Kim Powers experienced her first psychotic break when she was 16 while at school. She was hospitalized then, and several times in the years to come, until she was helped by medication, therapy, and her faith in God. Today, she is a fully licensed professional counselor, operating her own private practice. She wrote her memoir, A Mind Restored: Finding Freedom from the Shame and Stigma of Mental Illness (Trilogy Christian Publishers, 2024), to help others struggling with mental illness.
“I knew my story had to be shared,” Powers says. “I know that I’m not the only one who struggles with mental illness. A lot of times going through a diagnosis like this, it’s easy to feel alone and isolated and stuck in a cycle of despair. I want people to know they are not alone in their struggle in their mental illness. They don’t have to be defined by their illness. They, too, can rise above, conquer their problems with courage, with hope, pursue their health and their God-given calling in education, career, relationships.”
Powers was diagnosed with Type 1 bipolar disorder with psychotic features at 16. She has been in remission since 2010, and has taken the lessons she learned into her work as a therapist at her practice, Heart Soul Mind Strength, LLC, in Kalamazoo.
“I work with faith-based counseling, but I also work with anybody and everybody,” she says. “It’s an honor that I have been invited into people’s lives. I became a licensed professional counselor about 12 years ago, and I love what I do. It’s not only my career—it’s my passion and it’s my calling.”
Through telling her story, Powers hopes to help eliminate the shame and stigma society tends to put on mental illness. She recalls the psychotic breaks she experienced, how they forced her to step away from her education, then going back to school with a new determination to earn her degree. She also shares how she learned to identify triggers, what she calls “yellow flags” and “red flags,” that let her know she must seek care for her own illness to stave off another break. Much of the help she has embraced is faith-based.
Powers will be at the Portage Public Library Art Hop from 5 to 8 p.m. on March 23, 2024.
Listen to WMUK's Art Beat every Friday at 7:50 a.m. and 4:20 p.m.
