It is estimated that by the time we reach adulthood we have saved 20,000 hours of negative self-talk. Learning to control the mind and stop this onslaught requires learning skills to overcome this inner negativity.

Changemaker is a blog with the purpose of teaching the basics of personality labels so that anyone interested in helping others will have a book to be used as the foundation for self-discovery groups. The blog includes posts by me, Kathy Berman, a woman in recovery from alcoholism since 1976. I also was a counselor in the field of substance addiction and a marketer for mental health companies, so I have a multi-faceted view of what the addiction and mental health fields offer.

The purpose of this blog is to share my experience, strength and hope to anyone who would like to help others to better understand themselves. My dream is that others will have the courage to help others by sharing their experience, strength and hope.

Over a 40 year period, I have worked in 8 different careers from teacher, education specialist, insurance/investment sales, addiction counselor, marketing specialist, manager of parks, manufactured home sales to author. The greatest gift from having had diverse jobs is the reality that no one knows a job before they begin. We learn jobs on the job.

Armed with the confidence that doing is learning, anyone who has a compassion for others can help them to discover themselves. Groups are the recognized best method for people to gain information and acceptance from others. One of the main underpinings of Alcoholics Anonymous is that all members are peers. Anyone has the opportunity to share and to be heard.

In Changemaker groups, the group leader leads only by getting the group together. By caring for others, the group members can learn as well as teach self-discovery. The group leader/leaders may choose to charge or ask for donations to pay for the meeting room and materials. To lead education groups, Changemaker groups, the only requirement for the business is to have an occupational license to run a business. Changemaker groups are not therapy groups so no other license is required.

The Mental Health Institute claims 20% of the population suffers from mental illness. These people generally can benefit from mental health counseling. In America, with all our wealth, many of these poor souls wander our streets as the homeless. They have no medical insurance so menat health care is a sometime thing. Since most of the population isn’t mentally ill, education groups can be a great source of comfort and growth for those not needing therapy.

Addiction treatment by the medical model means that an addict is “sick” and that someone else knows how to get that addict “well”. In reality, each person has a part of themselves that is perfect and was given to them at birth. Changemaker believes in helping addicts and anyone interested in healing to get in touch with this perfect part and build on that to reach deep levels of self-confidence and gratitude for this life.

The self-discovery model of healing believes that by using the tools of personality profiles as well as methods of spirituality used in many cultures, each seeker can find the hidden springs of wellness inside.

Changemaker offers a test designed to provide personality indicators–called labels–so anyone has some tools about themselves that they can study to see why they make the decisions and choices they make. Then from this foundation of self-discovery, he/she can continue exploring and recreating themselves through her/his lifetime.