Two Groups in One Day – Done!

This morning, I was picked up and went to do my first out-of-town group.  There were only three of us there.  I was a little disappointed at the turnout.  The second Centre I went to was better.  It was a smaller centre, but there were a few more people in the group.  Then really seemed interested in what I had to say.  They want me to come back next month, so we’ve booked a date to come back.  I think it went pretty well.  I can’t wait to go back there.  There were a few of us with BPD.  It’s good to have a few people with it in the group because not everyone will have the same traits, and I can only speak from my own experience.

They’ve been calling for rain for days now, and it finally rained a bit today.  I hope it breaks up the humidity!

My foot’s feeling a little better today.  I hope everyone is doing well today.  Till next time,

— Joyce.

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Running Two Groups In One Day Tomorrow!

Tomorrow morning, I will be picked up to do an out-of-town BPD Group.  Then, after lunch, I will be running another out-of-town group!  I’ve never done two groups in one day before.  I’m so nervous but excited!  I’ve put a Calendar of Events in my newsletter I’ve started, with the dates of where and when I’m going to be doing my groups.  I hope it will encourage more people to join!

This month marks the first anniversary of my brother’s passing away.  I’m not sure how my parents and sister are going to handle it.  They seem to be doing fine with it at the moment.  I still can’t believe he’s gone.  It almost feels like he could still walk in the door of my parents’ house any time.

This past weekend, I went for a bike ride with my son.  Unfortunately, I turned a corner too sharply and fell off my bike, hurting my left foot.  It’s okay as long as I only step on my heel and the inside of it.  I’ve been trying to walk mostly on my right foot and avoid stepping on the outside of my left foot.  It’s exhausting walking to the Peer Support Centre every day, but I can’t stand just being home.  So I hobble down the street and back.  It gets a little better every day.  I can’t wait until it stops hurting though!

I hope you are all having a wonderful summer.  Try to stay cool!  Till next time,

— Joyce.

July Update

My daughter and her boyfriend were supposed to have a visit with their baby last Thursday at 2:30.  I haven’t heard anything since they don’t have a phone.  I hope they had their visit and that it went well.  My husband and I are very anxious to see him.  My husband hasn’t even seen him yet.  Neither has our son, or my mother-in-law.

In other news, a young lady that works at one of the out-of-town centres that I gave my email to has been approved to provide me with transportation to a couple of out-of-town centres to do my groups.  Yay!  I’m so nervous but excited!  I’m reaching more people.  Spreading the word about Borderline Personality Disorder and Dialectical Behaviour Therapy.  Fighting stigma!

I have just started a little newsletter telling everyone at the Centres all about my groups.  I hope that reading it will entice them to check them out.  It’s got a little about me, my groups, BPD and DBT.  It also tells a little bit about what we’re working on in Group and what topics are coming up.

I hope everyone is having a good summer.  Mine isn’t too bad at the moment.  I just miss my grandson!  Till next time,

— Joyce.

June Update

Wednesday was my dad’s birthday.  He’s 73 now.  I went out to dinner with my parents and sister for his birthday.  We had a great time.  Sunday I’m going to a Strawberry Social with them.  Yum!

I have my desktop computer back!  Yay!

I received a call from the CAS worker who arranges the visitation on Monday.  He said that my daughter and her boyfriend will probably get to see the baby next week, and after that, my husband and I can get to see him, hopefully.  I have my fingers crossed.

I’ve done a few Groups at an out-of-town Centre.  I gave someone there my email and we have been corresponding back and forth.  She may be able to take me to the other centre that has expressed an interest in me running a group there.  I have to make sure that it’s approved by the supervisor of all the Centres, and find a date that works for everyone.  I’m so excited if this works out!  I know that there’s at least one person there who will want to join my group.

Thanks for following me in my continuing journey of recovery.  Till next time,

— Joyce.

Out-of-Town Group Update

I have done a few of out-of-town BPD Groups for the last couple of months.  Only a couple of people showed up for the first two groups.  At the last one that I did, yesterday, there were about eight people!  I had just been informed that the Centre would no longer provide transportation for me to run this group.  Then yesterday I was told that either they may possibly provide me with transportation, or else someone from that centre could take over the group for me.

There is one more centre that has expressed interest in me doing a group there.  I’m going to find out about these two Centres and what I can do for them.  Wish me luck!

I’m always glad to spread the word about Borderline Personality Disorder and fight stigma.

Till next time,

Joyce.

April Update

I had my last out-of-town BPD Group yesterday.  Nobody showed up for it.  So I had a group with just the lady who runs the centre and my Peer Support worker.  I was very disappointed.  I had wanted to say goodbye to everyone in the group.

After Group, my worker took me to another one of their centres.  I’m gonna be doing a presentation on BPD there on the 28th of this month.  I hope it goes well!

I really need to get to the hospital and see my new grandson again ASAP!  My mother-in-law has been taking our daughter and her boyfriend every day.  They never ask me if I want to come.  Maybe she thinks I’m busy.  It would still be nice to be asked.  I’m gonna hint that I’d like to see the baby too and see what happens.  I hope she takes the hint.

I couldn’t sleep a wink last night.  I don’t know why.  I’ve had so much trouble sleeping for weeks now.  Either I can’t sleep until 3 am or else I wake up at 3 am and then I can’t go back to sleep.  The other day, I was awake from 3 am for 24 hours and then I got an hour or two of sleep, then was awake for the day again.  That sucked!

That’s it for now.  Till next time,

— Joyce.

Out-of-Town Group Cancelled – Permanently!

I just found out that my out-of-town BPD group has been permanently cancelled.  I guess it wasn’t the Team Lead who cancelled it but her supervisor, who oversees the different centres.  I thought that Group was going well and that people were getting something out of it – support, education.  I’m very discouraged and upset.  Especially since my group got cancelled without even telling me.  I really wanted to help people.

I met with my Community Peer Support worker today.  She’s the one who told me that the out-of-town group was cancelled.  She said that maybe we could try running the group at another out-of-town centre that had expressed some interest in starting a BPD group.  I hope it works out.  The Team Lead there had been talking about running a group there for quite some time now but maybe since we’re not running the other group anymore, we’ll be able to run one there.

All I want to do is offer people the help that I never got.  There were no support groups in this area at all so I started my own.  You’d think that people would want to join a group and receive validation and support.  I wish that there’d been something like that when I was diagnosed.  I always try to provide helpful materials to people at my groups.  I try to help people online but it’s always nice to have that face-to-face support as well.  It’s not just for them, it’s for me too.  It’s nice to feel that you’re not all alone in how you feel.  Especially since Borderline Personality Disorder is something that you don’t really hear about, except maybe inaccurate, stigmatizing information.

Thanks for listening.  I’ll let you know if things work out with the other out-of-town centre.  Till next time,

— Joyce.

New Group Member Today!

The lady who usually comes to my in-town BPD Group was not there today.  She’s not been feeling well.  But someone new came today.  I hope she continues to come.  I’ve been running this group for over a year now, and hardly anybody ever shows up.  Some people say they’d like to come then never show up, some people come once then never again.  The lady who usually comes doesn’t have BPD, but comes to learn about the disorder so that she can be a better friend to those with BPD.  It’s nice to have someone else with the disorder in the group so that we can have more than one person’s perspective (mine).

It’s not just up to others to change for us, it’s also up to us to learn new ways of coping with our behaviours.  That’s where Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT) comes in.  It’s the most effective treatment for BPD.  It’s not for everyone but works for most people with the disorder.  It’s not easy and it’s not a quick fix, but it’s so worth it if you can stick with it.  It changes your life for the better.  As Marsha Linehan, creator of DBT and a recovered sufferer herself says, you can create a “life worth living”

Tomorrow is World Mental Health Day.  I’m thinking of what I can post for that occasion.  The theme is “dignity in mental heath”  Tune in tomorrow and check out this space.

Till then,

— Joyce.

Small Out-of-Town Group Today

I had my out-of-town group today.  There weren’t as many people as there were the last couple times I went.  Last time, there were about 7 or 8 people besides me.  Today, it started out with just three people besides me.  Then another person joined us and there were four other people there.

There were a lot of interruptions.  Fridays are too busy for my group.  We’re switching it to Wednesday mornings once a month instead of Friday afternoons.  I think it will work much better.  I don’t think they’ll have as many interruptions.

I wanted to talk to the lady who runs the Centre but I never got a chance to.  At least I got to leave my email address on her desk in case she ever wants to get a hold of me that way.  I wish I could’ve gotten her email but we were leaving.

I’d like to do a video presentation at their centre.  I did one last year in town here, but nobody was that interested in it.  I think it will be more well received at the out-of-town centre.  I hope so anyways.  I’ll have to call the lady who runs the centre and ask her.  I’ll do that next week.  It’ll be so hard with my phone anxiety though!  I’ll have to psych myself up to do it.

I’ll let you know how it goes next week.  Till then,

– Joyce.

Third Centre Added To My BPD Groups?

Hi, everyone!  Sorry I haven’t posted for a while, but I’ve been pretty busy.  I get lazy sometimes and then I have to get caught up with all of my emails and messages.  I’m finally starting to get caught up!

I may be starting a BPD Group in a third Peer Support Centre.  It’s just a small town.  There probably won’t be a lot of people attending.  I don’t know if they’re coming to me or if I’m going to them.  They’d have to figure out transportation for me, which I’m sure is no problem if they can get me to the other Centre I’m already going to.

I’ll be the “Travellin’ BPD Lady”

Check in with you later,

– Joyce ❤

My Group Now Out-of-Town Once a Month!

I just found out today that I am approved to do my group out-of-town once a month.  I’m so excited!  There’s a lot more interest in my group out-of-town than in the town where I live.  I’m getting some materials together to hand out next week.  I can’t wait!

It feels like I’m doing something helpful and worthwhile, other than just running this blog and other links.  I need the face-to-face meetings with others who know what it’s like having BPD or being in recovery.  It feels good to educate loved ones too on BPD, so that they can have a better relationship.  It’s support for them and for me as well.  This is what I’ve been needing for years!

There needs to be something for after DBT.  That’s partly why I created this group.  For me to help myself reinforce the skills I learned several years ago.  I post articles to my blog with new things that come out in the news about BPD, then I can teach it to people in my group, thereby reinforcing it in my brain.

I hope all goes well next week, and I have a good turnout like last time.  Usually, I only have one person who attends regularly.  Last time, there were about seven people plus myself.  Wish me luck!

– Joyce.

Presentation in New Town on Friday!

I’m going to be doing a presentation/group on BPD in another town at one of the other Peer Support Centres on Friday.  I’m so excited but nervous!  I’ve never done one at another centre before.  I’m not sure what to expect.  They say it’s a little smaller centre than ours.  We have a separate room that we run some of our groups in, but they don’t have that there.  That’s okay.  It’ll be fine, I’m sure.

I’d love it if they enjoy the group and would like to join it regularly.  Right now, there’s only one person who shows up regularly.  I’ll be getting a ride with one of the staff, someone who just got hired a little while ago.  They just hired a bunch of new people for all the centres.  They’re going to be doing stuff out in the community.

Wish me luck Friday!  Thanks for reading,

– Joyce.

Going To The City

I may be going to the city next month to do a BPD presentation there.  There will be more people I can reach there than there are here.  I’m not sure how I’m getting there just yet.  I’ll have to get a ride with someone since I don’t drive.  I have a few options available to me.  I may get a ride with a worker from the Peer Support Centre.  Or a friend who also goes there.  We’ll see.  I’m so nervous but excited.  I hope they like my presentation.  Then I may go there once a month to do my BPD group there.  Maybe if they like it, they can get a ride here for my BPD group.  That would be a lot easier for me.

Wish me luck,

– Joyce

Great Group Today!

My BPD Group at the Peer Support Centre went great today!  I was very pleased with the turnout.  There’s usually only one person who comes regularly, but today several people showed up.  I felt very confident leading the group, like there were actually people who wanted to hear what I had to say and learn more about BPD.  For some of them, it was a review of stuff that they already knew but for others, it was brand new.  I think everyone enjoyed it.  A couple of them said that they’d come again.  That’s what I love to hear!

I can’t wait to see if they do show up for the next group.  I really hope so.  It felt so good today seeing some new faces.  I got some good reviews on how group went today.  That was good to hear!

I hope everyone is having a good day too.  Did anything good happen to you today?  Let us know in the Comments below.  We can always use some good news, can’t we?

Yours happily,

– Joyce.

Skyped BPD Group A Bust

Where I live, the local Peer Support Centre is linked with several other centres in the area.  We tried Skyping my BPD group with one of the other centres.  It did not go well.  It was too busy and noisy in our centre, and the link kept cutting out.  Finally, we did our group by phone.  That worked pretty well.  We might do that again next time in a couple of weeks.  Unless we can figure out how to Skype it better.

Maybe what we can do, as some members have suggested, is e-mail or fax some materials to go over by phone in the next group.  That sounds like a good idea.  I think we’ll try that.  I want to reach out to as many people as possible.  Wish me luck!  Thanks,

– Joyce.

Discouraged

No one came to my Group today.  I think they all forgot.  Plus everyone’s probably busy with it still being the holiday season and all.  I hope they don’t miss my next one in January!

The power went out at the Peer Support Centre for maybe half an hour.  At least it stayed on until lunch was finished being made.  We had chicken wraps.  Yum!

It’s so hard not to get discouraged.  I’m doing my best.  I’m not feeling to bad at the moment.  I had a quiet Christmas, which is good.  How was your Christmas?  I hope it was good, or at least not too bad.  At least it’s over for another year.  Now I just have to get through my birthday next month.  It should be better than last year!

I hope you enjoy the rest of your holidays,

– Joyce.

 

Running Two New Groups In One Week!

Friday is the first day running my new BPD Group.  I’ll have a couple of new people in the group.  Plus I’ll be running my first Facebook Group meeting on Sunday.  I’m so nervous!  Two people responded that they were coming and one “maybe.”  What if nobody shows up?  What if lots of people show up?  Will I sound stupid, like I have no idea what I’m talking about?

I hope it goes well.  It would be so good to meet others with BPD.  I’ve hardly met anyone else with it, except at my DBT program, but that was different because that’s what we were all there for.  This will be meeting “in real life”  i.e.  outside of DBT Group.  It’s so nice to meet others who understand you, who know what it’s feels like to have Borderline Personality Disorder.

I’ll let you know how it goes.

Wish me luck,

Joyce.

My BPD Presentation

Original ‘Smiley’ logo (actually most often called a “Happy face” in the 1970s). (Photo credit: Wikipedia)