Spirit of Recovery

New Release! Spirit of Recovery

A Conversation with Ed Knight, Sheila Le Gacy, and Nancy Kehoe

Speaking from the heart about mental illness and recovery

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.

Spirit of Recovery is an introduction to some of the topics that have been strikingly absent from the dialogue about mental health recovery. The DVD 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.

Edward Knight, Ph.D., is a certified psychiatric rehabilitation practitioner and Vice President of Recovery, Rehabilitation and Mutual Support for ValueOptions, a large managed care company, with specialization in behavioral health. Dr. Knight is also an adjunct professor in rehabilitation sciences at Boston University, who himself is a mental health consumer diagnosed with schizophrenia since 1969. He trains psychiatric rehabilitation professionals and helps consumers of mental health services start mutual support groups.

Nancy C. Kehoe, RSCJ, PhD. is a is a member of the Religious of the Sacred Heart and a Clinical Instructor in Psychology in the Department of Psychiatry at The Cambridge Health Alliance, affiliated with Harvard Medical School. For twenty-three years she has led groups on spiritual beliefs and values for adults with psychiatric disabilities. She currently directs a training program for healthcare providers in mental health and geriatric settings, teaching them how to address the religious and spiritual needs of individuals in their work, both the needs of patients and residents as well as staff.

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.

Spirit of Recovery can be viewed in two half-hour segments, or individually, by section in order to help facilitate productive discussions. Part 1, (28 min) Key Ideas looks at aspects of the heart, emotions, and cultural competency. Part 2, (32 min) Healing Practices focuses on the spirit and questions about faith. Part 3, (31 min), Meditation for Recovery includes a series of concentration exercises specifically for those who experience psychiatric disturbances.

A discussion guide for clinicians, families and consumers (included in the DVD) can be downloaded from miepvideos.org. Additional informational and research articles are also available for download under Articles and Reviews.

DVD format only