OUR WORLD IS IN THE MIDST OF A MENTAL HEALTH AND SUICIDE CRISIS:
GROWING THROUGH MAKES A DIFFERENCE THROUGH
THE POWER OF COMPASSIONATE COMMUNITIES:
JOIN THE MOVEMENT FOR NEW SOLUTIONS BY HELPING US
GET THE GROWING THROUGH TRAINING TO COMMUNITIES EVERYWHERE!
JOIN US TO BRING THE GROWING THROUGH SOLUTION FORWARD TODAY!
Everyday millions of good people experience struggle, distress and despair, and thoughts of suicide, many in areas where little to no professional services are available.
- Suicide death, addiction and mental illness symptoms are rising in nearly every large country, with alarming increases of suicide among youth and even children.
- Over fifty percent of people who die from suicide do not connect with mental health professionals at all.
- Isolation, legitimate fears of discrimination and stigma, and loss of meaningful roles, contribute to personal crisis and suicide intensity
- Most people who experience distress and suicide survive it BUT
- Isolation, prejudice, and concern about demeaning treatment make things worse
Simply put there are not enough mental health providers to meet the needs we have to help everyone who is struggling - or to radically shift the tide of suicide death. Yet there are millions of people who would be there for others at times of crisis and share their experience and hope -- if they had the tools and confidence to do so.
HUMANNOVATIONS is dedicated to activating hope and creating
disruptive solutions to these most challenging problems. We need your support
to get more people on the bus by bringing GROWING THROUGH to places that need
it, and people who want to help.
THERE IS HOPE!!
Dunedin, New Zealand (July 2019) A class of forty (40) develops deep skills for crisis support in a 1- day GROWING THROUGH Seminar (Offering Presence)
GROWING THROUGH trainings are already making a difference in communities in California, New Hampshire, Georgia, Oregon and New Zealand.
Our StartSomeGood "Sprout-Funding"Campaign will help us bring this work into more communities where GT-trained Growth Allies can be powerful supporters for those experiencing distress or suicide intensity.
WE NEED NEW SOLUTIONS
Eduardo Vega
Eduardo Vega, M.Psy.; CEO/Founder of Humannovations: Creator of Growing Through
Keynote presenter at Suicide Prevention Australia National Conference -July, 2019
"To save lives we must stop preventing suicide."
Hi Friends:
If you are like most people, psychological distress, crisis and suicide have visited your life in several ways. For me it has always been close by. Even outside my thirty years in the field of mental health, I’ve seen dozens of close friends and family struggle. I experienced mental health crisis and suicide myself, including surviving attempts in my college years. I’ve lost four close friends and a cousin to suicide death, and sat with dozens of folks struggling with awful pain and despair.
You probably have heard that mental health problems, addictions, distress and suicide are on the rise internationally today, despite many good efforts and services. In most areas and nearly every population, death by suicide has grown significantly as a proportion of preventable death. Worse, our children are suffering more of this impact than ever. As a father of a middle school boy this really hits home with me-- recent findings show that suicide attempts and death among young children (ages 10 to 14) have nearly tripled in the last ten years in the US. And suicide death among ethnic and sexual minority youth is the highest ever reported.
That's why, after dozens of years in mental health services and advocacy, I created Growing Through-- to provide communities with tools that truly help when someone is in crisis and despair, and to help the connect with other compassionate people "who have been there" .
The fundamentals of helping someone "Grow Through" a personal crisis do not require an advanced degree or years of clinical training. What we’ve learned in years of research is that the thing that makes a difference in benefiting from another’s help is the quality of the relationship, and the experience of truly feeling heard. Peer support from those who can relate to what you're growing through is also so powerful, and an evidence-based practice in so many areas.
This is great news. Because it means there are potentially millions of mindful supporters out there for us. The skills to meet and be with someone experiencing distress and thoughts of suicide are within the reach of anyone who can feel compassion. They are very teachable. People only need a way to learn them and the chance to build confidence having conversations about these difficult issues. And that is exactly what we're doing with GROWING THROUGH.
WE NEED YOUR HELP to get these skills and these practical applications of hope out into communities everywhere. Check out the below and join us by Donating TODAY.
What is Growing Through?
GROWING THROUGH EMPOWERS PEOPLE TO HELP OTHERS WITH SKILLS AND CONFIDENCE THAT MAKE THE DIFFERENCE IN THE TOUGHEST OF TIMES.
Growing Through is a strengths-based, growth-focused approach to supporting others as an ally in times of crisis and intensity with the goal of fostering meaning-making and recovery.
Utilizing non-clinical language, best practices for suicide prevention, and the experience of those ‘who have been there,’ Growing Through provides innovative training for assisting others as a ‘Growth Ally,’ including effectively sharing one’s own experience. Growing Through skills courses are available for professionals, para-professionals, peer specialists, crisis counselors, college students and faculty, and the general public.
Why Growing Through?
Growing Through is based on the recognition that every individual’s life journey is unique and valuable. Significant parts of this journey can be entwined with pain and/or distress, including despair and thoughts of death. Sometimes, but not always, people refer to these moments as “crisis”. Often it is precisely such moments that lead to positive personal transformation.
The Growing Through training framework gives participants the skills and confidence they need to be effective “Allies” for others in times of intensity. Developed from decades of professional experience in crisis services and suicide prevention, every aspect of Growing Through is grounded in the recovery model, trauma-informed care, social justice, and the ‘lived expertise’ of people who have been through distress and transformation themselves.
OUR TEAM is waiting to make this change a reality for so many more out there-- and to get GROWING THROUGH To your community too.
August 2019 Concord, NH: "Growth Allies" completed 5-day GT-PRO training in New Hampshire
GROWING THROUGH PRO trained "GROWTH ALLIES" now number over 140 people in both the Northeast and West Coast of the US. Five-day intensives are planned for New Zealand and Oregon in early 2020.WE NEED YOUR HELP TO MAKE THESE POWERFUL TRAININGS HAPPEN!
SO WHAT DO WE NEED YOU TO DO?
- PLEDGE NOW AND PICK A REWARD LEVEL
- BECOME A SOCIAL CHAMPION: POST, LIKE AND LET NETWORK KNOW ABOUT THIS CAMPAIGN
- GET THE WORD OUT TO ANYONE WHO CARES ABOUT THESE ISSUES. WE HAVE A GREAT SOLUTION THEY CAN GET INVOLVED WITH
NOTE OUR EXCITING FUN REWARDS
CONTRIBUTE TODAY for:
- PERSONALIZED GLAMERICK written for you by the amazing poetasters at Humannovations.
- pour an UNLIMITED SUPPLY OF COFFEE into an attractive Growing Through mug (sample only)
- Be even cooler with this Tee that will grab their attention and inspire important conversation too! (sample only)
Finally and probably most valuable of all your donation at levels of $150 or higher entitles you to attend Growing Through Seminars free OR sponsor people who want to attend but can’t without funding. This is an amazing TRIPLE GIFT really because it –1) helps us bring Growing Through to communities that can use it, –2) helps people (like you?) to gain skills and confidence so they can– 3) support someone else in their family or community who is struggling in hard times.
Whatever you do, however you contribute,
your support helps activate the power of compassionate communities--
to reduce suffering and suicide and build a kinder world for the future.
FROM ALL OF US AT HUMANNOVATIONS -- THANK YOU!!