Shortly after graduating from Ohio University in 1985, Mt. Lebanon native Sarah Goldstein moved to Maryland with a degree in journalism and a diagnosis of bipolar disorder. She coped with delusions, voices and paranoia. Although she had medication prescribed by a psychiatrist, the dosage was never quite right. She couldn't hold on to a job, going through a total of eight positions in five years.

At age 30, she returned to Pittsburgh in a confused state and without a family to come home to (her parents had temporarily relocated). So Ms. Goldstein spent six weeks as a psychiatric patient at Mayview State Hospital, followed by partial hospitalization and community-based services.

Thus began her successful journey to recovery.

Along the way, she gained an objective understanding of her illness, as well as an appreciation of the system responsible for addressing it. Before long, she became involved in strengthening that very system.

Ms. Goldstein's accomplishments as a local mental health advocate have earned her a place on the Governor's Advisory Committee for People with Disabilities. Her appointment to the new 55-member panel is expected to be announced today.

The new advisory committee will make recommendations to the governor on policies, procedures, regulations and legislation that affect people with disabilities. Sixty percent of the committee membership is composed of people with disabilities or family members. In addition to Ms. Goldstein, six other local people are to be named to the committee: Yvonne Littlejohn of Penn Hills, Teresa A. Nellans of Indiana Township, Susan V. Schaeffer of Pittsburgh, the Rev. Sally Jo Snyder of Freeport, Evelyn Stypula of Morningside and John Tague of Greenfield.

The appointment of Ms. Goldstein, 45, of Bellevue, reflects her firsthand understanding of the mental health service- delivery system and her work to bring about improvements.

Following her hospitalization at Mayview 15 years ago and subsequent community-based treatment, Ms. Goldstein decided to pursue a career in the mental health field. For the past nine years, she has worked at Community Care Behavioral Health, part of the Insurance Services Division of UPMC, most recently as a training specialist.

In addition to her work at Community Care, Ms. Goldstein co-founded the Allegheny County Coalition for Recovery (www.coalitionfor recovery.org) in 2001, a grassroots group of consumers, families and service providers. The group promotes best practices in service delivery, such as the principle that the recovery process should be directed by the individual, not the system. Another new paradigm advanced by the coalition is "strength-based recovery" -- that is, building on what the patient does right instead of where they go wrong. According to John Lee, Ms. Goldstein's supervisor at Community Care, the coalition is changing the outlook of providers throughout the region.

Ms. Goldstein also serves on the City of Pittsburgh-Allegheny County Task Force on Disabilities, an advisory panel for the mayor and county executive.

Ms. Goldstein says she will bring to the Governor's Advisory Committee a strong belief in self-determination for people with disabilities and the message that people with mental illness can become well-functioning individuals if they have appropriate treatment and support. She also wants to use her appointment to promote broader acceptance of people with mental illness in the community and to remove the stigma associated with it.

"It's fine to say you've had a hip replacement, but not that your daughter has bipolar disorder," said Ms. Goldstein. "People are afraid to seek treatment because of the label and stigma."

"People can get better," said Ms. Goldstein. "Although my disability does not ever 'go away,' I can manage it to be a productive, self-sufficient and viable member of my community."

She noted the pivotal role of a certain peer supporter in her early days of treatment in Pittsburgh: Penny Perlman of the New Horizons Peer Support Center. "She taught me that I could work again."

Indeed, learning to hold a job and participate in other meaningful life activities is the definition of recovery, said Ms. Goldstein. "Moving people to a place where they can live healthily in the community."