BrainStorm Career Services :
Linking Wellness to Work in El Paso County
FACT: people who have a psychiatric disability want to be gainfully employed.
FACT: the unemployment rate for men and women with such disabilities is between 70
and 90 percent, forcing many of us to live in poverty and dependence on public
assistance, family support or charity.
FACT: having a job or career helps improve self-esteem, physical health and mental
wellness. It also adds an important piece to the recovery puzzle -- a paycheck.
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FACT : employment services for people with psychiatric disabilities are limited due to high
case loads and staff turnover for vocational rehabilitation professionals and mental
health service providers, despite the fact that a third of state vocational rehabilitation
clients have some type of psychiatric disability
FACT: services to help people recover from these disabilties that are performed by peers....
people with lived esperience of mood disorders, etc. are just as effective, if not more
so, than services provided by non-peer professionals.
If you live in or near Colorado Springs, have a psychiatric disability and are serious about going back to work or need help keeping a job, a new approach to vocational rehabilitation is now available. We call in BrainStorm. It involves linking mental wellness to self-help in job seeking and job keeping. Here are the educational services we offer:
1. Pathways to Recovery. Classes for 5-10 adults who need or want upbeat education and
mentoring on how to live successfully with a mood or anxiety disorder. This is recovery
education that does not focus on illness and treatment, but on personal strengths, peer support
self- help skills. Whether your goal is to improve your family life, engage in meaningful volunteer
work, get a job or just learning to enjoy life instead of being stuck in an emotional rut, Pathways
can be a life-changing experience.
2. Jump Start. An educational club experience for those who are ready to start looking for work o
are struggling to keep a job they already have. Once again, the emphasis is to take full advantage
of personal strengths and abilities, peer support, networking and self-help tools to maximize the
chances for success. The intense skill-building experiences, (including personalized mentoring)
emphasizes personal responsibility choice and risk-taking.
And like the Pathways course, the instruction and mentoring is provided by people who have
experienced mental wellness & recovery, and have returned to work or started a new career in spite
or a psychiatric disability. We don't have all the answers and we can't guarantee success, but we do have knowledge, creativity and unique problem-solving skills in spite of or even because of, the 'storms in our brains'.
Pathways classes are held in the Spring, Summer and Fall. The next 12 week series is scheduled to begin April 21, 2012. Cost is only $25.00 for the workbook.
Jump Start will begin on March 31, 2012. Check back at this website for
start time and location. Or email us at find.support@rockymountaindsba.org
Jump Start is offered at no charge to consumers of mental health services.
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