Category: All
All essays publicly available.
Posted on December 25, 2022
by Kēphen
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This Book Could Save Your Life: Breaking the Silence Around the Mental Health Emergency It’s Christmas Day and I’ve been reading This Book Could Save Your Life, which I started the other day, it’s a very important book that should be in the hands… Continue Reading “Book Review: This Book Could Save Your Life”
Category: All, Behavioral Health, Kephen's CommentaryTags: *See All Posts, Behavioral Health, Ben West, Book Review, Mental Health, Mental Health Awareness, Mental Illness, Sam West, Suicide, Suicide Awareness, Suicide Prevention, The Sam West Foundation, This Book Could Save Your Life
Posted on October 11, 2022
by Kēphen
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I have lived in Osage County, Missouri my whole life, my family has done so for generations. Many, if not most, of the people who live here would tell you that they feel like they can be themselves, live the life they want, that… Continue Reading “A Safe Place to Call Home: The Childhood Trauma of Growing Up LGBTQ+ in Small-Town America”
Category: All, Behavioral Health, Human Condition, LGBTQ+Tags: *See All Posts, Behavioral Health, Growing Up LGBTQ+, LGBT, LGBTQ+, LGBTQ+ Childhood Trauma, LGBTQ+ Safe Space, LGBTQIA+, Mental Health, Mental Health for LGBTQIA+, Mid-America LGBTQ+, Midwest LGBTQ+, Missouri LGBTQ+, National Coming Out Day
Posted on September 8, 2022
by Kēphen
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20 Years Later:A Letter to a Lost Teenager There is so much I wish that I could have told you, so much that I wish I could have done for you. If only I could travel through time to 2002 and be a part… Continue Reading “20 Years Later”
Category: All, Human ConditionTags: *See All Posts, A Letter to Myself, Compassion, Dying and Birthing, Growing Up, Introspective, Journaling, Letter to My Past Self, Life From Death, Mental Disorder, Mental Health Condition, Mental Health Disorder, Mental Illness, Metaphors, Reborn, Self-Reflection, Truth, Unbecoming, Wisdom
Posted on September 7, 2022
by Kēphen
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For many teens and adults who are facing sadness or are feeling down about a recent event or disappointing experience, or who may not be feeling as optimistic about life as they used to, or who are perhaps feeling heartache over an ended relationship… Continue Reading “Seeking Help for Depression”
Category: All, Behavioral HealthTags: *See All Posts, Behavioral Health, Depression, Getting Help, Major Depression, Mental Health, Mental Health Awareness, Mental Health Condition, Mental Health Services, Mental Health Support, Mental Illness, Moderate to Severe Depression, National Recovery Month, National Suicide Prevention Month, Recovery, Recovery Support, Seeking Help, Suicide Awareness, Suicide Prevention
Posted on September 1, 2022
by Kēphen
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For more than a decade I found myself at work witnessing, hearing about, or personally experiencing behavioral health challenges that were not effectively handled or addressed by management staff or by the employer as a whole. Not because no one cared, but because people… Continue Reading “Workplace Mental Health”
Category: All, Behavioral HealthTags: *See All Posts, Behavioral Health, Behavioral Health in Employment, Behavioral Health in the Workplace, Mental Health, Mental Health Awareness, Mental Health in Employment, Mental Health in the Workplace, Suicide Awareness, Suicide Prevention, Suicide Prevention Month, Workplace Behavioral Health, Workplace Mental Health
Posted on September 1, 2022
by Kēphen
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September is National Recovery Month, and while I have not been directly impacted by what is referred to as a substance use disorder, many people that I know personally have or still are struggling. Mental health conditions and substance use disorders may not be… Continue Reading “The Words We Choose to Use in Behavioral Health”
Category: All, Behavioral HealthTags: *See All Posts, Behavioral Health, Mental Health, Mental Health Awareness, Mental Health Language, Person-First Language, Substance Use, Substance Use Awareness, Substance Use Disorders, Substance Use Language
Posted on August 31, 2022
by Kēphen
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My dear friend Ricardo “Ricky” Reyes of Mount Joy, Pennsylvania, passed away tragically on August 20, 2022. He was born on June 21, 1987 and grew up in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, the son of Iris Gomez Lopez and the late Salvador Reyes. He graduated from… Continue Reading “In Memoriam: Ricardo “Ricky” Reyes”
Category: All, In Loving MemoryTags: *See All Posts, Bereaved, Bereavement, Cpl Ricardo Reyes, Dealing With Loss, Death of a Friend, Grief, In Loving Memory, In Memoriam, In Memory of, Loss, Loss of a Loved One, Loss of Loved Ones, Motorcycle Accident, Pain of Loss, Ricardo Reyes, Ricky, Ricky Reyes, Scars of Loss, Tragic Accident, Tragic Loss, U.S. Marine, U.S. Marine Corps, United States Marine Corps, USMC
Posted on August 20, 2022
by Kēphen
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It was the spring of 2021 when I was first introduced to Oliver Daldry‘s music via a U.K. 2015 film titled Departure. At the time, I had quit my job a couple months prior and I was in a low point mentally, struggling with… Continue Reading “Music & Mental Health: A Path to Recovery”
Category: All, Behavioral Health, Human Condition, MiscellaneousTags: *See All Posts, Anxiety, Behavioral Health, Bookcase, Catch the Wind, Departure, Depression, Mental Health, Mental Health Awareness, Music Therapy, Oliver Daldry, Sound of Recovery, Stress, Suicide
Posted on August 13, 2022
by Kēphen
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Unbecoming:The Struggle for Acceptance I didn’t know anything about the trans community a decade or so ago, and honestly I felt no concern whatsoever over trans people or their rights because I didn’t think it had anything to do with me, my perception was… Continue Reading “Unbecoming: The Struggle for Acceptance”
Posted on July 15, 2022
by Kēphen
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The National Suicide Hotline Designation Act was signed into law on October 17, 2020 and as of July 16, 2022, will go into effect. This means that starting on that date anyone in the U.S. experiencing a behavioral health crisis can call or send… Continue Reading “The National Suicide Hotline Designation Act: 988 Takes Effect July 16, 2022”
Kēphen
The Ardent Axiom 
Book Review: This Book Could Save Your Life
Posted on December 25, 2022 by Kēphen
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This Book Could Save Your Life: Breaking the Silence Around the Mental Health Emergency It’s Christmas Day and I’ve been reading This Book Could Save Your Life, which I started the other day, it’s a very important book that should be in the hands… Continue Reading “Book Review: This Book Could Save Your Life”
Category: All, Behavioral Health, Kephen's CommentaryTags: *See All Posts, Behavioral Health, Ben West, Book Review, Mental Health, Mental Health Awareness, Mental Illness, Sam West, Suicide, Suicide Awareness, Suicide Prevention, The Sam West Foundation, This Book Could Save Your Life