Unit 1a: What is personal recovery?
Recovery is an ongoing process of process of growth, discovering and change.
– Stocks, 1995
What is personal recovery?
This is actually a big question.
The answer is: ‘it depends’.
- It depends on what someone in recovery thinks it means.
- It depends on how we define ‘recovery’ or ‘getting better’.
- Sometimes it is easier to say what recovery is not.
Personal recovery is a process of learning how to live and how to live well. It is concerned with gaining hope, developing a new sense of self, meaning, and choice and control.
Note: recovery is a much deeper process than treating a mental illness.
Recovery from what?
- Loss of hope
- Loss of power
- Loss of self
- Loss of connectedness
- Loss of valued roles
What is the role of hope in recovery?
- Hope is central to recovery, without hope you wouldn’t be here now.
- Hope…believing in the possibility that things can get better
- Hope can be cultivated by the person seeing how they can have more active control over their lives (‘agency’) and how others have found a way forward.
- With hope anything is possible.
Hope
Consider the following questions:
- What currently brings you hope?
- Who around you is hopeful for you?
- What is hope telling you about your next step?
- What is it like hearing yourself talk about hope?
Recovery Quotes
Instructions: Read the quotes below.
Consider the following questions:
- Which, if any, can you relate to?
- What does the quote mean to you?
What does recovery mean to you?
Instructions: Circle your top three reasons.
Can you still be recovered and have a mental health condition?
It is possible to lead a full and meaningful life and still have a mental health condition. It’s about developing a positive identity outside of being a person with a mental health condition. It may be part of you but it is not the whole of you.