Sarah Strong Wilson - she/her/hers
Sarah is a Peer Specialist November 3rd will be her 6 year anniversary!
What is the strangest meal you've ever eaten?
"The strangest meal I've ever eaten was at a community potluck in Alaska, where all the ingredients for the dishes were hunted, foraged, or harvested from the ocean, beaches, and forests around the town of Homer. We had moose and bear and several kinds of fish, crab and clams, wild peas and greens that grew on the beach, various kinds of seaweed that washed ashore, sea urchins from tide pools and mussels and sea snails...the only things I didn't try were the seal and whale blubber dishes...I wasn't feeling that brave!"
What is your favorite pastime activity?
"My favorite pastimes include reading and researching things that interest me, playing Pokémon Go, hanging out with my cats, and making all sorts of art out of random things I find. Telling really bad jokes is also one of my favorite things to do."
What is the best thing about working at the A.W.A.R.E. Center?
"The best thing about working at the AWARE Center is that we get to know our members really well. It feels like a big family, and everyone belongs. The community we have here is welcoming and accepting, and people truly care for and support each other. I love that we use the word "Member" rather than "Consumer" here. Being a Member means that You Belong Here...and everyone does. It is such a small difference in wording, but the meanings are so important!"
What has helped you most in your recovery?
"What's helped me the most in my own recovery, I think, has been realizing that the internal, negative self-talk that ran constantly through my head was lying to me. We all have an inner critic, and I think those of us living with trauma and mental illness tend to have giants stomping around in our minds, shouting horrible things to us. One day, it just kind of "clicked" for me that my inner critic was saying things that had no basis in reality-so essentially it was lying. I learned to catch myself when the negative thoughts started up, check the statements against real evidence ("No, I'm certainly Not the Worst Person Who Ever Lived!") and then change the thought to reflect reality ("Just because I made a mistake doesn't mean I'm a horrible person-next time I'll know to be more mindful!"). An easy way to remember this is the phrase "Catch it, Check it, Change it," and it really works, once you've practiced and are comfortable with it."
