![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/processworkhub.gr\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/11\/occp.jpg\" "\\"occp\\"")
<\/a><\/p>\n\u03a0\u03b7\u03b3\u03ae: examiner.com<\/a><\/p>\n An inside look at Occupy Portland’s struggle with mental health problems<\/span><\/p>\n Jenny Westberg, Portland Mental Health Examiner<\/span><\/p>\n November 4, 2011<\/span><\/p>\n Nat Holder, of Occupy Portland\u2019s Safety Team<\/a>, has a request. \u201cWhat we\u2019d like<\/em>,\u201d said Holder, \u201cis for someone to come onsite and do training<\/em>\u201d to help them deal with problems of mental health and addiction. Holder is one of the points of contact for the team, which is onsite every day at Occupy Portland’s campground at Lownsdale and Chapman squares in downtown Portland. The Safety Team has primary responsibility for resolving crisis situations.<\/p>\n In a phone interview Monday, Holder talked about the kinds of situations the team encounters and their efforts to respond. He emphasized he was speaking only from his own perspective, not on behalf of Occupy Portland in any official way. But what he shared offers a unique view of some of the challenges of day-to-day life for the hundreds of people who have filled two city blocks in downtown Portland since October 6.<\/p>\n Unexpected Influx<\/span><\/p>\n Mental health problems came front and center for Occupy Portland early on. Large numbers of Portland\u2019s homeless population were drawn to the site by the temporary moratorium on enforcing anti-camping laws, Occupy\u2019s open-gate policy, and four free meals a day. The surge of homeless people was unexpected, Holder said. \u201cWe had no idea.<\/em>\u201d They\u2019ve brought positive contributions, not just\u00a0 problems. \u201cSome people have been homeless and have been involved [in Occupy Portland] from the beginning<\/em>,” he said. “Others come into our camp, perhaps just looking for a place to stay, but they end up getting involved in the committees and really doing work<\/em>.”<\/p>\n Still, people coming off the street often struggle with mental illness and addiction. Most crisis situations Holder has seen result from people being intoxicated. Although Occupy Portland has a policy against onsite drug and alcohol use, Holder said they haven\u2019t been able to enforce it. The open gates mean they can\u2019t prevent people from using off-site and returning drunk or high.<\/p>\n Defusing Crisis<\/span><\/p>\n Mental health situations aren\u2019t always critical. For example, Holder said, \u201ca person might decide to reorganize the clothing area. Or they have an idea to move everything around in the coffee caf\u00e9.<\/em>\u201d In a case like this, he said, \u201cwe\u2019ll have member of the team sit with them. We try to minimize the amount of damage, but also join them in their effort to be helpful<\/em>.\u201d Other situations are more severe. \u201cIf a person has pushed over a table, or there\u2019s serious damage or violence to another person, we use minimal force to get them off the park. If that doesn\u2019t work, we will call the police<\/em>,\u201d said Holder. \u201cWe don\u2019t tolerate violence<\/em>.\u201d Holder said a serious crisis might happen once every two or three days — \u201cmore than we\u2019d like<\/em>\u201d \u2013 but mental health problems are a daily occurrence.<\/p>\n Dealing With Extremes<\/span><\/p>\n Holder, who is a student at the Process Work Institute<\/a> in Northwest Portland and provides individual therapy at River\u2019s Way Clinic<\/a>, said his process work training has been crucial in understanding and resolving mental health crises for Occupy Portland. He\u2019s learned \u201cextreme states are valid. And just because a person\u2019s behavior might seem illogical to an outside observer, to the person going through it, their actions are completely logical.<\/em>” Also, Holder said, “there\u2019s a meaning to it. That needs to be validated. Disregarding the meaning for that person isolates them in their own world. When we join them, often they feel their needs are being met without having to resort to violence, and we\u2019re doing that successfully in the vast majority of situations<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n Occupy Portland has emergency medical and wellness services, but they do not dispense prescription drugs or have a medical doctor onsite, and Holder said sometimes a person needs resources they just don’t offer. Right now, he said, what they need is for someone to come to the Plaza Blocks and provide training on mental health problems, substance abuse and additional ways to deal with crisis.<\/p>\n Can you help? If you can organize a training, or you know someone else who can, contact Nat Holder at nat@natholder.com.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" \u03a4\u03b9 \u03ba\u03ac\u03bd\u03b5\u03b9\u03c2 \u03cc\u03c4\u03b1\u03bd \u03ac\u03c3\u03c4\u03b5\u03b3\u03bf\u03b9 \u03c7\u03c1\u03ae\u03c3\u03c4\u03b5\u03c2 \u03c5\u03c0\u03b7\u03c1\u03b5\u03c3\u03b9\u03ce\u03bd \u03c8\u03c5\u03c7\u03b9\u03ba\u03ae\u03c2 \u03c5\u03b3\u03b5\u03af\u03b1\u03c2 \u03c0\u03bf\u03c5 \u03b4\u03b5\u03bd \u03ad\u03c7\u03bf\u03c5\u03bd \u03b8\u03ad\u03c3\u03b7 \u03bc\u03ad\u03c3\u03b1 \u03c3\u03c4\u03bf \u03c3\u03cd\u03c3\u03c4\u03b7\u03bc\u03b1 \u03c5\u03b3\u03b5\u03af\u03b1\u03c2 \u03b5\u03bc\u03c0\u03bb\u03ad\u03ba\u03bf\u03bd\u03c4\u03b1\u03b9 \u03c3\u03b5 \u03c3\u03c4\u03b9\u03b3\u03bc\u03ad\u03c2 \u03ad\u03bd\u03c4\u03b1\u03c3\u03b7\u03c2 \u03c3\u03c4\u03b9\u03c2 \u03ba\u03b1\u03c4\u03b1\u03bb\u03ae\u03c8\u03b5\u03b9\u03c2 \u03c0\u03bb\u03b1\u03c4\u03b5\u03b9\u03ce\u03bd; \u03a3\u03c4\u03b7\u03bd \u03ba\u03b1\u03c4\u03ac\u03bb\u03b7\u03c8\u03b7 \u03c4\u03bf\u03c5 Occupy Portland \u03c0\u03c1\u03bf\u03c3\u03c0\u03b1\u03b8\u03bf\u03cd\u03bd \u03bd\u03b1 \u03b2\u03c1\u03bf\u03c5\u03bd \u03b1\u03bd\u03b8\u03c1\u03ce\u03c0\u03b9\u03bd\u03b5\u03c2 \u03bb\u03cd\u03c3\u03b5\u03b9\u03c2 \u03ba\u03b1\u03b9 \u03b1\u03bd\u03b1\u03b6\u03b7\u03c4\u03bf\u03cd\u03bd \u03b5\u03c0\u03b1\u03b3\u03b3\u03b5\u03bb\u03bc\u03b1\u03c4\u03af\u03b5\u03c2 \u03c0\u03bf\u03c5 \u03b8\u03b1 \u03c4\u03bf\u03c5\u03c2 \u03b5\u03ba\u03c0\u03b1\u03b9\u03b4\u03b5\u03cd\u03c3\u03bf\u03c5\u03bd \u03c3\u03b5 \u03b8\u03ad\u03bc\u03b1\u03c4\u03b1 \u03c7\u03c1\u03ae\u03c3\u03b7\u03c2 \u03bf\u03c5\u03c3\u03b9\u03ce\u03bd, \u03c0\u03c1\u03bf\u03b2\u03bb\u03b7\u03bc\u03ac\u03c4\u03c9\u03bd \u03c8\u03c5\u03c7\u03b9\u03ba\u03ae\u03c2 \u03c5\u03b3\u03b5\u03af\u03b1\u03c2 \u03ba\u03b1\u03b9 \u03b5\u03bd\u03b1\u03bb\u03bb\u03b1\u03ba\u03c4\u03b9\u03ba\u03ce\u03bd \u03c4\u03c1\u03cc\u03c0\u03c9\u03bd \u03b1\u03bd\u03c4\u03b9\u03bc\u03b5\u03c4\u03ce\u03c0\u03b9\u03c3\u03b7\u03c2. \u0394\u03b9\u03ac\u03b2\u03b1\u03c3\u03b5 \u03c4\u03b7 \u03c3\u03c5\u03bd\u03ad\u03bd\u03c4\u03b5\u03c5\u03be\u03b7 \u03c4\u03bf\u03c5 […]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[15,16],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2629","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-food-for-thought","category-16","category-15-id","category-16-id","post-seq-1","post-parity-odd","meta-position-corners","fix"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p12hmI-Gp","jetpack_likes_enabled":false,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/processworkhub.gr\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2629","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/processworkhub.gr\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/processworkhub.gr\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/processworkhub.gr\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/processworkhub.gr\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2629"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/processworkhub.gr\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2629\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2633,"href":"https:\/\/processworkhub.gr\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2629\/revisions\/2633"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/processworkhub.gr\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2629"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/processworkhub.gr\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2629"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/processworkhub.gr\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2629"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}