Overview

Aaron Fette lived with mental illness all his life. At age 15, he envisioned himself as a modern-day Jack Kerouac, living an adventure on the road that he would chronicle in his writing. Instead, he found himself fleeing from paranoid delusions that drove him from city to city. As a victim of abuse and someone who perpetuated violence, as a drug addict and alcoholic, and as a survivor of the US justice system, Aaron's story offers a unique perspective on some of the thorniest issues in our society today. He died of an opioid overdose in a homeless encampment under Interstate 35 in Fort Worth, Texas, on April 2, 2017. His mother, Claudette, alternates his narrative with her own, walking through a clear-eyed self-appraisal as a teenage mom struggling to support her son, who started life with many adverse childhood experiences and her own failures throughout his life. Aaron's life illustrates the consequences of that abuse as it reverberated through the rest of his life. When he landed on the streets at fifteen years old after numerous ineffective interventions, Claudette became an occupational therapist, and later a college professor, seeking to better enable youth, families, and people living with mental illness in her community. She began to understand where systems had failed them, and the search led her to communities of family advocates and other professionals who were developing best practices in mental health. Claudette weaves Aaron's first-person accounts of his struggles together with her own. No Saints Here presents their experiences as a cautionary tale while offering better alternatives based on Claudette's years as a scholar and therapist. They share their hard lessons to encourage us to reject ignorance and accelerate the development of a smarter, healthier culture for generations to follow.

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9781965766064

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Reviews

Filled with profound lessons for parents, care providers, and policy makers, No Saints Here is a must read--a healing journey--for parents of troubled children. No Saints Here is really two books--a poignant portrayal of the effects of trauma, mental illness and addiction on affected individuals and families and a manual of guidance drawn from scientific studies, cumulative clinical experience, and the voices of lived experience. It offers dire warnings of the risks of harm in the name of help proffered by exploitive and abuse institutions as well as effective alternatives. --William White, Author, Slaying the Dragon: The History of Addiction Treatment and Recovery in America ""Heartfelt, honest, and creative. A must-read book for families dealing with mental illness and for the professionals and systems aiming to help. As a gifted poet and writer, Aaron describes the ups and downs of living with learning and emotional challenges in a world lacking the medical, educational, and family resources needed to help him thrive. As a young teen mother, Claudette describes the unending strategies used to provide a loving home and manage Aaron's complex emotional, sensory, and behavioral challenges without early intervention and family supports.""-- Susan Bazyk, PhD, OTR/L, FAOTA, Director, Every Moment Counts

Author Information

Five decades ago, Claudette Fette was a teenage mom struggling to support her son, Aaron, who started life with many adverse childhood experiences and would go on to develop serious mental illness. After years of school failure, ineffective therapies, and an abusive treatment center, Aaron, at age fifteen, landed on the streets. Claudette became an occupational therapist, seeking to better support youth, families, and people living with mental illness in her community. Her search led her to communities of family advocates and other professionals who were developing best practices in mental health. When Aaron died of an overdose in 2017, Claudette began transcribing his writing, combining her experience as his mom with evidence-based alternatives. No Saint's Here: A Cautionary Tale of Mental Illness, Health, and the Cost of Ignorance in the Lone Star State pulls together their experiences and walks through evidence-based mental health practices in early childhood, school mental health, trauma, wraparound, mental health and substance use recovery, and restorative justice. Claudette has worked in mental health for nearly three decades across many settings including acute psychiatric hospital, homeless shelters, schools and community practice. She teaches about mental health at Texas Woman's University School of Occupational Therapy. She has served on multiple advisory boards, including the Federation of Families -- Texas, National Wraparound Initiative, and the National Community of Practice on School Behavioral Health. She currently serves on advisories for the National Family Support Technical Assistance Center and the Advancing School Mental Health conference.

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