TIPS012: Discerning the Truth with Victoria Alonso

TIPS011: Using Photography and Creativity to Overcome with Danielle Hark
August 15, 2017
TIPS013: Who is Jay? with Susan Ashby
August 23, 2017

TIPS012: Discerning the Truth with Victoria Alonso



Victoria Marie Alonso was born and raised in Southern California and currently resides in California with her husband of twenty-four years and one of her three children. After her diagnosis with schizoaffective disorder, she earned her Master’s Degree in psychology at Brandman University. She worked in the mental health field for four years with children who suffered from various mental disorders until stress caused a relapse of psychotic symptoms and decided to retire from the field. Victoria currently writes about her journey of recovery from Schizoaffective Disorder and has an active blog where she reaches people around the world.

Click to tweet: Victoria Alonso shares her incredible journey on the i’Mpossible Project Show!

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Time Stamped Notes

  • 1.43 Victoria has signs of mental illness in her teenage years when she ran away to New York City
  • 1.58 Mental illness really hit Victoria at the age of 36
  • 3.34 Victoria originally went to New York City to pursue a career in musical theatre but those dreams were derailed by drug use
  • 3.44 Victoria used to panhandle for money for drugs on Madison Avenue in New York City
    4.55 After living on the streets on New York City for some time a friend of Victoria’s, who also lived on the streets, died in a fire, which then spurred Victoria to return home to her parents in
    California
  • 4.56 Victoria entered drug rehab on her return to California
  • 7.11 Victoria estimates that 9 out of 10 people living on the streets have some kind of untreated, mistreated, or undiagnosed mental illness
  • 11.01 Victoria sees her schizophrenia as something to suffer she must suffer for God (so others can benefit and so their suffering can be lessened)
  • 17.57 If someone made of movie of Victoria’s life, Victoria would want Angelina Jolie to play the title role. She has two dogs named Butter and Cinnamon (find out more fun facts about Victoria in the Quick Fire Round).

Key Points

  1. Everybody has an important story, even people considered by many to be at the bottom rungs of society
  2. It is possible (not a must) to reframe one’s hardships as gifts or something one must endure to better themselves for the benefit of humanity
  3. It is possible to have a mental illness like schizophrenia or schizo-affective and still live
    mentally well

Resources or Websites Mentioned

Victoria’s email address:  victoriamariealonso@yahoo.com
Victoria’s story, Discerning the Truth, (e-book or paperback) in The i’Mpossible Project Volume 2: 
Changing Minds, Breaking Stigma, Achieving the Impossible: www.iampossibleproject.com/preorder (after August 23, 2017: www.iampossibleproject.com/two)