Welcome Home Project helps veterans heal by sharing war burdens with the community
(Warning:Video clip contains explicit and graphic language.)
by Bill McMillan
Feeling frustration over the lack of connection we felt with millions of returning veterans, my wife, Kim Shelton, and I had the crazy idea of creating a program called The Welcome Home Project. We wanted to become more involved with veterans and to offer a way for the larger civilian community to actively participate in the return of our soldiers.
The MKP Mental Health Resource Team: History, Process and Mission
by David Rose
One of the ongoing narratives of The ManKind Project has been the tension between keeping the New Warrior Training Adventure (NWTA) a fierce and powerful experiential training while at the same time keeping a consciousness around safety — whether physical, spiritual, cultural, or psychological.
Can people with bipolar disorder recover?
by Peter Dorsen, MD
Why do those of us with bipolar disorder have to carry the stigma that we will always be sick? Can’t we ever “recover” enough from our disorder to return to the place we started before we were diagnosed with a chronic mental illness? Does the tail wag the dog? Are psychiatrists motivated by the pharmaceutical industry to push medications rather than provide holistic, collaborative care?
Dipping into the wells of mental health
by Joe Glassman
In trying to find and keep my own sanity, and in trying to assist hundreds of others solve problems in living, I’ve found value from dipping into five wells for emotional health. Balance means dipping into different wells for sustenance. My wells are not everyone’s wells. I can only speak to mine, yet I believe there is some universality to them.
Gender differences: Are men or women more likely to be mentally ill?
by Steve Norcross
Part of my training as an Episcopal priest was to go through a summer of Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE). I accomplished this as an intern at a state mental hospital in Texas. Years later, I advanced my education to become a supervisor in CPE, and did so at a large federal mental hospital in Washington, DC.
My training assigned me to several wards, some of which were coed, and others one-gender. In this article I noted some of the key differences between them.
Break into your heart; a poem
by Paul Goldman
If like a thief in the night, I were to break
into your heart — what would I find there?
Precious gems tucked away beneath velveteen
cloth, ethereal ancestral songs, and deeper still—
a longing to know your own Creator; the one
who through alchemy’s mystery transformed
the very essence of you into a gift golden.
If you broke into mine, what would you find
beneath the layers? You would find the most
valued treasure of all— yourself enfolded
I was a husky child
by Peter B. Perkins
A husky child, that was me. Ample. Hefty. Beefy.
In that by-gone time, children were a non-descript, average-size. On the other hand, I was conspicuous, distinct. My separation from the preponderance of my classmates — indelible, clear-as-a-bell, plain as white bread, obvious as a raisin in oatmeal — was stitched into the waistband of my dungarees. There lived the word that defined so much of my childhood: “Husky.”
Mastering what’s in front of me
by Wayne Luthi
“Master what is in front of you.”
— author unknown, believed to be a Buddhist saying
My focus has always tended to be “future” oriented, my mind on what’s coming up next. I’ve subscribed to the idea that somehow the future will always be better, no matter what’s in front of me. My “focus” is already on the next page, three blocks down the road.
Psychoanalysis: The forgotten grandparent of The ManKind Project
by Joe Jeral, MD
Psychoanalysis is the father of psychotherapy as we know it today. Every form of therapy, even an overtly non-therapeutic personal growth experience like MKP, owes its existence to Sigmund Freud and psychoanalysis. In the nine years since my first MKP weekend in 2001, I’ve noticed that few people know about the forgotten psychoanalytic “grandparents” of MKP.
Actually, the emotional, psychological and spiritual work in MKP borrows significantly from Freud and his intellectual descendants. I’d like to introduce some of these grandparents and some of the ideas that we have borrowed.
Stress relief: Seven things you can do today
by Mike Biles, M.A.
Let’s not kid ourselves – stress is fear. I have fear. You have fear. We all have fear at times, and it’s helpful to recognize stress for what it is. Stress or fear is a known cause for heart attacks, lowered immune response, psychological disorders, addiction, and it’s probably the most damaging element you can bring into your relationships. Here are seven things you can do right now that will help greatly to reduce your daily stress.
Schizophrenia: The power of self-empathy
by Blake Hayner
I have lived the illness of schizophrenia for 50 years. As a result, I’ve had to live with countless visual and auditory hallucinations, which have plagued my existence on this Earth. My body and mind has had to experience many physical and mental breakdowns caused by the effects of my illness.
Seventh World Elder Gathering
Held October 20-22 in conjunction with MKP’s 25-Year Anniversary Celebration in Louiville, Kentucky, the Seventh World Elder Gathering (WEG) for this first time this year features men and women participating throughout the event. A closer connection of the masculine and feminine began last year at the Sixth World Elder Gathering in the UK, which was the first international MKP gathering held outside the U.S.
Both the WEG and the MKP 25-Year Anniversary Celebration encourage couples to attend, and both allow for a discount if a man or woman brings a partner.
Lodge Keepers Society 2010 gathering
More than 100 men, including representatives from 34 MKP centers worldwide, attended the 2010 international gathering of the Lodge Keepers Society. Meeting June 3-6 in Wellington, Colorado, about 80 miles or 130 km north of Denver, the gathering featured meetings, workshops, social time, and sacred ceremonies.
First evening meal at LKS 2010
Changes; a poem
by Stefan J. Malecek
I neither hate
nor depreciate
the self I used to be,
for failures and faults
I could not then avoid,
that now burn brightly
like ingots of stellar mass
deep in my heart of hearts
like a beacon for others,
my brothers,
to follow on their own journey
into the heart of dark shadow
and emerge newborn,
reborn
from the ashes of the past
into the love, joy, and brightness
that awaits each of us
in the golden transformation of the self.
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The ManKind Project® is an international nonprofit education and training organization making the world safer by growing 'better' men. We support over 1000 men's groups in 10 countries around the world. Our flagship training is the New Warrior Training Adventure. Over 45,000 men have stepped out of their comfort zones to make a better life for themselves and their families.
Please support the work of the ManKind Project with a Tax Deductible Contribution.
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