficult for me to write,” Mary says.

After reading the book from cover to cover, her mother sent a note: “Dear Mary… I pray that many good things will develop out of your book, both for you and for others who read it. Lots of love, Mother.”

Mary’s sister Anne Van Pelt Regenbrecht admits that though her memories of growing up are the same as Mary’s, her experiences and emotions are not.

“The turmoil and worry over Mary’s health, both physically and mentally, were all encompassing in our family,” Anne says. “The problems were always foremost in my mind, though almost never mentioned. In Silence I Speak is very aptly titled.”

Anne says that avoiding conversations about Mary within the family, as a family, were a way to cope. “It was our belief; our fervent hope that if Mary’s problems weren’t mentioned than those same problems would not be as serious as we were afraid they were,” she says. “Reading Mary’s story, told from her perspective, has helped me to understand my sister’s illness, struggle, and recovery. I am glad for this book. I am very grateful for her courage in writing it.”

In Silence I Speak has become a platform for countless others to talk about job discrimination, eating disorders, sleep depravity, confinement in mental institutions, and more. Mary envisions a graduate level classroom psychology or sociology teacher having students read it for discussion. “It’s a dream thing,” Mary says.

But so was publishing a book in the first place. “I just went ahead and kept doing all the things that scared me-they still scare me, but I keep doing them.”

In Silence I Speak is available at Narrow Gauge Books in Alamosa and directly from the author at www.insilenceispeak.com where more about her credentials and availability for speaking engagements can also be found.

Mary with Patty Duke

Mary met actress Patty Duke when she spoke at Adams State College in Alamosa, CO.  Patty spoke about her recovery from bipolar disorder and her career.  After the event Patty signed copies of her book “A Brilliant Madness.”  Photo credit: Vivia Lawson.

May is Mental Health Month, and the local mental health center is celebrating in many ways including an upcoming presentation by actress Patty Duke who will share her story on May 22 in Alamosa. What a treat for her to come here! And another treat is scheduled this Saturday afternoon at Milagros where our very own celebrity writer May Van Pelt will be on hand for a book signing of “In Silence I Speak.” We at the Courier are especially glad for the mental health celebrations, as we were the recipients of donuts, cookies and candy on Monday morning. That was a sweet surprise.

KRZA Radio Interview with Mary Van Pelt about new Book