RI NW AREA

#150 NEWS

March 2016 News and Features from Area Leaders

About Members and Recovery-ites

RECOVERY INTERNATIONAL:

READY to HELP

Editor: Rob Winike robwinike@live.com

THE LATEST RI AREA NEWS: RI’s All Absorbing Goal of Informing One Million People About Mental

Health Recovery Tops Area #150 Leaders’ Priority List

Area #150 leaders are using Internet Radio, Online Magazines, local newspaper

articles and ads, flyers and PARTNERING to Spread the Word about RI! Read

more member news below.

WE LOVE TRAINING! SPRING TRAINING IS A GOOD HABIT TO MAKE!

The Training Schedule:

TRAINING SESSIONS BEGIN AT 9:00 AM PACIFIC TIME/10:00 AM MOUNTAIN

TIME/11:00 AM CENTRAL TIME 12:00 NOON EASTERN TIME. Three trainers will

conduct four training sessions lasting 120 minutes, with a brief Q&A session

following each session for those who want to stay on the phone line and

participate. These sessions are dynamic, with interactions between trainers and

attendees. If you can only attend a portion of the training please attempt to do

so. All sessions will be recorded and available to you for review after the

training.

Please mark the following dates on your calendar and attempt to attend all

sessions. Spring Training Dates

Saturday, April 2 -- Modules 1 & 2 from the Recovery International One Day

Trainer’s Manual

Saturday, April 16 -- Modules 3, 4 & 5

Saturday, April 30 -- Modules 6, 7 & 8

Saturday, May 14 – RI Group Leader’s Guide plus Review, Q&A Workshop

Training Materials

The One Day Training Manual, which can be downloaded from:

http://www.recoveryinternational.org/wp-

content/uploads/2014/11/final_one_day_training_manual_6_5_20141.pdf

The Group Leader’s Guide, which can be downloaded from:

http://www.recoveryinternational.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/final_group_leaders_guide_8-12-

102.pdf

How to Respond: Please send an email to robwinike@live.com

NW Area #150 leaders and members continue to strengthen ourselves with more

trained leaders, as we get ready for the spring session of RI National Training in

April. We expect to send at least six assistant leaders and one new leader who is

re-locating from Sacramento to Salem, OR. Meanwhile, Mary B.’s Monday group

will rally with Rob W.’s Tuesday group to prepare for the Portland NAMI walk in

May. Rob will discuss this and other issues affecting mental health recovery in a

May 6th follow-up interview on Beyond50radio.com

This report from RI leader Loie S., in Salem, Oregon: “We had a good pre-

meeting of Salem group leaders yesterday to discuss some issues from our

meeting. Looks like we are all hopeful and united in working on some

solutions. We are also taking a look at becoming a Discovery meeting and will

keep you posted. I love how Peggy, Pam, Dawn and Regina work together! They

each bring unique strengths.

Some of our people, Regina and Pamela V and myself are becoming involved

with Marion Polk Peer Coalition's new Speaker's Bureau--we start training today

to become speakers and advocates for mental health thru telling our own

stories. This is something new for the coalition but I believe the speakers will

make themselves available as need arises in legislature, at conferences, and

various gatherings. This is something that RI could take advantage of as well, if

we should need a speaker. By the way, Pamela V is already a trained speaker

with experience and awards--we learn about each other all the time.

Because our area can financially, we are supporting our former OSH leader

Tyehimba Yafeu, who is now in Oregon State Penitentiary (OSP) and is carrying

the RI message to other prisoners. We continue to send him books for the

people he is mentoring, and printed RI material. One of the things he tells his

folks is: "Humor is your best friend, temper your worst enemy. No one was ever

put in prison for having a sense of humor." Loie concludes: “You gotta love the

RI spirit that goes with the laughter!”

This report from RI leader Charlotte M. in Montana: “Smiles and laughter have

been brightening up Missoula Library meetings. Over the winter attendance

NW Area #150 News for Oregon,

Idaho, Washington and Montana

Recovery International Meetings

ranged between 2 and 7. Last week we had 8 -- including baby Damien, who

quietly babbled his spottings and listened as his mom gave her example and

also helped with example leadership.

RI MONTANA meetings span traditions and generations!

Enhancing the feeling of group ownership, returning members are trying their

wings with leading examples and doing a fine job of it.

Kerry is doing a good average job with his Anaconda meeting, along with his

faithful attendee Colleen, who says the meetings are her most treasured

support.

In addition, two meetings at Montana State Hospital are being facilitated by Pat

Solan.

Charlotte, Monique, and Kerry also are members of local mental health agencies

that help with housing, legislative and other challenges in MT local communities.

LEADER EXAMPLE – A WORKING EXAMPLE SUBMITTED BY AREA #150 RI

MEMBER SCOTT DIXON

1) I am very fond of my cat, and protective of him. But, he is very excitable and

needs a lot of attention. We take him to Hawaii with us. Hawaii has stringent

requirements for pets, as they have absolutely no rabies on the island and work

hard to keep it that way.

I took him to my new veterinarian to have blood drawn for the rabies test, which

has to be sent to Kansas State University for analysis (yeah, it is a pretty

involved process). The cat needs to be tranquilized for the procedure. The

previous vet let me be there for the procedure.

I went to my appointment this morning. The nurse came and got the cat, without

a word, and I asked if I could please be with him. She just took the cat and

closed the door. I walked through the door and asked if I could be with him. I

was very pleasant, but the vet flatly said "no", in an unfriendly manner. I asked if

I could speak with him and he told me to wait in the hall. I simply picked up the

cat carrier and told him, calmly, that I was going elsewhere. He said, OK, in a

surely manner.

That's when I began to work myself up.

2) My symptoms were feelings of unreality and incredulity. Head

pressure. Tunnel vision. Constricted throat. Feeling heavy in my chest and

belly. Hunched shoulders. I had the impulse to holler at the staff, but did not. I

felt judgement toward the front office staff and the vet. I felt terror that they

would hurt my cat if I wasn't there.

3) I spot angry temper at the staff and vet for not taking the time to explain what

was happening. I felt fearful temper that I was being unreasonable. I was

previewing doom and gloom. I was anticipating in an insecure manner, and Dr.

Low tells us that if we can't anticipate in a secure manner we shouldn't anticipate

at all. Last but not least, I spotted that I had "removed myself from a

temperamental situation.”

I spot the symptomatic idiom, in that I felt danger from all directions.

I spot that the safety of my cat is a strong link between me and my temper and

symptoms. I spot that the cat, and the vet, are dynamic outer environment and

that I need to spot more strongly.

4) In this case, I took the cat and drove immediately to my old vet, the one that

pulled the blood the last time. They were able to take him in on the spot.

Before recovery I would have reacted in one of two ways: On the one hand, I

might have yelled at the vet and came home to call and complain to the

authorities. I would have put a scathing review on the internet. I would have

complained to the managing vet. I would have been in angry temper for days.

On the other hand, I might have let them do the procedure without me, and

chastised myself for not standing up for myself. And, I would have wondered for

weeks if they hurt him in some say.

I endorsed myself as I was walking calmly out of the door. I endorsed myself for

not being a doormat. I endorsed myself for not yelling at anyone. I endorsed

myself for acting in a cultured manner. I endorsed myself for deciding, planning,

and acting and taking him to the other vet.

=========================================

ROB’S SPOTS ON SCOTT’S WORKING EXAMPLE:

Thanks for sharing. This is a great example, even to give as a “Leader Example”

at our next leader meeting Sunday 4/3. It has a lot of discomfort, a couple of

trigger events, and lots of opportunities for growth.

The first thing I spot is the discomfort of your initial flair. A short series of startle

events ganged up on you very suddenly and unexpectedly. Your expectations of

being treated in a compassionate manner were quickly diminished to at least

being treated in a civil manner. And even those lowered expectations didn’t get

met.

But the biggest opportunity I see in this example is to endorse for self-care. Even

though you were in an emotional state because of the inherent danger to your

cat, you resisted the impulse to meet temper with temper. I think you intuited

that if you could somehow stay calm it would at least not add to the obvious

chaos that was going on with this vet’s practice. So endorse for having a very

basic, core response of choosing peace over power.

Your next big self-endorsement might come from using the tool “Have your

temper, but don’t make an issue of it. There was a wide choice of hostile

reactions you could have had, and might have had in the past. But you resisted

the impulse to keep working it up and creating new vicious cycles.

You were insightful about all the possible “gloom and doom” scenarios your

mind was playing out – to just witness them and let them pass is a healthy

lesson for our brains. When we know temper is our worst enemy, I think we learn

from RI practice that we’re constantly encouraged to “lighten up” and not take

our own dear selves too seriously. For a nervous person to “worry for weeks

whether” our cat was hurt – working ourselves up over matters that are so far

beyond our control is sabotage. Besides, deep down we know we’re not going

to be able to curb our temper all the time. So you did a pretty estimable job of

curbing yours!

Lastly I would spot for you that your propensity to assign danger is strong. That

idiom you mention might include Dr. Low’s standard “fear of the permanent

handicap.” Maybe you expect that after all these years of RI work you shouldn’t

get so panic-stricken over non-trivial events. But the message of danger comes

in unexpected ways and at times – as with matters affecting our loved ones –

and is fueled by imagination on fire. We leapfrog over more logical scenarios to

get to the worst possible ones.

Endorse for many efforts large and small. You may be stuck out there in Eastern

Washington, away from the company of close RI friends, but as long as you

reach out by phone or email, you’ve got lots of comrades urging and cheering

you on!

MONTHLY AREA MEETINGS BRING LEADERS TOGETHER FOR STRATEGY PLANNING AND

SHARING! CHECK IT OUT YOURSELF – You don’t have to be a leader, or

from Area 150 to listen in. You might hear a “Secure Thought” you can share with leaders in your area…

AREA LEADER MEETINGS ARE THE FIRST SUNDAY OF EVERY MONTH

Our leader meeting is a 60-minute phone conference that meets on the

first Sunday of every month. If you are a leader or assistant in our

area, please join us – the agenda is below.

NEXT LEADER MEETING for NW Area #150: Sunday, April 3, 2016 at 4:00 PM

Pacific Time, 5:00 Mountain Time, 7:00 PM Eastern Time

Phone Conference Line: 1-712-432-8773; access code: 112799#

1. INTRODUCTIONS: last month, the meeting was attended by leaders from

Montana, Idaho and Oregon. Leaders from Salem sent individual summaries of

activities. We encourage assistant leaders and leaders from outside our area to

dial in, as we share information that is useful to all RI friends and members.

2. READING: Wisdom of Dr. Low book pg. 32-33, “EXCEPTIONALITY”

3. READING: RI Group Leader Guide pp. A22-24, “RI Newcomer Orientation

During Weekly Meetings”

4. RI LEADER EXAMPLE: (Last month, a leader shared a leader example of a

non-trivial but highly distressful experience when presented with behavior at a

meeting that brings trigger symptoms. All leaders can self-endorse for being

group-minded and running their meetings governed with purpose and the

mission of RI as their all-absorbing goal. Especially when confronted with

startles that cause an initial flare of symptoms and lowered feelings.)

5. LEADER MEETING UPDATES:

Mary Brawley announced that her Monday meeting will be closed for Memorial

Day on Monday, May 30 and Monday, June 13 for Shavuot, a Jewish High

Holiday.

6. PUBLICITY EFFORTS: Rob W.

Our area is using internet radio for publicity in Portland. This is a “radio

website” and will expand the RI internet presence. More than 500 listeners

have logged in and reviewed the presentation. A follow-up interview is

scheduled for May 6, 2016. To listen click on:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q7kA8yc2u4Y

MEETUP.COM MEMBERSHIP ALLOWS OUR AREA’S LEADERS TO REACH

OUT IN THEIR OWN TOWN! Meetup.com is the most standardized way of

using the internet to inform people who know about the site to locate an RI

meeting in their cities and metro areas. Did you know that at least nine

other cities/metro areas are using Meetup to promote themselves? I did a

search on "Recovery International Abraham Low" and it turned up with

meetup groups in Chicago, Cincinnati, Grand Rapids, Central Iowa,

Durham/Chapel Hill, Kalamazoo, Sacramento, etc. WATCH FOR NEWS

ABOUT AREA #150 MEETUP GROUPS TAKING SHAPE! Thanks to Tom G.’s

work getting the funding in place and for the many area leaders who helped

with research on this project! For more information contact Rob or other

area leaders using meetup.com

Encourage members to attend a TELEPHONE INTRODUCTORY MEETING the 2nd

Sunday of each month at 4:00 PM Pacific Time, and of the 4TH WEDNESDAY of

the month at 9:00 AM Pacific Time.

Encourage members to investigate the Online Meetings, and RI Facebook page:

https://www.facebook.com/RecoveryInternational. We want to stress to members

what an advantage it is to have the new web resources, and if possible,

encourage them to sign up for an upcoming Power to Change Online.

https://www.recoveryinternational.org/meetings/online-meetings/

There are also chat meetings where you type at

https://www.recoveryinternational.org/resources/chat/

http://www.recoveryinternational.org/wp-

content/uploads/2014/04/OnlineMeetingSchedule_2-18-15.pdf

The forum also has useful information

https://www.recoveryinternational.org/resources/forum/

The leader information page is at https://www.recoveryinternational.org/leaders/

Encourage members to investigate new blogs about RI Northwest at

selfhelptools.org

7. TREASURER NEWS: Tom G.

8. NEXT LEADER MEETING for NW Area #150: Sunday, April 3, 2016 at 4:00 PM

Pacific Time, 5:00 Mountain Time, 7:00 PM Eastern Time

9. ENDORSEMENTS or what you liked in the meeting, as we end.

Telephone Meetings Serve RI Members from the

comfort and convenience of home or office

Everyone is welcome to attend Recovery International Telephone Meetings. Whether you are

brand new to the Recovery International Cognitive Behavioral Training Method, or a veteran

member who has attended community meetings and would enjoy additional meetings

throughout the week, we are here for you. Telephone meetings also serve those who are

unable to attend R.I. community-based meetings in person due to distance, illness or other

challenges. *Meetings are accessed at participant’s own expense; they are toll calls with the

exception of the Intro Meetings.

INTRODUCTION TO RI (INTRO MEETINGS): 60 Minutes

Meetings Are Held Twice Per Month. Recovery International (RI) telephone meetings are

designed to introduce individuals to the Recovery group meetings method and structure.

Meetings include a question and answer period. *Practicing RI participants are welcome to

attend to demonstrate the method to newcomers.

Intro to Recovery Meeting Schedule is as follows (all in Eastern Standard Time):

2nd Sun. of the month at 7:00 pm ~ 4th Wed. of the month at 12 Noon ~ Phone: 1-800-371-8200

Access Code 107109# OPEN TRADITIONAL PHONE MEETING: 90 Minutes

Once you have attended at least one Introduction to Recovery International meeting, we

encourage you to attend our Open Meetings. These meetings use the traditional RI group

meeting format and process. Meeting materials are recommended for newcomers. If you are

unable to access the materials, please call Headquarters at 1-866-221-0302

Open Meeting Schedules: www.recoveryinternational.org

NEWCOMER’S CORNER:

Because we’ve all been beginners…

Please check this summary of all the RI meetings in

NW AREA #150. No matter where you travel in the Northwest, you are in reach of an RI

leader! When in symptoms, attend a meeting or make the call!

WHEN MEETING ATTENDANCE FALLS OFF, WHAT CAN A LEADER

DO? HERE’S AN UPLIFTING STORY ABOUT RAINBOW MIKEY!

Do you have a story to tell about increasing your meeting

attendance? Tips and hints? Strategies to share?

Send them to robwinike@live.com so we can all benefit!

Scott Dixon,

longtime RI

member, is a

data specialist

currently

working on a

new RI survey,

and is an RI

National

Trainer

One of the great inspirations of my life comes from a Recovery International leader in the San Fernando Valley, north of Los Angeles. Rainbow Mikey was his name. He got the nickname from the rainbow colored Yakama he always wore. He had a meeting near what we called the onion church, a Unitarian church with a very unique and beautiful circular shape. At no fault of Mikey's, he went through patches of very low attendance. Meeting location and time were the most likely reasons. Nevertheless, Mikey always showed up and conducted a meeting. When no one else attended, he would still put out literature and cookies and read Dr. Low’s works for the entire time his meeting was scheduled. My RI mentor, Don R., and I loved to go to his meetings whenever we could, and often it was just the three of us. But, this didn’t stop Mikey from having a great meeting. He would even give his own examples, then during the spotting portion disengage himself by switching to the third person and give spots on his example. It was a very effective way of leading a meeting with only one or two other attendees. I can still remember many of the brilliant spots he used on his own examples given in the third person. It’s been nearly thirty years since I have been to one of Rainbow Mikey's meetings, yet he still inspires me to persevere and to have faith that we can be of service to others simply by showing up, remaining steadfast, and striving to be helpful and average.

Thank you Rainbow Mikey!

LEADER’S CORNER:

Because Dr. Low said, “It had to be

done and it WAS done!”

WHAT IS RECOVERY INTERNATIONAL? By Charlotte Moran and Rob Winike

Charlotte and Rob’s article BELOW, can be given to NEWCOMERS for a concise RI

OVERVIEW. It’s also useful as a script for media outreach. Cut and paste appropriate

paragraphs to use as text in letters, announcements, flyers, etc.

We’re excited in 2016 to spread the word about Recovery International. Recovery International is

known as “The Best Kept Secret because though not well known, for 79 years it has successfully

pioneered a peer–based self-help method to prevent relapses and chronic conditions in people

suffering from mental or emotional problems. Tens of thousands of people in need, including

those discharged from hospitals to those beset only by tenseness and anxiety use this method

to regain their mental health as they rejoin their community.

Currently RI is repositioning itself to help thousands more continue their mental health recovery.

This will have an impact wherever people are stigmatized, and marginalized because of their

emotional condition. RI meeting leaders are volunteers who have achieved peace and mental

wellness and are eager to pass on the method to people who suffer as they once did.

Anyone, anywhere, anytime may attend RI meetings. Weekly community meetings are held in

most states and several other countries. In addition people often attend RI’s telephone and on

line meetings. These meetings provide an inspiring experience of working the program with

people in other states and countries who are all regaining and maintaining their emotional health.

What is Recovery International?

Recovery International is the world’s premier self-help, mental health and emotional wellness

training program. It offers the cognitive behavioral training method developed by the late

neuropsychiatrist Abraham A. Low.MD. Meeting participants learn to identify and manage

negative thoughts, feelings, beliefs and behaviors that can lead to emotional distress and related

physical symptoms. RI offers a worldwide assembly of weekly in-person, web, and phone

meetings facilitated by authorized leaders who continue to work the program as average

members.

As mental health issues and stigma receive continued negative exposure in the press, people

are looking for economical, mental health solutions that work. The stigma of suffering from a

nervous disorder can be lessened by joining a group that does not use labels that stigmatize and

has a history of success. (Dr. Low referred to his patients as “average persons with sensitive

souls”). In RI emotional difficulties can be remedied or diminished to the point they no longer

interfere with a person living his chosen life in community. The following is a typical list of

symptoms that RI attendees report as diminished or gone away after attending meetings and

practicing the program in their everyday lives: depression, anxiety, tremors, fatigue, fears,

panics, head pressure or noises, loss of appetite, overeating, dizziness, sweats, palpitations,

difficulty in swallowing, light-headedness, obsessions, compulsions, difficulty making decisions,

preoccupation, feelings of inadequacy or persecution, fear of crowds or being alone, feelings of

unreality, bizarre sensations, and countless other symptoms.

Recovery International’s cognitive training is respected by professionals in medicine and

psychiatry. Many newcomers are referred to our meetings by doctors, therapists, and

naturopaths.

The total attendance last year of in-person meetings was more than 105,000 worldwide. A

University of Illinois Chicago study by Dr. Susan Pickett found that of the persons in the study

that had mental, health symptoms for 24 years, 80% had been diagnosed with a mental disorder

and that half of those persons had been hospitalized. The diagnoses were across the board:

depression, bi-polar, anxiety disorder, and schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder. All who

regularly attended meetings and practiced got better! Attendees reported Increased confidence

in their ability to achieve their own overall mental health recovery, improved willingness to ask

others for support, increased feelings of hope, coping ability and social connectedness,

improved self-esteem, fewer mental health stigma thoughts, and less use of mental social

services. Their mental health symptoms did not dominate or control their lives and confirmed

what longtime RI veterans know that RI helps maximize mental health recovery and minimize

symptoms. Those who participated actively in RI got better. The more they participated the more

they improved.

How does RI help people with nervous conditions?

RI provides easy-to-learn techniques and tools for changing the way we react to people and

situations we have no control over. There are tools and techniques for acquiring decision-making

skills, preventing obsessive or bothersome behavior, and even tools for dealing with difficult

people.

In addition to becoming self-directed, it encourages a kind of a unification zone with peers

where we see the method demonstrated right before our eyes. This fellowship reinforces practice

and reminds us of our all-absorbing principle. “Nothing is more important to us than our own

mental health.”

We have a tool that says, “Never sacrifice your own mental health for BLANK.” Any word that

you put in the blank will indicate your priorities. If you put in “my job,” or “my kids,” “spouse,

friends, church – even pets! You’re sabotaging your mental health for somebody or something

that is a lower priority.

Perhaps the most powerful concept a nervous person learns by coming to RI meetings is the

ability to “spot.” Recovery’s method depends on spotting. Spotting is identifying a disturbing

feeling, sensation, thought or impulse, previously unseen then applying the right RI tools.” That’s

critical to a person with a nervous or impressionable temperament. When things in the outer

environment irritate too much, we may have impulses to withdraw, isolate, or act out in a way that

is harmful. Until we can objectively spot the symptoms and temper that are upsetting our lives,

we live in a kind of fog, as if we have clouded lenses covering our eyes.

Dr. Low’s method of “spotting” of what’s really going on with our thoughts, feelings, sensations

and impulses helps us develop a more objective view of our life. It’s demonstrated by peers who

went through the same kind of learning curve. Another advantage of cultivating and nurturing an

objective mind is we can see ourselves and our problems as being “average,” and not

“exceptional.” There is relief for us if we just lower our standards and start to see how needlessly

we work ourselves up over the trivialities of life.

Another thing the RI method does is to help nervous people develop and sustain a sense of

humor. We laugh at our meetings – at every opportunity. Dr. Low says that “Humor is our best

friend and tempers our worst enemy.” He also says a sense of humor is the sovereign means for

curing nervous conditions. Now that’s a powerful claim. But he also points out that “…arrogance

is due to the sense of one's own importance and cannot be overcome unless the sense of humor

is cultivated.”

How can I work the program?

Attend meetings. Read the books. Practice the method in your own life.

What is the meeting format and why does it matter?

During the course of a 60-minute or 90-minute meeting there is a “Reading”. These readings

from texts by Dr. Low set forth RI principles and techniques clearly and concisely. Following the

reading members present “Examples” using a formal 4-part example format and showing the use

of RI tools. The format is standardized and used at all RI meetings worldwide. The 4 step process

graphically illustrates the self-help method. The group members comment on the examples

given offering a wealth of simple spotting suggestions on how to practice the RI method

effectively such as “Have the courage to make mistakes in the trivialities of everyday life.” Or

“Try fail, try fail, try fail, try succeed”. Through the use of example giving, people learn the RI

method, gain group support, and practice. The example includes a report of a single situation or

event that occurred (“an everyday, average or trivial event when you began to “work yourself

up.”) The example giver reports his/her symptoms, spotting of fearful and angry temper, the RI

tools used to help oneself and the self-endorsement for his/her effort. Endorsement is self-

praise, and is key to regaining lost self-esteem and self-acceptance. The longer you practice

giving examples, the more adept you become at spotting – identifying a disturbing, feeling,

sensation, thought or impulse – then applying the right RI tools. Questions, Comments and a

free will offering bring the formal part of the meeting to an end. Mutual Aid provides visiting

among the members and a chance to receive additional support. Snacks and restaurant

gatherings are sometimes enjoyed and provide opportunity for meeting attendees to be together

in community settings.

It takes self-leadership, effort, and discipline and to attend meetings and work the program. Dr.

Low has a tool for that! A powerful takeaway for a newcomer at his or her first meeting is learning

to self-endorse. Endorsement is the key to reclaiming lost self-esteem and self-confidence. “Self-

Endorsement leads to sure and determined effort in the future”. “Endorse efforts and refrain from

condemning failures”. "Endorse for the effort, not just the outcome.” That may be a radical idea

for people who are hesitant about giving themselves too much self-praise. At a training session

once I told everyone to stand up, reach behind one shoulder, and pat themselves on the back.

There was a lot of giggling, but also a lot of big smiles. That physical movement of reaching over

your shoulder to give yourself a kudo for working on your mental health is what Dr. Low explains

is the way to retrain the brain.

What distinguishes RI’s cognitive behavioral training from psychiatry’s

cognitive behavioral therapy?

Therapy allows a person to work with a trained professional. RI’s training follows similar CBT

techniques and is a helpful adjunct to professional therapy. For those who cannot afford

professional therapy, RI’s training can stand alone and gives the benefit of working with peers.

It is available for a free will offering, not mandatory. RI is a non-profit organization that relies on

sponsors, partners and income from member meetings. The training involves effort from

participants – that is the price for success. Three months is the recommended time. Some

newcomers will notice results and get relief from the very first meeting. Sustainable total

recovery comes after using the program for several months, even years. Many choose to stay for

a lifetime. This involves the will to practice, perseverance and patience. Newcomers can

accelerate their growth by taking part in telephone and web-based meetings.

Would a nervous person feel safe at a group meeting?

In addition to learning Self-help tools and practicing a simple set of living skills nervous patients

and nervous persons enjoy being with people with similar problems who have found a way to live

happier, healthier lives. Meetings are safe and anonymous. We don’t diagnose, comment or

advise on diagnoses, treatment plans, or medications. We don’t discuss medical problems,

traumatic events, politics, sex, religion or legal issues during our meetings. Meetings are cheerful

and safe and may be held in any public place including libraries and churches.

What is a sample of a Reading in the meetings?

Mental Health through Will Training; Chapter 17- Temperament and Temper

Dr. Low explains that temperament is the quality within us that receives impressions and

responds to them. People who are afflicted with nervous ailments are extremely sensitive and the

original responses of their native temperament are aroused by actions, statements and events

which other people, less impressionable, would overlook and ignore. A person who judges

things, people, fate to an excess – that person begins to judge himself harshly. He becomes

intolerant, disgusted with himself, suspecting himself. This is what Dr. Low calls fearful temper

when the person turns against himself.

Say somebody maintains silence in nervous patient’s presence. Instantly nervous

patient or person is likely to construe the reaction as a slur or indifference or neglect. Or,

they commit a minor blunder or sustain minor losses, failures or defeats. The average

person would take these mishaps in stride without impacting his temperament.

Nervous people are apt to respond with self-blame, embarrassment or a sense of

inefficiency. This, Dr. Low says, “is in itself no calamity and merely indicates that my

patients are unfortunately blessed with temperaments which pour forth endless streams

of original responses. The original responses as such are no wise different from those

experienced by men and women not the victims of nervous trouble.”

Everybody may at any time feel slurred or neglected and may on occasion indulge in

self-blame and a sense of embarrassment. With the average person such common inner

disturbances are readily forgotten or dismissed.

But with some nervous patients or people, there are no minor or common disturbances.

Every disturbance may have to them the aspect of an urgent emergency. Minor

apprehensions may then be fanned into excessive worries, fears, or major explosions,

panics, tantrums. The nervous system is allergic to such tenseness and increased

symptoms develop.

These dramatic or dramatized developments can be checked if a person is trained to

regard his fearful thoughts and worries, embarrassments, misgivings and forebodings as

what they really are: the innocent outpouring of a temperament which has been sensitized

by an endless career of suffering. Innocent outpourings. A result of a long career of

suffering.

A person may have acquired the habit of producing an unbroken succession of

harmless original responses. The nervous patient will have to learn to be tolerant of his

responses and to refrain from processing his/her temperament into temper, at all costs,

for the sake of his/her own inner peace. Peace is the food of life and essential for mental

fitness.

How long does it take to see results with this method?

Newcomers often feel relief at the first meeting. They receive a packet of materials that has the

information they need, free of charge. They learn to self-endorse and give themselves a pat on

the back just for taking the initiative to come to the meeting. When they learn to spot their own

symptoms and temper, they can immediately endorse for that effort. They can use a simple tool,

like “Drop the judgment.” They can learn to “Wear the mask,” control speech muscles and

endorse for treating their “Mental health like a business and not a game.” These are all tools

foundational to the RI method. Many newcomers will pick up on them in their first meeting. This

training relies on learning the wisdom of Dr. Low, and practicing it in everyday situations.

Participants learn to trust their own basic functions enjoying feelings of wellbeing and self-

confidence along the way.

How can I learn more about the RI method?

Download RI meeting materials www.recoveryinternational.org

Call Recovery International at 866-221-0302.

Purchase the book Mental Health Through Will Training by Abraham Low, MD. Book can be purchased from www.recoveryinternational.org.

Attend a telephone Introductory Meeting 2nd Sunday of each month. 5:00 PM

& 4th Wed of the month 10:00 A.M.

1-800-567-5900 Access Code 107109#

Attend a community meeting: See www.recoveryinternational.org for

meeting locations and contact information.

Northwest Area blog site for additional inspiration: www.selfhelptools.org

Endorse yourself for being pro-active about your mental fitness. Try

something new, something that’s just for YOU

Attend meetings. Read the books. Practice the method in your own

life.

www.recoveryinternational.org

HUMOR – OUR MOST

RELIABLE FRIEND!

“…arrogance is due to the sense of one's own importance and cannot be overcome unless the sense of humor is cultivated.”

--- Dr. Abraham Low, MHTWT, pg. 106