Week in Review 6 & 7 – Some things take a little more time I started writing last week’s week in review and then things just kept on happening that needed a little more time and required a little more attention. That’s life; it happens. So this week’s week in review is a double feature. Jeffry Stijn Foundation Purpose Foundation One of the things that took a little time was to formulate the purpose of the Foundation. After a brainstorm session with the Foundation’s council of sages, it was formulated as follows: The purpose of the Jeffry Sijn Foundation for…
Author: Julie
Julie is a renaissance woman. Mental health patient advocate. Certified compliance professional. Avid reader. Amateur writer. Passionate dancer. Animal friend. Life-long student. Free speech proponent. Human rights champion. Devil’s advocate debater. Dutch by birth and nationality, international by blood, previous residency, education, mind and heart. Fluent in English and Dutch - with a smattering of Papiamento and Spanish. Spoke Mandarin and French at one point.
It’s Chronic and Complex
The Week in Review Week 5 This past week has been all about things being chronic and complex. Both when it comes to the Jeffry Stijn Foundation for Mental Health and Patient Advocacy and when it comes to living with metal illness in a small society with limited resources. As well as for me personally, both as a professional and as a mental health patient. Jeffry Stijn Foundation When it comes to the work of the foundation it’s all been about adding information about trauma and all its forms. Basic information about acute trauma, chronic trauma, complex trauma and covert…
Introducing Dr. Fleur, the first (Mental) Health Director of the Jeffry Stijn Foundation
I am thrilled to announce that Dr. Fleur has accepted the Foundation’s invitation to join us as our first (Mental) Health Director! As most of you know by now, my expertise is in writing, business and organization, as well as patient advocacy. Oh, and I’m a cPTSD experience expert. But I’m no medical professional, so that is one of the first roles I wanted filled asap from the moment we got started. And Dr. Fleur fit the bill perfectly. With international medical experience in small communities with limited resources, a good command of Dutch, English and Papiamento PLUS a love…
Complaint Respaldo
When I first started at Respaldo, Aruba’s National Mental Health Foundation, I was immediately informed that there probably wouldn’t be fitting treatment for me here on the island. That I’d have to move abroad. Or try to get sent abroad for medical treatment. I was informed that the chances of that happening would be pretty much non-existent. As residential mobility is my root, unresolved and as yet still untreated trauma, I decided to go for the latter option. Why add to an already existing trauma and make myself worse, when there is another option? One that would allow me to…
Service Animals: The quest to get my doggos certified
Ever since I got the okay to be sent abroad for treatment, I have been trying to find out how to get my dogs, Azula and Monroe, certified as service dogs, or at least emotional support animals. Initially I was told by Respaldo that they knew of one person who had managed it. This was in October 2022. A few days ago I finally manged to get in touch with the person in question. Unfortunately it tuns out that he started his dog’s training here in Aruba, but finished it in the US. Where he got the certification for service…
It’s called self-actualization, Einstein
You know that last missing puzzle piece? The one that just doesn’t fit, or has mysteriously been missing? Turns out mine has been something called self-actualization. I’ve been asking for help with this for as long as I can remember. I just didn’t have the word for it. And now that I’ve found it… well. *click, click* one domino falls into the next. *click, click, click* and the next, and the next. *click, click, click, click-ity, click* [insert a ton of creative swearwords here]. *click, click, click,….!!!!!* Well, genius, shows how much you know! “The only true wisdom is in…
Setting boundaries and conditions
I had been running into a similar pattern over and over at a certain point. When I tried to make agreements with my employer or people in my environment something went wrong. A very wise and management guru, offered to help me figure it out. And see what I could do to change or break that pattern. So he listened to my stories. After a while he got up. “Keep talking,” he said. So I did. In the meantime he drew four squares on a board. “When someone asks you to do something, or agree to something, how do you…
Week in Review 3 – back to basics
The past few days have all been about going back to basics. Basic explanations about incredibly complex subjects. Basic ideas that will be the cornerstones of the Jeffry Stijn Foundation for Mental Health and Patient Advocacy. And the basic fact that I really need to put my mental health first, and consciously focus on self-care. Back to basics: Providing information I’ve been focusing a lot on providing basic information about incredibly complex subjects. After things like the difference between mental health and mental illness in general, then delving into the basics of mental illness, now it’s time to try and…
Why do I write about mental illness and trauma?
Why do I write about mental illness and trauma? I’ve been asked that a lot lately. Most people appreciate the information, but don’t really understand why I write. “Shouldn’t you be…?” followed by a huge list of things they think I need to do, or “isn’t too painful?”, they ask. And just like I wrote in my review of Broken by Jenny Lawson, aka the Bloggess, yes there are things that are probably more “useful”, but writing is necessary for my mental health. It’s a way to cope with my mental illness. “Wait a minute,” some of you might think….
Week in Review 2 – I’m late, I’m late, I’m very, very late
For all you Alice in Wonderland fans, I’m sure you recognize this. The White Rabbit running around with his pocket watch, hurriedly exclaiming, “I’m late, I’m late, I’m very, very late!”. The whole I planned and God laughed theme just kept right on, right onning, this week. So here’s the week in review week 2. Or more accurately, the week in review part 2.5 because, well, I’m late. The Foundation The good The biggest news: The site has finally migrated to WordPress. Of course I would’ve built this site directly in WordPress if I hadn’t listened to the “authority”. I…
