"In
my own words..." is a platform for our community
members to share essays, poetry, art, reviews, commentary, etc. “In My Own
Words” is not the opinion of Gay Central Valley, but rather the person who
submits the article. If you would like to submit something, please email GCV at
info@gaycentralvalley.org
Written by Michelle Nastasis
"Shocking".
"Heart Breaking". "You're Kidding, right?" "No way
that happens". "Devastating".
These were just several of the comments made to Michelle Nastasis as she
completed a Cultural Competency Training on Friday Dec. 6 at Turning Point
Integrated Mental Health on North First Street for the entire staff of 27
people. This included case managers, support staff, nurses, and
counselors.
Along with the program above each participant was given instructions on
the following items: 1.) the meaning of and the history of the the rainbow
bracelets and rainbowdelegation.org; 2.) a booklet about the
TREVOR Project and its meaning; 3.) how to handle a client who is questioning
whether or not to come out to their family/friends and during this part of the
program, Michelle stressed safety before all else. Michelle stressed that if
coming out puts the client in a dangerous situation (i.e.- being kicked out of
the house, being a victim of physical violence, etc.), extreme caution MUST be
used in each situation; 4.) how to make use of the resources available to the
LGBTQ Community (i.e.- Gay Central Valley, Trans-E-Motion, etc.).
After the presentation, Michelle answered approximately 30 questions
about her own coming out, her own journey and how her journey can benefit
others within the LGBTQ Community at Turning Point Integrated Mental
Health.
Once the program was over, Michelle has been invited to repeat the
program for other Turning Point Mental Health Programs and staff in the next
several months.
Special thanks go out to Kayleia, Lisa and the rest of the Gay Central
Valley staff for their help with Michelle in putting this program
together.
No comments:
Post a Comment
We value your feedback! Thank you for taking the time!