Although she had lived with mental health challenges for years, Sarah says this period felt different. Eventually, during one particularly difficult moment, she called her mom and admitted, “I’m really not okay.”
Not long after, Sarah came to the Emergency Department at Joseph Brant Hospital during a mental health crisis and was introduced to the hospital’s PHAST program.
“There was this feeling the moment I walked in that I was safe,” she recalls. “Nobody judged me. Nobody pressured me to explain anything before I was ready.”
Instead, Sarah found herself surrounded by people who listened carefully, checked in consistently, and treated her with compassion during one of the hardest periods of her life.
Through daily support, group sessions, and one-on-one care, she began learning skills that helped her better understand and manage what she was experiencing. More importantly, she says, the care team helped her believe that things could improve — even when she struggled to believe it herself.
“You could tell the staff genuinely cared,” Sarah says. “Not just because it was their job. They really just wanted people to succeed.”
One of the most meaningful parts of Sarah’s experience was the sense of connection she found with others in the program. Listening to people openly share their own struggles reminded her she wasn’t alone.
“Hearing other people’s stories made such a difference,” she says. “It made me want to keep showing up.”
Over time, Sarah began rebuilding her confidence through Joseph Brant Hospital’s Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT) program, and she continues to attend weekly sessions focused on emotion regulation and coping strategies.
“The skills I’ve learned are things I use every day,” she says. “For the first time in years, I feel hopeful again.”
That hope has extended into other parts of her life, too. Inspired by the care she received at JBH, Sarah is now exploring a transition into diagnostic imaging — a career path where she hopes to support patients during vulnerable moments in their own healthcare journeys.
“I know what it feels like to need kindness,” she says. “I think small interactions can make a really big difference.”
Today, Sarah continues to carry a simple affirmation she and her husband share — the person she calls her rock throughout her recovery: “I can do hard things, and I can be brave about it.”
And now, with the support, skills, and community she found at Joseph Brant Hospital, Sarah is continuing to build a life rooted not just in getting through difficult days — but in believing she deserves brighter ones too.
