Spirit of Recovery  Three Part Series

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Spirit of Recovery, a three part video series, is an introduction to some of the topics that have been strikingly absent from the dialogue about mental health recovery.

The video explores the many facets of recovery from mental illness, including working with difficult emotions, moving from denial to hope, distinguishing a spiritual experience from psychosis, following a spiritual path, and sharing insights about faith.

Three mental health professionals, representing three different viewpoints, speak about recovery from serious mental illness. In an engaging conversation, Dr. Ed Knight, Sheila Le Gacy, and Dr. Nancy Kehoe share their personal and professional experiences about recovery and its many challenges. They speak from the heart about finding one's healthy spirit.

Edward Knight, Ph.D., is a certified psychiatric rehabilitation practitioner and former Vice President of Recovery, Rehabilitation and Mutual Support for Value Options, a large managed care company, with specialization in behavioral health. Dr. Knight is retired, adjunct professor in rehabilitation sciences at Boston University, who himself is a mental health consumer diagnosed with schizophrenia since 1969.

Dr. Nancy C. Kehoe, Director of Expanding Connections, is a licensed psychologist. She is an Assistant Clinical Professor of Psychology at Harvard Medical School and a member of the Religious of the Sacred Heart and has held various leadership positions in her religious congregation. She has trained interns and staff members in mental health settings to lead groups on spiritual beliefs and values, using a model she created and has successfully used for 30 years in a psychiatric day treatment program.

Sheila LeGacy is the director of the Family Support and Education Center for a large rehabilitation agency, Transitional Living Services, in Syracuse, NY. She teaches coping and survival skills to the parents, brothers and sisters, and adult children of those who have been diagnosed with serious psychiatric disorders. She has a daughter who is diagnosed with serious mental illness.

Part 1: Key Ideas looks at aspects of the heart, emotions, and cultural competency. (28 minutes)

 Part 2: Healing Practices focuses on the spirit and questions about faith. (32 minutes)

Part 3: Meditation for Recovery includes a series of concentration exercises specifically for those who experience psychiatric disturbances. (31 minutes)