Emotional CPR

Recovery Talks

Lauren Spiro, co-founder of Emotional CPR, and Amanda Walton, MPN Peer Services Coordinator, discuss Emotional CPR (e-CPR) training and how it can be useful in supporting people in and out of the behavioral health system. You can find more information about e-CPR at https://www.emotional-cpr.org/. Guest bios: Lauren Spiro has come a long way from being a very insecure and shy young woman who was given a label of schizophrenia and bipolar disorder before the age of 18. She spent 15 months in a mental institution, also before the age of 18. Then college, 3+ years in the Peace Corps, obtained a Master's degree in Clinical/ Community Psychology and spent a lifetime of working in the mental health field improving the system that has caused her profound harm and re-traumatization. Her last fulltime position was 7 years as the first director of the National Coalition for Mental Health Recovery based in Washington, DC, the city where she was born. Her liberation journey has taken her to being a leading voice for the policy, legislative and funding priorities for people with the lived experience of mental health recovery. Along the way she co­founded Emotional-CPR (eCPR), a primary prevention public health initiative that teaches people how to support others through emotional distress (and crisis), which has spread to most of the states in the US and over 12 countries, with its Resource Book having been translated into over 6 languages. Lauren has been an eCPR trainer for over 10 years; her memoir was published a few years ago. Amanda Walton is a Certified Behavioral Health Peer Support Specialist and Peer Services Coordinator with Montana's Peer Network. Since beginning her recovery journey, she has advocated for person-centered recovery and self-liberation. Active on Montana's Behavioral Health Oversight and Advisory Council, and Secretary of Dawson County Behavioral Health Advisory Council, she shares her story with others while striving to be a living example that recovery is possible, and available, for anyone. She is a certified SMART Recovery facilitator and creator of Let's Talk Recovery peer support group organized in 2018, as well as a wife and mother of four. Thanks to the support of Lauren and other eCPR trainers, she will advance to eCPR training status within a month. Amanda's intention is to more deeply embody eCPR in all of her relationships and interactions and has a passionate vision to spread eCPR both throughout Montana and across the US.