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Community & Behavioral Health | Recovery | Social Change

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Changing the Conversation

Gloria Dickerson

Gloria Dickerson
Gloria Dickerson is a Recovery Specialist at the Center for Social Innovation. Her expertise in recovery derives from academic training and lived experience of recovery from trauma, mental illness, and homelessness. Gloria received a B.S. from Tufts University and has completed master’s level studies in Instructional Design and Psychiatric Rehabilitation.
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Recent Posts

Making the Case for Peer Providers

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Once a person is assigned a stigmatizing label, they are often seen as “less than” and in need of fixing for the remainder of their lives. Members of the larger society often see individual recovery as only partially effective or non-existent. These erroneous conclusions do not go away--no matter how successful or how accomplished the individual may be. These views can be mitigated by the inclusion of peer providers in various key roles.

Peer providers help employers, colleagues, other peers, and services users by example. They use their recovery experiences to make systems of care more focused on the needs of individuals. Peer providers increase the effectiveness of efforts to eliminate stigma in medical and behavioral health care settings.

Calling for a Public Health Approach to Trauma Awareness

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Why a Public Health Approach? There are many reasons to learn about the impact of trauma and untreated trauma on individuals, families, and communities. Trauma and untreated trauma are common in all socioeconomic groups and are often misunderstood. For example, people experiencing opioid addiction, other substance use conditions, mental illness, and homelessness may shy away from treatment because of stigma in communities and treatment settings.

The symptoms of trauma and its under-treatment are evident more and more everyday. Early childhood and adult trauma are implicated in the onset of addictions and the comorbidity of post-traumatic stress disorders and mood-related psychopathology.

Supporting Parents in Recovery

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The number of parents in recovery from mental illness, trauma, homelessness, and substance use is unclear because there is no standardized national data collection. This lack of data leads to a huge gap in service delivery to a sector of the population who is raising children.

This can be remedied by screening and assessing parents across our health care system to identify needs for specific education and support services--particularly in areas of mental illness, trauma, homelessness, and substance use. This would give families a good chance to receive critical support services to keep them intact and healthy. Children could escape the isolation and helplessness that comes with living with a parent who is ill, but without treatment. Interventions could occur before children are neglected or abused.

To Providers Who Do their Best: Thank You!

I often write about relationships between providers and people they serve. It is very easy to look at services and write about what is wrong and what needs fixing. However, I do think that there are more respectful and caring providers and agency personnel than not.

As a young adult, I was homeless. I had been in and out of hospitals and was discouraged about my chances of being successful in therapy. My moods were all over the place, and I was having intrusive memories. I was trying very hard to find housing. I showed up for appointments. I was so scared and angry at the possibility of being turned down that my intolerance for disappointment was reflected in my attitude. I was anxious and certain that no one wanted to help.