Mental health support group bridges gaps
Bridging Recovery is a good name for a mental health support group because it fills in the gaps that other groups leave open.
That's the belief of the group's co-founders, TJ Hilliard and Amber Self.
Since April, Bridging Recovery has been meeting from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. every Thursday in the basement bingo room of the Cubs Asa Hall at 113 S. McKean St.
The two women, both peer specialists at the Center for Community Resources, 212-214 S. Main St., started the group last fall when they felt other groups did not provide support and a sense of sharing to those struggling with their mental health recoveries.
Self said, “It's completely different from AA. This is peer-driven and informal. Our motto is, 'It's a safe place where it's OK to not be OK.'”
Self and Hilliard both wish a group such as Bridging Recovery had existed when they were suffering with their own mental health issues.
Hilliard said she was a certified nurse's aide for 20 years before an accident got her addicted to painkillers.
Hilliard said she has been clean and sober from her drug addiction for five years.
Self had to deal with both mental health issues and domestic violence and said she had been homeless six times before she was 23 years old.
Still, said Hilliard, “It was our life experiences that brought us to where we are now and have given us the tools to help others.”
“We feel passionate about filling a need that has been out there forever,” said Hilliard.
They said groups such as Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous are very structured, and participants don't have a chance to be able to talk about their struggles. The meetings are not personal enough.
“We come together and support each other. I had no family, no friends for support when I was fleeing domestic violence and dealing with mental health issues,” Self said.
Just talking can be therapeutic, they said.
“When someone validates your feelings, you don't feel so alone.”
The group is small, with an upper limit of 10 members.
If the group grows beyond that, it will be split into smaller groups. The basement room is large enough to accommodate that.
The group's work is important, they said, because dealing with mental health issues is the way to successfully deal with addiction.
The group's meeting opens with a check-in period, and then participants ask if anyone is in need of support. Following a discussion, there will be time allotted for final thoughts.
The group's few rules include being respectful and mindful, and following “Vegas rules”: What is said at the meeting stays at the meeting — full anonymity.
While she and Self offer advice, Hilliard said she learns from group members, too.
“Some of the coping skills, I've learned here,” she said. “We're here to support and empower each other and help them advocate for themselves.
“We're not here to tell you what to do. We open the floor and everybody collaborates,” she said.
