The Western Mass Recovery Learning Community (RLC) creates conditions that support recovery at both the individual and community level through trauma-sensitive peer supports and the development of a regional network. We believe that human relationships are at the center of what heal people who have experienced extreme emotional states, trauma, mental health diagnoses and a variety of other challenges in life. Our lived experience and ‘humanness’ is what unites us. Our stories, collective wisdom and strength are what guide us and our community to wellness.
The Western Mass Recovery Learning Community (RLC) is PEOPLE (not places) and is wherever YOU and others from the community are. Together, we offer a variety of events, workshops and trainings as well as four resource centers in Springfield, Greenfield, Holyoke and Pittsfield. Above all else, we offer each other opportunities to find support, connection and valued roles as a part of a growing community.
The Recovery Learning Community (RLC) is a peer-run project providing supports to individuals with lived experience.One of the founding concepts behind the RLC is that human relationships with people are healing, particularly when those people have similar experiences.And so, above all else, the RLC strives to create forums through which human relationships, community and a regional network of supports can develop.On a day-to-day basis, that effort may take the form of a community meeting, a support group, a computer workshop and/or simply offering a safe space where people can communicate with others or simply be.The RLC also acts a clearing house for information about other resources in the community.
A Workshop for Clinicians, Peer Supporters & Community
Facilitated by David Cohen, PhD
This three-hour workshop will cover a number of topics related to supporting people who are choosing to withdraw from psychiatric medication. It will include discussion of relative lack of information available on the process of withdrawal, common experiences for people who are stopping their medications, and steps for supporting someone through this process.
Friday, June 21st
1 to 4pm
@ Holyoke Community College,
Kittredge Center
303 Homestead Ave,
Holyoke, MA
Thursday, June 20th
12 to 2pm*
@ Advocates, Inc.
1881 Worcester Road
Framingham, MA
* This is an abbreviated (2 hr)
version of the 6/21 workshop
co-sponsored with Advocates, Inc.
ASL Interpreters are scheduled
for the Framingham workshop.
These workshops are open to everybody, including clinicians, peer supporters, and the general community.
We are in the process of applying for Continuing Education Credits!
Registration is preferred (though not required).
To register (or make requests for accommodations)
contact us at (413) 539-5941 x 303 or e-mail
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
.
For more about David Cohen, click 'read more' below:
Asking People to Leave Their Residences During the Day:
A Human Rights Violation?
It can be deceptively easy to fall into patterns,
and do as we have done, without always taking
the time to wonder why.
However, in an era of mental health services where ‘person centered’ and ‘recovery-oriented’ approaches make up some of the most prominent initiatives, it’s vital to examine our day-to-day practices on a regular basis. Comparing practices against values can be challenging, as it often calls upon us to change habits, and sometimes fairly embedded organizational cultures, and invest dollars and time that might not particularly exist to be invested. One relevant issue that has arisen repeatedly over time is that of people being asked to leave their program residence during particular hours of the day.
The question: Is it okay to ask people who are paying rent to live in a program residence to routinely leave between set times every (or any) day of the week? Is it a human rights violation?
The short answer: No, it is not okay. Yes, it is a violation of
someone’s basic rights to live and be in their own home.
But the full conversation is more complicated than that. To fully understand the question, it’s important to make an effort to understand why this practice may have come into being.
When asked why residences are sometimes shut down during the day, the three most common answers seem to be:
Because there is concern that people will retreat to their bedrooms and/or just sit around the house all day
Because, although the residence is someone’s home, it is also a program, and each person signs a contract agreeing to participate in their treatment while there
Because the provider does not have money to staff the residence all day long
please click "read more" to read the rest of this article,
A new peer-run support group is starting at the RLC's Holyoke Center, aimed at creating a safe, non-judgmental space to find support and talk with others about extreme states, gender and sexuality. People who identify with the LGBTQQA spectrum, and those whose gender and sexual identity is otherwise defined, are all welcome. For those who live with extreme states or have ever been given a psychiatric label and are looking for support in not being “normal”, or wanting to be, you can find a place here!
Why the Sylvia Rivera Peer Support Group?: While the LGBTQQA… acronym includes many words that people may identify with, and also “flags” a safe space for folks whose gender and sexual identities differ from the “norm”, it can never be inclusive—without running on indefinitely. This group takes on Sylvia Rivera’s name to avoid this game of naming and to honor a transgender woman whose life was dedicated to the rights and dignity of people left out in the cold—so to speak—racially, economically and through gender identity.
Thursdays, 4:30pm to 6:00pm @ the RLC’s Holyoke Center, 187 High Street, Suite 303
click 'read more' to learn more about Sylvia Rivera
Join Icarus Project co-founders Jacks McNamara and Sascha Altman DuBrul
for an interactive workshop based on the classic Icarus Project book,
Navigating the Space Between Brilliance and Madness
which is being re-released in its revised 10th printing!
We'll talk about what it means to be "crazy" in a crazy world, and find language for our own experiences of mental health and emotional/spiritual ditress. Through facilitated discussion, writing, partnered exercises, sharing stories, and working on our own wellness maps, we'll develop our visions of self-care and community healing.
These workshops are free and open to the public. To request any accommodations or for more info,
please contact us at (413) 539-5941 x203, or
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
.
Bent, Not Broken: Gender Roles,Sexual Identity & Emotional Healing
facilitated by Jacks McNamara
Tuesday, May 7th, 7-9pm
Holyoke Community College,
Kittredge Center,
303 Homestead Ave
This workshop will offer a community discussion of the interactions between queer and trans lives, gender roles, emotional distress and healing. Together, workshop participants will work collaboratively to build a space for creative investigations of queer/trans experiences, the impact of gender roles on all people as defined by our cultures and ourselves, and internalized oppression. Ultimately, the workshop will seek to support people to break through isolation, find their stories reflected, share strategies towards healing, and build community resilience in the face of a shaming, crazy-making world.
Free and open to the public. No registration required, but space is limited! Contact us at 413.539.5941 or
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
for more information or to request special accommodations
People who are hospitalized in any DMH-operated or contracted adult inpatient unit are now entitled to keep their electronic devices with them. Electronic devices can include:
Cell phones (including smart phones)
iPods and MP3 players
iPads or other tablet devices
Laptops or personal computers
Any other device (whether or not it is Wi-Fi compatible)
This is true even if these devices contain built-in cameras, audio or video recording devices; and it also applies to visitors.
Former Commissioner Leadholm issued this policy (the Electronic Device Use policy #12-01) on January 4th 2012 and it became effective on January 30th of the same year. Massachusetts is currently the only state in the country that has a policy of this type in place.
The overall purpose of the change, as stated in the policy document, is as follows:
“Electronic Devices are often people’s primary link to the community and may be the main way that people stay in touch with friends, family, and employers, keep calendars, pay bills and collect and access other important information. For an individual hospitalized, maintaining connection to natural supports in the community facilitates their own recovery and successful re-integration into the community.”
The Western Mass Recovery Learning Community (RLC) is PEOPLE (not places) and is wherever YOU and others from the community are. Together, we offer a variety of events, workshops and trainings as well as four resource centers in Springfield, Greenfield, Holyoke and Pittsfield. Above all else, we offer each other opportunities to find support, connection and valued roles as a part of a growing community. 
