The Sashbear Foundation

Winter 2021-2022

In this Issue:

• Season's greetings from Sashbear
• Holiday Gifts of Hope
• The Personal Impact of Family Connections™: Christine's Story
• ISSPD Recap—Sashbear receives international Perry Hoffman Award
• Paid and Volunteer Opportunities at Sashbear
• Holiday Tips
• Sashbear's Expert Educational Series - Upcoming events
• Thank you for a successful 2021

Season's Greetings
from Sashbear

To our dedicated facilitators and volunteers, hard-working staff, collaborative partners, generous donors, committed academics and clinical experts, and enthusiastic walk participants:

2021 is drawing to a close. Like the year before, it has been dominated by COVID-19, affecting the way we live, work and interact. We are hopeful 2022 will see the beginning of a new chapter.

Despite not being able to offer in-person groups, we were able to deliver online groups, alumni sessions, school presentations and expert webinars that reached thousands, as well as participating in international conferences and presenting the ISSPD Family Day event. We were honoured to be recognized as the recipient of the inaugural Perry Hoffman community service award from ISSPD. And we were pleased to see the publication of several articles regarding research into family engagement that Sashbear was involved in.

Our Sashbear Virtual Walk and Celebration was a huge success again this year. We exceeded our fundraising objective and for the first time we hosted a French Walk Celebration as well.

We wish all of you and your loved ones a joyful and restful holiday and a New Year filled with good health and peace. We so much appreciate your unwavering contribution over the past year and throughout the pandemic. We could not have done it without YOU and we are grateful you’re a member of the Sashbear family.

Lynn Courey,
President and Co-Founder
The Sashbear Foundation

Wondering what to give someone as a gift for the holidays this year?

Give the gift of hope. You can give these honorary gifts this holiday season and for any occasion throughout the year. All gifts have a monthly option. See how each gift can help Sashbear:

Every donation helps The Sashbear Foundation provide life-changing skills to families dealing with mental health challenges and in need of support and hope.

Every donation helps The Sashbear Foundation provide life-changing skills to families dealing with mental health challenges and in need of support and hope.

One month of Zoom to provide our online Family Connections™ groups

One person to attend Family Connections™

Annual training and development for one of our 100+ Family Connections volunteer co-facilitators

Coordination for one presentation in Sashbear's Expert Education Webinar Series

A 12-week Family Connections™ group for 10-14 individuals

As a registered charity, we provide a tax receipt for any donation over $20.

Thank you for your support this past Giving Tuesday and throughout the year

The Personal Impact of Family Connections™: Christine's Story

I was an observer in the Family Connections™ group in the fall of 2021. And I was a participant in the summer of 2021.

I appreciated my role as an observer because it allowed me to learn other things and better integrate certain skills. I realize how the participants experience the pain and helplessness in the face of a loved one. And how our experiences / difficult situations with our loved ones are similar to those of the participants.

Christiane gives examples quite simply but which make a lot of sense in helping to understand, apply and integrate the skill. She does this fluidly, calmly, kindly, while validating the participant and reflecting certain things to him as needed.

The facilitators also bring good examples and do interesting role plays.

Amazing to see the changes in the participants and how they feel better equipped with the skills to deal with their loved one. Applying the skills in situations experienced by participants with a loved one is rewarding for all.

As a participant or observer, I wanted to participate in every week .

Thank you,

Christine Plamondon

Dr. Perry Hoffman

Sashbear recognized internationally as recipient of Perry Hoffman award

Sashbear is honoured to be recognized by the International Society for the Study of Personality Disorders (ISSPD) as a recipient of the inaugural Perry Hoffman community service award, announced on October 11, 2021. Dr. Perry Hoffman, who passed away in 2019, was the co-developer of Family Connections, co-founder of NEABPD, and a tireless advocate for families. The ISSPD describes her this way:

“Dr. Hoffman was a pioneer in bringing awareness to the suffering and importance of supporting family members of those with BPD and related problems. She was recognized world-wide for her advocacy in the scientific community to build programs to help family members and measure the impact that interventions have on them. The recipients of an award in her name would share in her legacy and continue to carry on this work.”

In accepting the award on behalf of Sashbear, President Lynn Courey acknowledged the close relationship of Dr. Hoffman as a mentor and partner to Lynn and Sashbear.

“Perry was a giant in the BPD community for families. She has planted the seed for all of us to continue her great work. We will always keep her in mind as we follow in her footsteps and carry on her legacy, and continue with her approach of bringing people together and constantly looking for ways to improve services for the BPD community. It is up to us, and up to you, to feed and nurture those seeds so families are being involved in all phases of research and taken care of, to improve the recovery of the loved one so the future looks brighter for families. Be the ambassador of hope for families. I truly believe that together, anything is possible.”

Sashbear was nominated for the award by an international group of family members, Family Connections facilitators, researchers and clinicians. We wish to thank you for your efforts in bringing this global recognition to the ground-breaking work of the The Sashbear Foundation.

Sashbear’s involvement in ISSPD since 2015

The Sashbear Foundation has been involved in the ISSPD since the 2015 Congress in Montreal. That year, Sashbear initiated the ISSPD Family Day event which continued in 2019 and 2021. Sashbear has also been a regular presenter in the scientific symposia, bringing awareness to the clinical and research communities of the importance of including the family voice in research and treatment of BPD.

At the 2021 Congress, Lynn Courey and Doreen Hyndman of Sashbear co-presented with NEABPD Israel and NEABPD Australia, on the topic “International perspectives on the impact of family engagement in Family Connections.” Discussant was Dr. Andrew Chanen of Orygen, Australia.

Lynn Courey was an invited speaker at the opening ceremonies for ISSPD Congress 2021, representing the family perspective, where she called on the organization’s members to work closely with those with lived experience of BPD, and their family members, and called upon them to be “ambassadors of hope” for the BPD community.

Both Lynn Courey and the Sashbear Foundation were signatories to the original document establishing the Global Alliance for Prevention and Early Intervention for Borderline Personality Disorder (GAP). (Chanen, A., Sharp, C., Hoffman, P., & Global Alliance for Prevention and Early Intervention for Borderline Personality Disorder (2017). Prevention and early intervention for borderline personality disorder: a novel public health priority. World psychiatry : official journal of the World Psychiatric Association (WPA), 16(2), 215–216. https://doi.org/10.1002/wps.20429)

At the 2019 ISSPD AGM in Vancouver, Lynn Courey spoke to the importance of including family and lived experience voices in the ISSPD. This initiative came to fruition with the announcement in 2021 by ISSPD President Dr. Carla Sharp, that two new ISSPD Board positions have been approved: one representing lived experience, and one representing the family perspective.

Sashbear Coordinated ISSPD Family Day 2021

Lynn Courey and Sashbear initiated the Family Day event at ISSPD in 2015 in Montreal, and offered it again in collaboration with Perry Hoffman and NEABPD in 2019 in Vancouver. This year, Sashbear worked closely with ISSPD President Dr. Carla Sharp to provide another successful event to bring together lived-experience and family-driven organizations working in the field of personality disorders.

ISSPD Family Day 2021, this time attended by an international audience of over 300, saw presentations from:

• Agrupación TLP Chile (Chile)
  
  
• Anna Freud National Centre for Children and Families (UK)
  
  
• Australian BPD Foundation (Australia)
  
  
• Emotions Matter Inc.(USA)
  
  
• Lived Experience (Norway)
  
  
• National Education Alliance for Borderline Personality Disorder (USA)
  
  
• Orygen (Australia)
  
  
• TARA for Borderline Personality Disorder (USA)
  
  
• The Sashbear Foundation (Canada)
  
  

ISSPD President Dr. Carla Sharp (US) opened the event, recognizing Sashbear’s efforts.

“Lynn called on us yesterday to be ambassadors of hope, and I am here today as an ambassador of hope… I’ve seen you work diligently over the past several months to bring this event to fruition. I am just incredibly grateful and excited to help you open Family Day this year at ISSPD and I want to reiterate ISSPD’s commitment to bringing your family voices to the ISSPD community, the PD [personality disorder] community, and hopefully beyond. … This year our goal was to expand beyond the North American groups that have typically participated in Family Day and I’m just delighted to see groups from Chile, the UK, Australia participating this year. Lynn, a big thank you to you and your team for pulling it together and getting all of these organizations across the globe, together to participate.”

ISSPD President-Elect Dr. Giles Newton-Howse (NZ) closed Family Day.

Planning has already begun for the 2023 ISSPD Family Day, to be held in Sydney Australia.

Opportunities at Sashbear

Paid Opportunity

Administrative Assistant

We are looking for someone to provide administrative support for the Family Connections groups and related programming. Hours: 15-20 hours/week, remote (work-from-home), flex-time with availability through the day as well as occasional evenings or weekends.

Requirements: Excellent written and spoken English, French an asset. Microsoft Office (Excel, Powerpoint, Outlook, Word) and Zoom. Reliable internet.

Qualities: Attention to detail. Able to work independently. Tech-savvy. Knowledge of Family Connections™ an asset. Strong empathy and customer service ethic.

How to apply for paid position:

Send resume to info@sashbear.org with the Subject - Admin Support

Volunteer Opportunities

The Sashbear Foundation survives and thrives on the strength of our hundreds of volunteers. We are always looking for new volunteers to expand our reach. If you have benefited from any of our work, please consider paying it forward through one of these opportunities.

Registration and administrative support

Fluently bilingual in French and English, familiar with Excel, comfortable learning to use new software.

Writer (English)

for marketing materials, press releases, newsletter articles and community profiles. Please submit writing samples with your volunteer application.

Event planning, logistics, and fundraising

English or French. Volunteers needed for many roles in preparation for the 10th Annual Sashbear Walk in May, 2022. This is a major community awareness and fundraising event and this year is likely to be a hybrid event held online and in-person in multiple Canadian cities.

Family Connections program facilitators

Group leaders must have completed Family Connections with good attendance (eg, no more than 2 absences in an evening program). Training and development is provided by Sashbear.

To apply, click this button to fill out and submit an online volunteer application form:

Holiday Tips

We hope that taking Family Connections provided you with a toolbox of new skills. We are always inspired by the commitment that every participant brings, to learn and practice new skills and new ways of being in challenging relationships.

During the holiday season, it's often difficult to bring these skills to bear. Expectations are high, our time and energy is low, and the stresses and challenges build up.

So this holiday season, here's a reminder of a few basic skills you learned in Family Connections.

Four Basic Assumptions to be more effective

1. Benign Interpretation

Let go of judgement. We often don't know the whole story, and judgement and blame are polarizing, leading to escalating emotions. Give yourself time to pause and respond out of Wise Mind, considering both logic and emotion.

2. There's no one or absolute truth

The parties or big family events that some people love, are incredibly difficult for others. Put yourself in their shoes and consider whether it's really that important to insist your loved one sit for hours at the big family dinner, or go to the concert that everyone else is looking forward to.

Offer up the possibility of doing something your loved one chooses, as a family or with a few close friends. And then practice acceptance if it doesn't work out.

3. We are all doing our best

If our family member is unhappy or distressed by the crowds, or lights, or family expectations, remember they are doing their best with the skills and resilience they have in the moment. Be compassionate and patient, and show the same compassion and patience to yourself.

4. We can all do better

Bring your skills into any difficult situation and see whether they make a difference.

Observe    Describe    Participate

Be in the moment

Mindfulness

"Mindfulness means paying attention in a particular way: on purpose, in the present moment, and non-judgmentally." —Jon Kabat-Zinn

Remember the acronym, ODP-NOE when being mindful...

What to do: Observe, Describe, Participate.

How to do it: Non-judgementally, One-mindfully, Effectively.

Simply taking the time to notice and get curious about what's happening, whether it's your own emotions or your loved one's words or behaviours, can make a big difference.

Don't get caught up in the hustle and bustle of expectations, rather, take the time to truly experience the precious moments. Be fully present in an activity your loved one asks you to share in - a favourite song, a silly game, a quiet moment away from the crowd.

Radical Acceptance

Our family gatherings and holiday events don't always end up the way we imagined they would. Accept the reality that some things cannot or will not change, at least for now. Remember that non-acceptance when change is not happening is a place of suffering. We are free to choose suffering, but we don't have to. Radical acceptance is a difficult skill as it requires grieving what we have lost AND it can free us to pay attention to the precious little things we have not been noticing.

Validation

It's powerful to feel understood, to be heard, it is soothing, helps us feel connected and promotes problem solving.

To validate try these steps:

• Be mindful of yourself
  Use mindfulness to manage your own emotions and let go of judgements—stay in the moment
  
  
• Be mindful of the other person
  Remember this is someone that you love and they are doing the best they can in this moment
  
  
• Seek to understand, from the other person's point of view, what makes sense, what are they feeling?
  
  
• Validate what you understand to be valid, remember that everyone's emotions are valid. If you were in their shoes what would make you feel understood?

We hope these reminders will help you have a holiday that creates positive memories for you and your family.

Sashbear's Expert Education Series

The Sashbear Foundation is pleased to invite you to these upcoming presentations:

Wednesday, January 19, 2022

7:00 - 8:00 pm Eastern Time

What's RO DBT?  
A Brief Introduction

with Karyn Hall, Ph.D.

Radically Open Dialectical Behavior Therapy (RO DBT) is an  evidence-based treatment for people who suffer from emotional and behavior over-control and require interventions designed to relax rigid or inflexible control. Learn the basic differences between overcontrolled and undercontrolled coping styles, why loneliness is so important to address in treatment and yet difficult for many to overcome, and some of the basic principles of RO DBT.

Dr. Karyn Hall is the director and founder of the Dialectical Behavior Therapies Center and DBTWise in Houston, Texas. DBTWise is a training company for psychotherapists. She is the second RO DBT supervisor in the States, and is certified by the DBT-Linehan Board of Certification in DBT. Dr. Hall blogs for Psychology Today and is the author of Mindfulness Exercises for DBT Therapists, SAVVY, and The Emotionally Sensitive Person. She is the co-author of The Power of Validation and a co-author of The Radically Open DBT Workbook for Eating Disorders: From Overcontrol and Loneliness to Recovery and Connection which will be published in May 2022.  

Wednesday, February 23, 2022

7:00 - 8:00 pm Eastern Time

Helping Youth Who Self-Harm

with Sheri Van Dijk, MSW, RSW

It’s hard for most people to understand why someone would purposely inflict pain on themselves, and yet this isn’t uncommon, with rates of youth self-harm ranging from 1.5 to 6.7% in community samples; and as high as 50% in adolescent psychiatric samples. 

In this webinar, you’ll develop a better understanding of self-harming behaviours and why youth turn to this as a means of managing emotions. We’ll discuss ways you can help your youth by managing your own emotions in healthy ways, as well as how you can intervene more skillfully with your loved one. 

Sheri Van Dijk is a Social Worker, who has been working with clients with severe mental health problems since 2000. Sheri has had extensive training in dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) and mindfulness and has been providing DBT-informed therapy to individuals and groups since 2004. She is the author of several books that focus on helping readers learn DBT skills and apply them to a variety of mental health problems.  Sheri’s latest book, The DBT Skills Workbook for Teen Self-Harm was released in March, 2021. 

Presentations will be recorded and posted on the Sashbear website.
See previous recordings here.

Thank you for a successful 2021

Wishing you and your families a skilful and hope-filled holiday season and New Year.

Yours in skills and hope,

The Team at The Sashbear Foundation