Today’s guest was Lenora Kimball, a nationally recognized leader in the peer support movement for mental health care. Peers are people with a lived, personal experience with mental illness who help one another face their fears, give respect, and encourage healing. Peers relate on a personal level, giving a unique and highly valuable perspective.

Lenora stressed that peers help others learn what is right about me, what is good about me, and that recovery takes change and practice. Peers can help others practice healthy behaviors. Crisis is an opportunity for everyone to experience growth and change.

We telephoned Lenora at her home on a Sunday afternoon to discuss her forthcoming appearance on Not Alone; it wasn’t until the end of a two hour discussion that we learned hurricane Irene was at its height in Vermont. The electricity was off, the area was being pounded by rain and hail, and the flood waters were rising. Lenora is so committed to sharing the healing inspired through peer support programs that she didn’t mention a word about the storm, or her peril, until after we finished our visit!

To hear more from Lenora about the value of peer support programs click on the link below to listen to the September 20 Not Alone broadcast or download the file and listen later. To listen to past broadcasts, visit The Kim Foundation Web site Not Alone podcast page.

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September 20 – Lenora Kimball, Peer Support Services

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Airing every Tuesday from 4 p.m. to 5 p.m. (CST on station KCRO, channel 660 AM based out of Omaha, Neb.), Not Alone is a live talk radio program focused on behavioral health and recovery. Developed by The Kim Foundation through the support of C&A Industries, Inc., Not Alone works to reduce the stigma often associated with mental illness. The show seeks to assure individuals, families, and communities that they are not alone, mental illness affects us all, hosting a variety of guest from across the country.