The Twelfth Step: Share Hope, Strength, and Experience

I have lived my life with the mission of easing my family’s pain.  From a very young age, I wanted to help my grandmother who suffered from manic depression.  She was brilliant, creative, generous, and kind when she was well.  When she was unwell, she was sent to the hospital.  Our connection was strong and influenced my educational and vocational choices.  

In 2014, I founded a nonprofit organization based on my need to find the resources and materials to guide our family through the rocky terrain of serious mental illness.  I had the professional experience through having worked in community programs with the seriously mentally ill, their families, and mentoring other professionals.  I had the personal experience of many first-degree family members living with mood disorders, physical illnesses, and then my beloved daughter was diagnosed with bipolar disorder.

Although the journey has been emotionally difficult for our family, I know we are not alone.  Frankly, there are too many of us who are adrift, searching for that ever-elusive anchor to stabilize our families.  I have been encouraged to share my story, to “get it out there,” and to practice the twelfth step, “Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these Steps, we tried to carry this message to others, and to practice these principles in all our affairs.”

I hope this book will be an avenue to engage others on the path.