June/July 2025 Edition This month’s spotlight features Oscar, who generously shares, in his own words, the story of how his healing journey began. From a defining moment in solitary confinement to years of reflection, growth, and hard-won self-awareness, Oscar’s path reminds us that change can start in the most unexpected places. His voice is a powerful reminder that mental health recovery is possible, even when the odds feel impossible. I’m honored to share his story with you. What Led Me to Begin My Healing Journey In the year 2000, I was before a panel of people, a lieutenant, a sergeant, a case counselor assigned to me, and a therapist. They were going through my file detailing why I was in segregation. In the California prison system, it’s also called the hole. I was sent to the hole for a violent fight I was in with another guy inside of prison. At the time I was serving a double life sentence, I fell under the title of Juvenile lifer, which in my case at the time...

Mental Health Recovery Tip of the Week: 🌿 Define One “Enough” for the Day Instead of pushing yourself to do everything,  choose one small thing that will feel like “enough” today, and let that be okay. ✅ It could be: – Answering one email – Making your bed – Drinking a glass of water – Saying no to something that drains you 💬  Why It Matters This simple practice helps retrain your brain away from all-or-nothing thinking,  a pattern common in anxiety , depression , and trauma recovery . 💡 Small wins are still progress. And honoring them builds something deeper than motivation; it builds self-trust . Thank you for stopping by! Until next time, remember that you are not alone in your feelings or experiences. I've got your back! For more updates, click  here . For more blogs, click  here! Disclaimer : The information provided is for informational purposes only and should not be considered a substitute for professional advice. If you are struggling...

Estimated Read Time: 5 Minutes Summary It’s common to expect that healing will feel good, but for many in recovery, joy or peace can feel:  unfamiliar  even dangerous.  This post explores why feeling better sometimes sparks anxiety, especially for those with a trauma history or long-term mental illness. With gentle reflection and evidence-based insight, we’ll unpack how to trust wellness again and why discomfort in joy doesn’t mean you’re broken. “When Joy Feels Foreign” There was a moment a few months ago when I laughed,  really laughed, and immediately felt this strange, hollow tug in my chest. Instead of enjoying the joy, I started bracing for what would go wrong. My brain whispered, “Don’t get used to this.” For most of my life, I was either surviving something or recovering from something. And even in recovery, I’ve been conditioned to scan for the next wave, the next crash, the next shoe to drop. I was feeling okay, but I didn’t feel safe; it felt like a ...

Summary Healing doesn’t follow a timeline. For those living with mental illness, recovery often brings unresolved emotions to the surface long after the trauma occurred. In this post, we explore why time feels distorted during mental health recovery and how to release the pressure to “catch up.” Estimated Read Time: 🕒 5 minutes When Time Doesn’t Feel Linear 🕰️ I’ve been thinking a lot about time lately, not in the way most people do, but in the way trauma can bend it.  There are moments I look at my life and feel like I’m somehow behind. I’m in my 40s now and only just beginning to unpack some of the trauma from my 30s. Not because I ignored it, but because I didn’t yet have: the language the safety the support to begin I didn’t know what mental health recovery looked like. I didn’t know I was even allowed to name what happened to me. And now that I am doing the work, it feels like I’m sorting through emotional boxes that should’ve been unpacked years ago. Some memorie...

  Summary Surrender is often misunderstood as giving up, but in mental health recovery, it’s a powerful tool of acceptance and self-compassion. This post explores how surrender, letting go of control over what cannot be changed: reduces stress enhances emotional resilience supports sustainable healing  Drawing from psychological research and practical strategies, learn how adopting surrender can transform your recovery journey.  Learning to Let Go and Find Strength There have been many times when I found myself locked in a relentless internal battle. I fought my emotions, intrusive thoughts, and circumstances that at times were far beyond my control. Every attempt to push through felt exhausting and ultimately futile. I was pouring energy into resisting reality, and the harder I pushed, the heavier the weight felt on my shoulders. One day, amid this struggle, I realized that my fight against what I couldn’t change was actually holding me back. True progress didn’t c...

Summary: Grief isn’t always about death. It can be the loss of identity, connection, or parts of ourselves we had to forsake to survive. Many men experience these silent losses, yet they go: unacknowledged unspoken unresolved.  In this post, we explore how unacknowledged grief impacts men’s mental health and recovery, and why naming it can be a profound act of healing. The Grief Beneath the Surface I’ve had conversations with men who never used the word “ grief ,” but I heard it in their tone, the deep ache behind their words, the subtle withdrawal. They didn’t speak of a deceased loved one, but of parts of themselves lost along the way: relationships that never flourished, opportunities they didn’t take, the version of themselves they might have been. I’ve witnessed the quiet ache of emotional numbness in men I care about, the kind that shows up not in breakdowns, but in the steady insistence that 'I’m fine' or 'Everything’s okay.' It’s in the distant eyes, the...

Mental Health in the Workplace June/July 2025 Edition Navigating Burnout Through Mental Health Recovery: Practical Strategies for Sustained Well-Being at Work Summary Burnout is a common and deeply challenging experience for many, especially those navigating mental health recovery. It can feel like a barrier to progress and stability in both personal and professional life.  This post examines how acknowledging burnout as a component of the recovery journey and implementing recovery-focused strategies can help safeguard mental health, rebuild resilience, and foster meaningful work engagement. When Burnout Felt Like a Setback in Recovery During my mental health recovery, I encountered burnout that felt overwhelming; it wasn’t just stress, but a deep exhaustion that threatened my hard-earned progress. What helped was reframing burnout not as a failure, but as a signal to pause, reset, and lean into the recovery tools I had been cultivating.  Small adjustments such as: pacing my w...

  Summary Recovery often means changing your patterns, but sometimes, it also means:  outgrowing people, roles, and spaces you once needed.  This post explores the quiet loneliness that can follow healing; when the chaos fades, but connection doesn’t immediately fill the space. It’s a compassionate look at how rebuilding life after mental health struggles can feel isolating and why finding belonging is a vital and worthy part of the journey. The Truth No One Tells You I never expected healing to feel so lonely. After years of living in survival mode, I assumed recovery would bring relief, reconnection, and peace. But what no one told me is that healing often creates a space, one where old relationships no longer fit, familiar habits fall away, and you're left sitting in the quiet.  Whether it was surviving toxic and abusive relationships or rebuilding after divorce, there were parts of my journey that I had to travel alone.  That quiet can feel like abandonmen...