Steve sorting books.
Steve ended up at Club Nova by chance. Due to a brain he claims is "wired different" Steve has been depressed for as long as he can remember. [Hear Steve discuss his illness.] His life has been sprinkled with counselors since the age of seven. The situation came to a head, however, fourteen years ago when Steve was a struggling college student at the University of Michigan. Despondently walking around the streets of Ann Arbor he "saw this house that said Trailblazers." Intrigued, he entered and asked "What is this place?" He found out it was a psychiatric rehabilitation facility for severe or persistent mental illness. He immediately became a member and was adopted into the Club House model that Trailblazers and Club Nova follow. After what he describes as a "string of embarrassments" Steve moved back to Chapel Hill to be near his parents. Missing Trailblazers, he sought a Club House in Chapel Hill and found Club Nova. He has remained a dedicated member for 11 years.
Steve's thoughts about the success of Club Nova and the weaknesses of mental health care are passionate. He's eager to share his experiences and theories to those who cares to listen including fellow members, staff, volunteers, even abnormal psychology classes at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He's adamant about the weaknesses of counseling. In his experiences, his doctors have been more concerned with his diagnosis - major depression - than Steve as a person. Treating the person, not the disease, is a mantra Steve wishes more health care officials would follow. Once, because he was on medicine typically prescribed to manic depressive patients, a psychologist kept looking for psychotic symptoms in Steve. The psychologist spent months in vain searching for psychotic signs until finally, exasperated, the psychologist proclaimed that he did not think Steve was manic depressive at all. Aghast, Steve curtly informed him that, in fact, he wasn't manic depressive and had the psychologist been listening to him, it would have been quite obvious he was suffering from major depression. While most psychologists are not this dense, this event is indicative of a movement in counseling today. Steve claims most psychologists are solely concerned with a patient's diagnosis. Instead of using the diagnosis as a tool to dig deeper, psychologists are too quick to simply treat the diagnosis through drugs, ignoring the overarching problems in the patient's life. You may have a patient doped up and feeling fine, but if this patient doesn't have a life to feel fine in, then what good are the drugs?
Shortcomings like this make Club Nova all the more important. Instead of focusing on what is wrong Club Nova focuses on what is right. It's not a person's illness that is stressed, but instead a person's natural ability and need to work. Club Nova has taught Steve "how to organize things better and been a place to go where I don't look at the same set of walls everyday. Otherwise, I'd been at home watching Jenny Jones everyday and that's not just fun….I've also learned that…sometimes even the pessimist can be absolutely wrong and enjoy it and sometimes a pessimist can be absolutely right and loathe it." Before the Thrift Shop, Steve was the Club House spackle guy. He did minor repairs and attended to plumbing and tile concerns. Currently, he averages 30 hours a week working in the Thrift Shop. He spends these hours mostly presorting - going through the donation bags and sorting the items into piles of clothing, households, electronics and miscellaneous. Having work has been paramount to Steve. Jobs occupy his time and give him a sense of accomplishment. [Hear Steve discuss how work helps.]
This work, coupled with genuine friendships, has helped Steve immensely. Of Club Nova he says, "I haven't found anything else that works better." Steve may have wound up at Club Nova by chance, but the years he has spent there since have certainly been anything but haphazard. Steve recognizes the healing effect of Club Nova and also how he can help the community - through spackling, presorting and being honest about his condition and the shortcomings of mental health care.
Steve's thoughts about the success of Club Nova and the weaknesses of mental health care are passionate. He's eager to share his experiences and theories to those who cares to listen including fellow members, staff, volunteers, even abnormal psychology classes at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He's adamant about the weaknesses of counseling. In his experiences, his doctors have been more concerned with his diagnosis - major depression - than Steve as a person. Treating the person, not the disease, is a mantra Steve wishes more health care officials would follow. Once, because he was on medicine typically prescribed to manic depressive patients, a psychologist kept looking for psychotic symptoms in Steve. The psychologist spent months in vain searching for psychotic signs until finally, exasperated, the psychologist proclaimed that he did not think Steve was manic depressive at all. Aghast, Steve curtly informed him that, in fact, he wasn't manic depressive and had the psychologist been listening to him, it would have been quite obvious he was suffering from major depression. While most psychologists are not this dense, this event is indicative of a movement in counseling today. Steve claims most psychologists are solely concerned with a patient's diagnosis. Instead of using the diagnosis as a tool to dig deeper, psychologists are too quick to simply treat the diagnosis through drugs, ignoring the overarching problems in the patient's life. You may have a patient doped up and feeling fine, but if this patient doesn't have a life to feel fine in, then what good are the drugs?
Shortcomings like this make Club Nova all the more important. Instead of focusing on what is wrong Club Nova focuses on what is right. It's not a person's illness that is stressed, but instead a person's natural ability and need to work. Club Nova has taught Steve "how to organize things better and been a place to go where I don't look at the same set of walls everyday. Otherwise, I'd been at home watching Jenny Jones everyday and that's not just fun….I've also learned that…sometimes even the pessimist can be absolutely wrong and enjoy it and sometimes a pessimist can be absolutely right and loathe it." Before the Thrift Shop, Steve was the Club House spackle guy. He did minor repairs and attended to plumbing and tile concerns. Currently, he averages 30 hours a week working in the Thrift Shop. He spends these hours mostly presorting - going through the donation bags and sorting the items into piles of clothing, households, electronics and miscellaneous. Having work has been paramount to Steve. Jobs occupy his time and give him a sense of accomplishment. [Hear Steve discuss how work helps.]
This work, coupled with genuine friendships, has helped Steve immensely. Of Club Nova he says, "I haven't found anything else that works better." Steve may have wound up at Club Nova by chance, but the years he has spent there since have certainly been anything but haphazard. Steve recognizes the healing effect of Club Nova and also how he can help the community - through spackling, presorting and being honest about his condition and the shortcomings of mental health care.