Winter2004/2005

What is Acupuncture? Acupuncture is a modality practiced in Oriental medicine that healers have used for at least three thousand years. Grounded in theories regarding the flow of Chi, a subtle energy that moves throughout the body and through all living things, Chinese medicine’s practitioners believe that the state of Chi affects our health and well-being. For example, Chi can be deficient or blocked.

When Chi is out-of-balance, dis-ease results. Acupuncture adjusts Chi to allow it to flow more harmoniously, thus correcting the imbalance. To adjust Chi, practitioners insert very fine needles into specific points on the body.

How does its use help in the treatment of illness? How are providers using it?Chinese medicine’s practitioners do not consider body, mind, and spirit as separate from each other. They treat all levels at once, and their treatments affect all levels.

When working with someone who does not feel well, the healer makes a diagnosis by asking questions about all aspects of his or her functioning. A practitioner identifies a specific system of the body-mind as being out of balance and treats that imbalance with acupuncture. He or she promotes healing by directing and rejuvenating the Chi in a particular way.

In the community, practitioners use Chinese medicine to treat a wide variety of ailments; nothing is completely off limits. Some

ACUPUNCTURE FOR THE MINDAn Interview with Ingrid Bloom, Practitioner

hospitals are now providing it and some insurance is covering it, particularly for, but not limited to, pain control.

What does acupuncture mean as you are using it in our MICD (Mentally Ill and Chemically Dependent) project? How do you think acupuncture will help Touchstone’s clients? For three decades now, healers have used acupuncture to help people with addictions, with very good results. We are excited to use acupuncture for our clients diagnosed with both chemical dependency and mental illness.

The discomfort of withdrawal from drugs and alcohol can be very intense and can undermine the efforts to quit. Symptoms include agi- tation, insomnia, physical pain, poor digestion, and reduced tolerance of stress. Withdrawal also can exacerbate other symptoms such as anxiety and depression.

Acupuncture reduces the symptoms of withdrawal and detoxification as well as the cravings for drugs or alcohol. Our procedures help the client’s body eliminate the toxic effects of longtime use. Our clients, who struggle with mental illness as well as addiction, benefit because our procedures address both types of imbalance at once.

How will your treatments be similar to treat-ments for physical illness? How will they differ because you serve persons who experience serious and persistent mental illness?

Continued on page 2

Inside this issue

INTEGRATIVE HEALING 3

WHY CHANGE OUR NAME? 4

ONE VOLUNTEER AT A TIME 5

CREATING INDEPENDENCE 6

DONORS 6

Kind Words

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FROM TOUCHSTONE MENTAL HEALTH

VOLUME 4

ISSUE III

WINTER 2004-2005

The problems of addiction and mental illness clearly have physical components as well as roots in the mental and emotional realm. Acupuncture’s healers do not need to know the original cause. Since Chinese medicine usually does not distinguish between the mental and physical, the practitioner directs the treatment toward all levels at once.

For instance, in our protocol, we use an acupuncture point for the Liver system, which treats several issues at once. It aids in detoxifica-tion on the physical level, eases frustration and depression on the emotional level, and addresses feelings of lack of hope or direction on the spiritual level.

With respect to persons living with serious and persistent mental illness, whom do you think will benefit most from the treatments? We do not focus on the type of mental illness. All clients with an MICD diagnosis are welcome. Certain symptoms of mental illness are more amenable to acupuncture’s treatments, and the clients may notice more of a change in certain areas.

For instance, acupuncture’s needling can influence symptoms of depression, mania, anxiety, and feeling disconnected from the body. The acupuncture points that we use can produce pleasant sensations for clients suffering from these symptoms, since they provide a tranquilizing, calming, and grounding effect for the mind and body.

Walk me through an Acupuncture session. What happens? Our clients meet as a group. They sit in chairs in a semicircle, and the healer treats them with acupuncture one by one. Soft music plays in the background, and hot herbal tea is available.

The practitioner invites the group’s members to be quiet and even to fall asleep if they like. The needles remain inserted for 45 minutes. The healer instructs clients to move slowly when they finish, as they may feel a little subdued or sleepy for a few minutes.

What results do you expect? How will you measure results? Clients usually experience increased calmness, settled thoughts, and increased mental alertness as an immediate result of a session. Over time, we expect a lessening of cravings and a reduction in some of the distressing side- effects of detoxification.

We give clients a scaled measure for periodic self-evaluation to measure their experience. Even though clients feel some benefit immedi-ately, they must receive this treatment over a period of time, at least several times a week for a few months, to obtain its fullest value.

How did you choose your first clients? Explain how you set up the project. We invited all clients receiving Touchstone’s mental health services who have an MICD diagnosis. Participation is voluntary, and clients choose how often they attend.

Currently a grant awarded by Minnesota’s Department of Human Services funds our project’s operation. Deb Hesli, the MICD Proj-ect Coordinator, oversees our work. I am

ACUPUNCTURE FOR THE MIND Continued

Board MembersKelly Robert, Chair

Jonathan Burris

Bill Cochrane

Michaela Diercks

Sharon Toll Johnson

Merrie Kaas, Ph.D.

Liz Sjaastad

Helen Raleigh, LICSWExecutive Director

Glen Albert, LICSWDirector of Supportive Housing

Birgit Kelly, LICSWProgram Director

Margo Cohen, LICSWProgram Director

Cheryl ButzFinance & Benefits Director

Peggy WrightAdministrative Assistant

Editorial StaffHelen RaleighPeggy Wright

ProgramsASSISTED LIVING APARTMENTS7376 Bass Lake RoadNew Hope, MN 55428(763) 536–[email protected]

CASE MANAGEMENT SERVICES300 Clifton Avenue, Carriage HouseMinneapolis, MN 55403(612) 874–[email protected]

RESIDENTIAL TREATMENT2516 E. 24th StreetMinneapolis, MN 55406(612) 722–[email protected]

Administrative Staff

PAGE 2TOUCHSTONE MENTAL HEALTH

TOUCHSTONE MENTAL H EALTH

PRACTICING INTEGRATIVE HEALING What is a healing environment? How often do you ask your clients what this term means to them?”

On October 15, Touchstone Mental Health initiated a discussion of this topic between practitioners in the Integrative and Mental Health fields. Touchstone’s clients want access to integrative practices—such as Acupuncture, Healing Touch, or massage—because they are relaxing, life- affirming, and supportive of overall well-being.

Barriers exist for our clients in obtaining these services, including their lack of financial resources and insurance companies’ unwillingness to cover the services. If clients somehow overcome these barriers, integrative practitioners without mental health training may experience difficulties when serving them.

We began this dialogue between conventional and integrative practitioners with the intention of developing resources for both clients in the mental health system and the

practitioners who treat them. Dr. Henry Emmons, integrative psychiatrist and faculty at the University of Minnesota’s Center for Spirituality and Healing, spoke about his personal journey as an integrative practitioner in conventional medicine.

Representatives from Hennepin County’s Mental Health system, Hennepin Faculty

Associates, Pathways Healing Resource Center, and People Inc. attended as did many other integrative and conventional practitioners from private and community-based settings.

The consortium took place at the Powderhorn Phillips Cultural Wellness Center and created discussion and enthusiasm. Facilitated group discussions generated a sense that the issues are complex and bear more consideration.

Touchstone Mental Health has agreed to host quarterly meetings during the next year for all interested parties. For more information, contact Kara or Birgit at Touchstone Mental Health, 612- 874-6409.

Clients’ Needs

• donations for medication copays• shampoo & conditioner• toothbrushes & tooth paste• dental floss• deodorant• multivitamins• gift certificates for new shoes• YM or YWCA or health-club

memberships

WISH LIST

Programs’, Staff ’s Needs• IBM blank diskettes• White copier paper• Furniture dolly• Services from a

print shop• Black pens

PERSONAL CARE ITEMS

• Bedroom Rug (approx. 3x5)• Bus passes• Craft kits• Firm pillow• Gift certificates to coffee shops• Lampshade for large floor lamp• Long-distance phone cards• Magazine subscriptions• Portable TV with

built-in VCR/DVD• Table lamps• Movie tickets• Variety of art supplies

OTHER ITEMS

ACUPUNCTURE FOR THE MIND Continued

training with an acupuncturist who specializes in detoxification and who is helping us start the project by leading the group. I eventually will be facilitating the group myself.

Do you want to add anything? In Chinese medicine, one does not strive toward a goal so much as toward balance. Given the right circumstances, a natural tendency toward health and healing exists that healers can support and encourage.

Providing this support and encouragement is our goal in the MICD acupuncture group. Acupuncture can provide some of the nourish-

ment our clients need to replenish their Chi and reconnect to their own healing tendency and inner balance.

Ingrid, a Case Manager with Touchstone Mental Health’s Case Management Services, is a Licensed Aupuncturist.

TOUCHSTONE MENTAL HEALTH

Since all three programs have experienced significant change between January 2004 and January 2005, we saw an opportunity to be more intentional about our identity: Many people in the community are

unaware that our three programs are connected. Each program gains little benefit from its association with two other excellent programs.

Staff members have identified with the program where they work and not with the larger agency.

Fundraising requires better marketing and public relations as a unified agency if we are to develop new services and new supportive housing.

Our founding Board of Directors, all faculty from the School of Social Work at the University of Minnesota, chose the name Community Care Corporation. The words Community Care are fairly straightforward but don’t tell who we are or what we do. Touch-stone Mental Health reflects the quality of our services and our goal of improving the well- being of our clients.

Also, as a for-profit, the use of the word Corporation made sense. As a nonprofit, it causes confusion and does not project a friendly image to the community.

We inherited the name Sentinel House from the Board and Lodge facility that we

WHY DID WE CHANGE OUR NAME? by Helen Raleigh, Executive Director

Touchstone: An example of excellence that is used to test the excellence or genuineness of others; a concept worthy of imitating.

rented in 1982 to provide residential treatment. We have wanted to change its name for some years. We never believed that our clients need a sentinel or guard. Touchstone’s Residential Treatment clearly states what the program provides.

Our founders named Breckinridge House after an early social worker at the Jane Adams settlement house in Chicago. Few people in Minnesota have heard of her, leaving us with a name without much meaning. Since Breck- inridge House ceased to exist as a Rule 36 pro-gram on November 4th when we reopened as Touchstone’s Assisted Living Apartments, the timing was good for introducing a new name.

Project Connections had the most relevant and best recognized name, but many other organ-izations have used that name. Also, after being in business for so long, our program is a lot more permanent than the word project implies. Touchstone’s Case Management Services more clearly describes what we offer.

Our agency’s and programs’ names may have changed to reflect the changes to some of our services, but our staff continues the same focus on building strong relationships and providing compassionate and quality care to persons living with serous mental illness. We look forward in the next year to building our identity as Touchstone Mental Health.

Whether as a for-profit, from 1982 to 1999, or as a nonprofit since then, we’ve always believed that the excellence of our services makes us a touchstone for the delivery of mental health services. Now our name reflects our reality.

A marketing consultant from MAP (Management Assistance Program for Nonprofits) worked with our staff and clients over the past year to develop names that reflect our organization’s mission, values, and culture.

We made every effort to find names for the agency and the three programs that tell po- tential clients, family members, providers, and the public that we offer a continuum of services.


Emily currently lives in her own apartment with her dog and works part-time. Committed to her own recovery, Emily has worked with Touchstone’s Case Management Services for over five years to reach these goals.

Emily likes to include healthy people in her life and to engage in healthy activities. She enjoys playing catch, going to a movie or out to lunch, going for a walk around the lake, making meals, playing sports, playing games like cards or board games, and working out at the gym; the possibilities are endless.

Emily believes personal connections with volunteers can be positive for both clients and volunteers. She says “It’s always helpful to have people in your life outside of the mental health system. A lot of people don’t have family or friends outside the system.” Clients need interactions with people who are not service providers.

In discussing the benefits of a volunteer program, Emily suggests. “I can have more fun with someone outside the system. We can talk about things other than mental health, participate in fun activities, and handle practical things, like going to the grocery store or running errands.”

For a number of reasons, including lack of transportation and anxiety or nervousness about being in public or on the bus, mundane tasks such as grocery shopping are often difficult for persons with mental illness.

Emily, who has volunteered in the past, thinks volunteering provides a good opportunity to

ONE VOLUNTEER AT A TIME“…It raises your self esteem to be doing something so important.” Emily, on volunteering

meet and get to know people, to develop friendships. She also found the experience boosted her confidence and her self esteem. “A lot of times, you may not feel good for anything. It raises your self esteem to be doing something so important.”

Emily indicated the traits she wants in a volunteer—a good sense of humor, flexibility, and an easygoing nature. Volunteers must be able to establish healthy boundaries, be respect-ful of themselves and others, and be interested in spending time with their new friends.

Emily also believes volunteers will come to understand what people with mental illness go through. Of people with mental illness, she says, “We can be friendly; we enjoy activities that everyone likes to do; we enjoy healthy relationships.”

Emily also likes the idea of a peer mentorship program, where clients can mentor other clients who are going through situations similar to those the mentor has experienced. Emily sometimes has spent time with peers who are struggling and has been able to support them to make healthy choices, to see that things can get better, or to ask for help.

Touchstone wants to recruit volunteers with a wide array of experiences and expertise, including individuals diagnosed with mental illness and including those that Touchstone Mental Health serves. This program is an exciting prospect for our agency as we continue to search for ways to address the whole person and support the recovery of those we serve.

If you or anyone you know is interested in meeting Emily or in learning more about the volunteer program, please contact Touchstone Mental Health and talk with our Volunteer Coordinator, Bob Marion, at 612-874-6409.

Touchstone’s staff works to develop positive and therapeutic alliances with clients that can lead clients to a stable life. Emily and other clients, however, need more authentic connections to people in order to thrive and grow.

Recovery from mental illness requires more than just independence. It requires community.

A volunteer program can support life-affirming activities for the in-dividuals that Touchstone Mental Health serves. It also can support the overall health and well-being of the volunteers as well.

Our goals include enhancing the lives of the people we serve, reducing mental illness’ stigma, and providing opportunities for our clients and our volunteers to experience the healing benefits of community and relationship.

The greatest good you can do for another is not just to share your riches but to reveal to him his own. Benjamin Disraeli

TOUCHSTONE MENTAL HEALTH

At the age of seven, Anna began using marijuana regularly and also alcohol three times a week. At seventeen, she cut her marijuana use, but in the next year, she used cocaine two or three times per week, spending about $300 per week. In her early twenties, she received chem-ical dependency treatment at Abbott Northwestern and St. Joseph’s Hospitals, with little success.

After high school, where she participated in special-education classes, Anna completed training as a nursing assistant and worked in that capacity for about 7 years. She lived in her own apartment, supporting herself during these years but also supporting a crack addiction. Married in 1994, Anna lived with her husband for less than a year before multiple hospitalizations began in 1995. All hospitaliza-tions occurred because she attempted suicide by overdosing on prescribed medications. Anna and her husband separated in 1996.

CREATING INDEPENDENCECommitted in November 1995 to Anoka- Metro Regional Treatment Center (AMRTC), Anna moved upon discharge first to the Bill Kelly Residence for combined treatment of mental illness and chemical dependency, then into her grandmother’s home for several months in 1997, and finally to her own apartment after she received a rent subsidy and social security benefits in late 1997.

Between 1997 and 2002, she experienced hospitalizations almost monthly, despite intensive supportive services, including day treatment, weekly case management, weekly home-health nursing, monthly psychiatric appointments, and weekly appoint-

IndividualsAnonymous (4)Glen AlbertAlice AdamsonNancy AbramsonSandy AccolaPatrick AlfordDoug AndersonJane AndersonLouise AndersonMarie and Dick BarronSara Barron-LeerDavid BauneBrian BergsJudy BernierRhonda Simpson BrownJonathan BurrisCheryl ButzTeresa CarlyonTim CashinJudy and Ken ClapshawVicki Dalle MolleSue DaviesMarlys DenhardtSumitra DornerM. L. DrinkwitzBonnie DudovitzSigne Middlefort Dysken

DONORS 2004Marilyn EhlineVanessa FoleySonja FunkLyn and Michael Gerdis Kathleen GlynnJudi GordonRuth GrafCindy GunthierJudy HanksKen HepburnBlake HoladayJudy HornickCarol JohnsonGreg and Janet JohnsonLorrie and Marlyn JohnsonBarclay JonesBirgit KellyKraig KingBrenda KnowlesBarbara KoropchakJennie Leskela and

Douglas Choate Sandy ManningDiane MartinMary MartinNicole Mc MahonDavid and Karen MillerBonnie Morrow

Diane MurphyAllen NelsonGayle NissenDoreen ObiKris OlsonPat PageNorma ProkoschJean QuamHelen RaleighRosemary RaushConnie and Bill RiggsKelly and Rafael RobertPatrick RobinsonJulie RolesMary Kay RomportlMike RonnMargaret and Carl RoserDavid SagulaGloria SagulaAnn SampleEllen SchmitzCarol SchoeneckerNancy SchultzRick SchweikertCharlotte SebastianNancy ShannonWendy SharpeJodie Siems

Carol SkubeElaine SloanBarb SobocinskiStan SobocinskiDavid StaehlinLisa StevensMaura SullivanDevona and

Harley SwiggumCarla SykoraMolly TomczakCathy Van Der SchansFern WilcoxCharlotte WieweckCarol WilliamsMilton WrightPeggy Wright

In Memory ofAnonymous (1) in memory

of Cynthia Riggs Larry Bourgerie in memory

of Cynthia RiggsJane Garvin in memory

of Hal Garvin

Drugs and alcohol have perme- ated Anna’s life since before her birth. Her medical records suggest that she suffers from Fetal Alcohol syndrome.

Her father died at age thirty-nine from alcohol-related illness, and her mother continues to abuse alcohol and marijuana. They divorced when Anna was two-years-old. Her two brothers also abuse alcohol and drugs.

PAGE 6

VOLUNTEERSGlen AlbertJane BarronMarie and Dick BarronSara Barron-LeerTom BarronJudy BernierHolly CashinKathy CashinMargo CohenJulie DavisSumitra DornerMichelle DucayetEsther FolayanSuzanne GregoryHelena HeringMarcus HeringAnne HolzingerSharon JohnsonPeggy KamholzBirgit KellyScott LeerBob MarionTanya Mellen

Teresa MeschiniAllen NelsonChristine NelsonJan NorwinLynnet ObureWendy ParksHelen RaleighDavid SagulaVi SandgrenDiana SchansbergKarla SchmittKari SkinnerCathy SmithMonica SmithBarbara SobocinskiEve StejskalMary SutherlandAnn Tami’s friendTami SwiggumKara VangenMari VangenPeggy and

Milton Wright

Connie and Bill Riggs in memory of Cynthia Riggs

David Sagula in memory of Cynthia Riggs

Lisa Stevens in memory of Cynthia Riggs

Jennifer Ward in memory of Kenneth Ring

In Honor ofThe Gerdis family in

honor of Janice and Lawrence Badje

Lyn Badje Gerdis in honor of Alyssa, Jaden, and Abby

Jeannette and Harold Nelson in honor of Allen Nelson

Businesses and OrganizationsMinneapolis Foundation,

J. Peter Brull FundHealing Touch International

DONORS 2004 Continued

Foundation, Inc. Merwin Long Term CareOsseo Lions ClubNW Mpls Chapter

of Thrivent

In Kind DonationsINDIVIDUAL Glen AlbertPearl AndersonKathleen BakkeAngie BarattoMarie and Dick BarronDavid BauneJoan BilinkoffKaty Boone Larry and Susan BourgerieSara BrewHolly CashinMary GaetzLyn and Michael GerdisKathy HalloranRoanne KleinLori Krelitz

Dorothy KrollDr. Richard and

Madeleine LinckConnie LongAnn MartinAna MartinezLorraine McGowanChristine and

Allen NelsonHarriet PetersonHelen RaleighMike RonnRichard and

Ardelle RonnLiz SjaastadRichard SkinnerMark and Amy SmithMike SmithBarb SobocinskiPat SwantekRonald VillejoPeggy and Milton

WrightPatty Zlotkowski

ments with her therapist. Prescribed ten to fifteen medications daily, she called her doctor at least three times per month, requesting and receiving changes to her medications.

Upon referral to Touchstone’s Case Manage-ment Services, then known as Project Connec-tions, in January 1996, Anna was 26 years old. Although she received consistent, caring support from her case-management team, her progress was slow until she began a work-training program at Tasks Unlimited in late 2000.

To support her new life, her two teams— community support and employment, began a strong behavioral management plan that provided incentives rewarding her for staying out of the hospital. When Anna finally started trusting her team and understood that she did not need to remain sick to continue with our services, she began making significant improve-

ments in her life. She has remained employed at Tasks to the present.

Anna also started working with Tasks Unlim-ited’s psychiatrist and has not changed medica-tions in approximately one year. Her home health nurse still visits weekly, but Anna has reduced her case manager’s visits to twice per month. She continues to attend AA meetings and meets with her employment counselor a few times per month. In 2004, she became her own payee, pays all her bills herself, and maintains her budget with periodic support from case management services.

Anna spends time with friends from work and with her mother on a weekly basis. Despite her mother’s continued use of drugs and alcohol, she has found ways to interact with her in a healthy manner. She knows she can leave if she starts to feel uncomfortable. She has had no hospitalizations since mid-year 2002!

CREATING INDEPENDENCE Continued

PAGE 7

E-mail Addresses WantedIn an effort to keep our supporters better informed, we plan to institute an e-mail newsletter. We will continue to publish our printed newsletter three times per year.

The new e-mail newsletter will come out irregularly. We will use it to give you news as it breaks, such as grants received, or to tell you about major accomplishments such as the completion of the Assisted Living Apartments.

We currently have recorded only a few e-mail addresses. If you wish to receive the e-mail newsletter, please send your e-mail address to Peggy Wright, [email protected]. Be sure to include your full name with the address.

BUSINESS AND ORGANIZATIONSChatterbox PubCub FoodsDick’s BarElim Lutheran ChurchMark of Excellence Homes,

Inc. Merwin DrugMinnesota Renaissance

FestivalMinnesota State FairMinnesota Twins

Baseball ClubPilgrim Cleaners

and LaunderersSt. Paul Shrine CircusStartbright Cleaners U. S. Bank

Up-HillDOES the road wind up-hill all the way?

Yes, to the very end. Will the day’s journey take the whole long day?

From morn to night, my friend.

But is there for the night a resting-place? A roof for when the slow dark hours begin.

May not the darkness hide it from my face? You cannot miss that inn.

Shall I meet other wayfarers at night? Those who have gone before.

Then must I knock, or call when just in sight? They will not keep you standing at that door.

Shall I find comfort, travel-sore and weak? Of labour you shall find the sum.

Will there be beds for me and all who seek? Yea, beds for all who come.

Christina Rossetti


Your trusted source for: Employee benefit plans Retirement plans Business insurance Human resource consulting

Call today! Rick Thill Phone: 952.945.0200 E-mail: [email protected] Website: www.cfginsurance.com

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Winter2004/2005

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