Early in my peer support career, one of my co-workers showed me a comedy sketch featuring Bob Newhart. Hearing of his passing recently, brought this memory to mind. If you aren’t old like me, you might not know who he was. I remember laughing at his comedy as a kid.

In this sketch, Bob is a mental health provider who charges their patients by the minute and guarantees complete satisfaction. A woman who is struggling with mental health challenges then begins to describe her experiences to the doctor. He listens for a few minutes and then says “Stop It,” the person is caught off-guard and begins the description again. The doctor listens for a few moments and then says “Stop It.” As the sketch goes on, the person is bringing really important information forward and the doctor continues to reply “Stop It.” While this approach isn’t the peer support way of being, I have found this approach helpful in my own life. Let me explain.

I am a person who struggles with self-esteem challenges and my head is often not the safest place for me to live. The magical power of the STOP has greatly increased my satisfaction with life and in my work. Just like many of us, sometimes I need to hear “Stop It.” Now, whenever I catch a negative thought about my worth or value, I listen for a few moments and then I say “Stop It” out loud and then DO something else. My experience is that my thoughts can drag me into a hole that I don’t always know how to get out of. I initially tried this, ending with the “Stop It.” This helped some, but my mind would seize upon the fact that there was an unresolved thought clanging around up there and I would need to do it often. However, taking the information from Peer Employment Training about Metamood, and combining it with the “Stop” has proven to be a magical concoction in my recovery.

Metamood is becoming aware of our emotions and feeling empowered to steer them in a way that best serves myself and others (PET, Pg. 107). My inner rebel used to get a kick out of hearing stop in the past, usually thinking “watch me.” Adding the magical power of the STOP combined with DOING something else might help you or someone you serve today.

Shelley Lesley

Shelley is a grateful woman in recovery who gets to be a Program Director with Recovery Innovations. Her passion is to shine light in dark places and show others the way out of the darkness. In all her free time, she is a lifelong learner and an avid camper and roadtripper. If she can recover, you can too!