Whether we’ve been thrust into this caregiver role or taken it on by choice, this podcast is where we’re going to share our stories and learn to realize the magic in all the madness we may have been experiencing. Maybe it’s someone in the family we’ve been born into. We’re going to come together here as caregivers to those who have been diagnosed with a mental illness. This show is for those of us who find ourselves surrounded by madness and wanting to find the magic within. I’m your host, Paolina Milana, author of “The S Word”. Hi, and welcome to Madness To Magic, and my podcast, I’m with Crazy: A Love Story. #friendsofrockhaven #saverockhaven Subscribe on iTunes Listen on Soundcloud Let us know what you think by posting in the comments. I know you’ll love her and what she has to say in this great homage to caring for the caregivers. This history buff and storyteller personifies the very essence of a caregiver. Joanna also shares her own descent into madnesss with anxiety and depression, and explains how she has been able to triumph with tools and learned best practices. She tells stories of the famous women who found peace here. The Power of Place – this particular place – is what Joanna has been dedicating her life to for the past several years. And thanks to Joanna and her teams’ efforts, its place in history will still be known for generations to come. Rockhaven is a place whose spirit still provide that quiet and respite. Rockhaven became known as a place for rest and rehabilitation for women suffering from overwork and exhaustion. She shares with us a few stories of mental health treatement so ahead of its time: Rockhaven being one of the first facilities to give women, who often were put away for no reason, a homelike setting and dignified safe care. Joanna, as founding member and president of the Friends of Rockhaven, has embodied the legends from this historical site and has become its living history. Rockhaven is a place that was built in 1923 by a woman RN named Agnes Richards who found a better way to care for women with mild mental & nervous issues. Joanna is the spirit behind the effort toward saving Rockhaven Sanitarium. The District reflects exceptional importance due to the rarity of extant resources associated with early twentieth century mental healthcare, its significance as a woman-owned facility established to care for mentally ill women, its continued association with women's healthcare throughout the life of the institution, and its long association with Richards, who continued to be actively involved at Rockhaven until shortly before her death in 1967.Today’s podcast is with “Wonder Woman” Joanna Westerholm Linkchorst. Rockhaven Sanitarium Historic District remained associated with founder Agnes Richards until her death in 1967. The period of significance is 1923, reflecting the date Rockhaven was first established by Agnes Richards, through 1967, when Richards, who was the visionary and driving force behind Rockhaven's philosophy and development, died. In California, Rockhaven Sanitarium Historic District is one of three remaining women's mental health facilities from the period. Rather than housing women in large public institutions under deplorable conditions, smaller, privately run homelike facilities were created by women exclusively for women. It reflects the vision of Agnes Richards, R.N., and represents a small but significant movement that sought to improve the conditions of mentally ill women in the early twentieth century. It was one of the first of its type in the nation.

Rockhaven Sanitarium Historic District was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 2016 as one of the best extant examples of an early twentieth century woman-owned, women-serving private sanitarium in the State.

Rockhaven sanitarium