🇨🇭Swiss Peer🇨🇭

Its been a while since my last English post. I had a stressful time, think you understand. Moving on My summery is therefore for 2 Modules and an Internship Day. Module 5 was Recovery. It was a really weak one. I had high expectations, as recovery is the core of my future job as a Peer. I was really disappointed as we weren’t getting great informations as in the previous Modules. So I can’t make a summery, as there is no information to summarize. The information on Wikipedia has way more substance then the stuff we received. 2 weeks after module recovery, we had one day, were we talked about our experiences in our first internship. The majority of us had a good place and learned a lot in the 40 hours we worked. We also talked about the supervision we had several weeks ago. Most criticism was the timeframe. 2.5 Hours isn’t enough to talk about troubling cases, when 5 Peers and a supervisor are in one room. Otherwise the supervision and also intervision is a great way to talk to others ...

So far the most emotionally challenging module is over. This time the content was produced by my classmates and me. Everyone was preparing a lecture of 20 minutes. Goal was to present within this time to the others the life and its up and downs with focus on the recovery. Two week rest since the module ended, but I am still feeling as I was hit by a bus. I’m in major depression episode, not just because of the module. I had too many appointment and not enough regeneration for quite some time. Anyway let me try to write this summery. I can’t go into detail of the other stories as it is very private and intim stuff. Something that came out clear, that many of us suffered a lot in our lives. Sadly we share many horrific experiences. But what made us come together is the fact, that we made it trough the difficulties and started the walk on our own recovery way. What came out clear is, that our recovery ways are individual. There is sadly no recipe that helped all. It would be great if that...

Only 5 days after our Empowerment/Stigma Module we all met again in the nice former monastery of St. Urban. This time the topics where internship, supervision and portfolio. All on one day so the information's where super compressed to fit in. We had again guests from the clinic. They where giving us valuable tips for writing a CV specially for this internship. We made role playing of what to say and to do and don’t in an interview situation. For me this time was quite relaxing as I already had my Interview and was successful in getting exactly the internship I desired. It wasn't a waste time for me just to clarify. The examples of our guest what he expects in an interview from a candidate where interesting, specially when he compared it to his expectations in an interview with a nurse. A classmate told us the story from the interview she had. The interviewer had a Sand-clock on his desk and used it to time the interview. A terrible example of an interviewer! Then we wh...

The main focus on these 3 days where two topics. Empowerment and Stigma with mental illnesses. Empowerment A term and a concept I am still having problems to understand and to put in place in a clinic. Don’t know why, I read the explanation of it but it somehow doesn't have synched in yet. Nonetheless I will try to explain, maybe then I will also start to understand the concept ;-) The concept of empowering the patient is trying to give autonomy and self termination back to the ill person. The clinic is trying to give responsibility back to the patient with the goal, that the patient is empowered and is able to cope after the time in the clinic. Another goal is also, that patients are enabled to break through the circle of being readmitted over and over again. The Peer is trying to help in this context to search with the patient for resources that a currently covered up due to the crisis. An example of empowerment in my time in the clinic was my involvement with medication. I was f...

Experiences & Participation Video TV2 Danmark Destroying the hamster wheel and take over the steering wheel Experiences Harrie van Haaster, EX-IN – Curriculum 2007 (Quote freely translated from german by me) People who have mental problems, Develop wisdom, knowledge through their experiences And insight, to survive… Participation Konfuzius A Chinese proverb states: Tell me, I’ll forget Show me, I’ll remember Involve me, I’ll understand We worked in small groups, to explain all others what the diagnosis we received means to us. The diagnoses within the class are: addiction, borderline, psychosis, bi polar disorder and of course my own the chronic depression. It was quite moving but also interesting to be informed how the diagnosis are being described from persons formally suffered from it. I had a very nice experience on a break. One of my classmates came to me and told me, that she thought of me. I was falling into old thinking behaviors and thought, that now something bad would h...

One month after the last meeting, we all met again in the beautiful former monastery. We began with a game to control, if we still remembering the names of each other. I had problems with 3 out of the group, but at the end of this module I knew them. The main content war the question what health is, and or means. At first glance the questions seams simple to answer, but as we dived into the presentation and the history of the meaning of the word „health“ it became clear, that the meaning isn't fixed and has changed a lot within the last century. Talcott Parsons (1951) (Quote freely translated from german by me)
 Health is a state of optimal capacity by an individual… The human wasn't important, just that he fulfills the expectations and to have stamina Groddeck, german physician , 1910 (Quote freely translated from german by me) Who is healthy, who is Ill? Only fools are able to distinguish. Moving on Within a segment regarding using abilities, that on an ordinary point of v...

Our first get together meeting with all 20 classmates and the 2 Instructors. Only 23 hours before the course started I was informed, that someone was canceled his seat in the education. My instructor asked me if I where flexible and willing to fill the seat. I accepted without hesitation. I was fighting nearly 6 month to be a part of the top 20. Currently there are only 2 places, where the education is available. One in the capital City Bern and the one I am visiting in St. Urban. St. Urban is formerly barock monastery far away from „civilization“ and is used today as a mental health clinic. The course is lasting 16 month. When the course is held on place, then the other is resting. So in 2 Years there are max 20 finished educated Peers. Very few for the whole of Switzerland. And now I think you can imagine how difficult it is to become a member of the top 20. It is a real privilege to be one of them. On this first day we where concentrating mainly on games to learn each other names. A...