With helping comes healing
Amy Kiehn can only hope that she can give others hope. Because she has been through it herself, she thinks she may be able to do just that.By: Jo Colvin, Alexandria Echo Press
Amy Kiehn can only hope that she can give others hope.
Because she has been through it herself, she thinks she may be able to do just that.
Kiehn has struggled with mental illness most of her life. In high school, she knew she was different and didn't fit in. At 18, she was hospitalized and diagnosed with depression.
After the birth of her first son, she had psychotic episodes. Her mental state worsened and after the birth of her daughter, she was diagnosed with bipolar disorder.
"I was having delusions and everything was turning color at one point," she explained. "I blacked out for a while, like an alcoholic, but I wasn't drinking."
The diagnosis wasn't good news, but at least now Kiehn had an explanation for her erratic behavior. Medication could help, but that had its up and downs.
"They couldn't get the right medicine combination and a lot of things kept happening," Kiehn said.
While struggling with medications and trying to keep her mental illness under control, her first husband was killed in a car accident.
"That didn't help matters at all," she said.
Her struggles continued throughout the next several years. She eventually remarried but then another tragedy struck. Her husband left her.
"That put me into another hospitalization, that devastation and loss," she said. "That threw me into a tailspin."
Now a mother of three, Kiehn knew she couldn't take care of her children properly. Despite the pain it caused her, she placed them in the care of grandparents.
"I wasn't the kind of mom I wanted to be, and I wanted them to be OK," she said. "When your moods aren't consistent, it's hard for you to be consistent. It was very hard to admit but I wanted them to be OK."
Her dark days became more frequent, but in 2000, Kiehn found the hope she had been searching for. A resident of Starbuck at the time, she was sent to Milestones, an intensive residential treatment center in Alexandria, after yet another hospitalization.
It was the best thing that could have happened to her. Between her doctors, case workers, and a supportive mental health team, everything "came together" for her. She moved to Alexandria shortly after her three-month stay at Milestones.
Although she couldn't work, she became a volunteer at Vikingland Community Support Center in Alexandria, where she was a client in their day treatment program.
With stays at Milestones on occasion when she dealt with the anniversary of a traumatic event, or when she had a medication change, she became a strong advocate of their services. She joined various mental health associations, attended mental health conferences, and was even on the board of a mental health network.
It was through these organizations that she met her husband, John. And it was at a convention that she heard about a job opening as a peer specialist at Milestones in Alexandria.
She wanted it.
"I wanted to give back what I received from the mental health field," she explained.
In November 2011 she went through the 80 hours of training required.
She was hired and started her new job in March 2012. For 20 hours a week, Kiehn is on the other end of the mental health spectrum - she is helping others.
As a certified peer specialist, she is there to tell her story and provide hope and education to those struggling with mental illness.
In helping others, she is also healing herself.
"It gave me a lot of confidence," she said. "It helps keep me kind of focused on something and not what's going on in my life or whatever."
Although she knows her battle with mental illness will never be over, her new job has taught her that it all happened for a reason - so she can help others.
"My hope is to give them hope," she concluded. "I want to help lessen their burden a little, and know that maybe their life is a little better just because I was there to listen."
Because she has been through it herself, she thinks she may be able to do just that.
Kiehn has struggled with mental illness most of her life. In high school, she knew she was different and didn't fit in. At 18, she was hospitalized and diagnosed with depression.
After the birth of her first son, she had psychotic episodes. Her mental state worsened and after the birth of her daughter, she was diagnosed with bipolar disorder.
"I was having delusions and everything was turning color at one point," she explained. "I blacked out for a while, like an alcoholic, but I wasn't drinking."
The diagnosis wasn't good news, but at least now Kiehn had an explanation for her erratic behavior. Medication could help, but that had its up and downs.
"They couldn't get the right medicine combination and a lot of things kept happening," Kiehn said.
While struggling with medications and trying to keep her mental illness under control, her first husband was killed in a car accident.
"That didn't help matters at all," she said.
Her struggles continued throughout the next several years. She eventually remarried but then another tragedy struck. Her husband left her.
"That put me into another hospitalization, that devastation and loss," she said. "That threw me into a tailspin."
Now a mother of three, Kiehn knew she couldn't take care of her children properly. Despite the pain it caused her, she placed them in the care of grandparents.
"I wasn't the kind of mom I wanted to be, and I wanted them to be OK," she said. "When your moods aren't consistent, it's hard for you to be consistent. It was very hard to admit but I wanted them to be OK."
Her dark days became more frequent, but in 2000, Kiehn found the hope she had been searching for. A resident of Starbuck at the time, she was sent to Milestones, an intensive residential treatment center in Alexandria, after yet another hospitalization.
It was the best thing that could have happened to her. Between her doctors, case workers, and a supportive mental health team, everything "came together" for her. She moved to Alexandria shortly after her three-month stay at Milestones.
Although she couldn't work, she became a volunteer at Vikingland Community Support Center in Alexandria, where she was a client in their day treatment program.
With stays at Milestones on occasion when she dealt with the anniversary of a traumatic event, or when she had a medication change, she became a strong advocate of their services. She joined various mental health associations, attended mental health conferences, and was even on the board of a mental health network.
It was through these organizations that she met her husband, John. And it was at a convention that she heard about a job opening as a peer specialist at Milestones in Alexandria.
She wanted it.
"I wanted to give back what I received from the mental health field," she explained.
In November 2011 she went through the 80 hours of training required.
She was hired and started her new job in March 2012. For 20 hours a week, Kiehn is on the other end of the mental health spectrum - she is helping others.
As a certified peer specialist, she is there to tell her story and provide hope and education to those struggling with mental illness.
In helping others, she is also healing herself.
"It gave me a lot of confidence," she said. "It helps keep me kind of focused on something and not what's going on in my life or whatever."
Although she knows her battle with mental illness will never be over, her new job has taught her that it all happened for a reason - so she can help others.
"My hope is to give them hope," she concluded. "I want to help lessen their burden a little, and know that maybe their life is a little better just because I was there to listen."
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