A DAY IN THE LIFE OF ...
- Details
- Created on Saturday, 04 July 2015 15:26
- Written by Marian Moore
Marian @ Krysan
THE WELLBEING CONSULTANCY
Planting Golden Seeds in Northumberland, Tyne & Wear & Durham
_______________________
When the pupil is ready, the teacher will appear.
A DAY IN THE LIFE OF ...
An Elder Woman
Dear Friends,
GOOD NEWS
Every day - from morning till night - my computer delivers e-mails into my Inbox from all around the world. And, when necessary, I add to the chatter and press Reply. Today was no exception.
This, then, is a day in the life of ... , a day which started early with a quick flick through my e-mails and then some serious tweaking to an electronic document being made ready for an ImROC planning meeting coming along shortly.
I share good news - even the stuff that dreams are made of.
- Sincerely yours
- Marian @ Krysan
1 ImROC
ImROC stands for 'Implementing Recovery Through Organisational Change'.
ImROC is a relatively new initiative aimed at making recovery from mental illness and distress a reality throughout the land. Significantly, this is also officially viewed as an educational (rather than a purely therapeutic) initiative, free and open to anyone and everyone. As said, this is the stuff that dreams are made of.
I come to this not simply as a dreamer of dreams, but also as a Volunteer/Governor for a large NHS Mental Health Foundation Trust working hard to transform a culture and ways of working embedded in times past. My involvement with ImROC and the related Recovery College Network began some months ago when I was accepted as the Governor responsible for reporting back to the Council of Governors on progress.
According to information available to all:
"Recovery Colleges are co-produced in local partnerships. The provision of a range of different courses, seminars and workshops allow them to cater for people with diverse needs and preferences. Some people may want to dip in to specific courses, others may wish to construct for themselves a more comprehensive programme. Some people may ‘put their toe in the water’ with a single session that interests them and then move on to longer courses. The range of courses is determined by those who wish to attend them."
Below is a Statement of Intent concerning my support for the Recovery College Network at this early stage in my involvement. This, then, is information circulated to the Council of Governors as my immediate response to an ImROC strategy meeting I had attended that day.
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2 The Recovery College Network
Reality News, June 2007, Issue 65
Today, I unpacked a precious back copy of Reality News themed around A Portrait of a Colliery. Some of you may remember this magazine as an early wellbeing/recovery initiative which came to you via Cherry Knowle Hospital's Patients' Circle (2001 - 2008), that is, through peer support at its best and its earliest.
Northern Grit
Looking back to wonderful people, I am amazed at what Northern grit, co-operation, collaboration, and friendship - among even the most overwhelmed and vulnerable in society - achieved over 7 years and 77 issues! Never discount anyone - no one at all.
Recovery
I thankfully recovered, but some did not. My own view is that recovery from despair and anguish, however it is caused, is a journey - destination unknown. We each and every one of us do our best with the hand we have been dealt. Thanks largely to the Reality News Team, over 7 years I learned to laugh again ...
Quotable Quote
"The goal of the recovery process is not to become normal. The goal is to embrace our human vocation of becoming more deeply, more fully human ... to become the unique, awesome, never to be repeated human being that we are called to be." —Patricia Deegan
Gratitude
From this day forth, I gratefully throw in my hand with the national and local Recovery College Network as it enters a new phase in its evolution to make things better for all. This, too, will be an amazing journey. There's a lot more joy, energy and contribution to be had in life. Please join me.
- Marian Moore (June 2015)
- Council of Governors (and ImROC)
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3 Making Recovery a Reality
Making recovery a reality is the main priority of today's mental health services. Progress in care and support through new Care Pathways and Models of Care proceeds apace - and rightly so. With change in mind, here are the details of a book that is recommended by experts in the field. It is aimed at those involved in promoting wellbeing, whether this be their own or someone else's. I am confident it will not disappoint.
JOHNSTONE CHRIS (2010), Find Your Power: a toolkit for resilience and positive change, pub Permanent Publications, Hampshire.
Find Your Power describes how to strengthen your ability to bring about positive change in your life and our world. Drawing on insights from addictions recovery, positive psychology, storytelling and holistic science, it includes proven strategies for improving mood, building strengths and increasing effectiveness
The first part of the book introduces motivational enhancement tools that help you become clearer about your direction and more inspired to move that way.
The second part offers tools for getting through blocks by looking at creative problem solving strategies, ways of dealing with fear and methods for transforming crisis or failure into turning points.
The third part explores how to keep yourself going in the marathon of longer term change by strengthening support around you, tapping into purposes bigger than yourself and making what you do more enjoyable.
The tools described can be used for any kind of change, from tackling depression and improving your life through to addressing world issues like peak oil and climate change.
4 Finding Your Power
Dr. Chris Johnstone's book is a great find. As an outsider looking in, I see the main purpose of the new Recovery Colleges as in enabling people whose lives have been put on hold (even ruined) to find their power. With this in mind, the task would seem one of providing proven strategies for:
- improving mood,
- building strengths, and
- increasing effectiveness
Over my many years as a mental health service user, I travelled in whatever direction my intuition took me. Unfettered by convention and tradition, I roamed freely through an ever-expanding library of books and an ever-evolving range of academic disciplines. In search of a way, I designed, implemented and evaluated a curriculum, one to suit me.
A free spirit in the University of Self.
Fortune smiled on all this 'busyness' and (eventually) I found my way and made a full recovery. Last year, after 25 years, I was finally discharged from the care of the mental health services. Is it any wonder that, today, I am drawn to these simple words from the creative designers of the first ImROC Recovery College to burst into life in my part of the country.
"Everyone needs to feel supported and understood. Often, the best-placed person to do that is someone who has experienced a similar journey to your own. The Ivy Centre for Recovery Knowledge is peer led and peer run. Our courses are developed and will be delivered by people who have themselves used services and have their own stories of hope and recovery." The Ivy Centre Prospectus, Autumn 2015, Newcastle upon Tyne.
Draw back the curtain ... welcome a new community.
5 Education for Life
On reflection, I see a devotion to life-long learning as the essential ingredient in my recovery. I get on with life untroubled and unhindered by voices and visions - undoubtedly more compassionate and caring towards self and others. The voices and visions I experienced may, or may not, have been 'guides from beyond'. But, this is surely part of the 'eternal mystery'.
What we know for certain is that severe mental distress is widespread - and worldwide. It is all hands to the pump in this emergency. We are in the right place, at the right time, never having been so connected with each other. This is a time for sharing. There is much gentle direction in an evolutionary anthropologist's wise words,
"We are drowning in information, while starving for wisdom. The world henceforth will be run by synthesisers, people able to put together the right information at the right time, think critically about it, and make important choices wisely." E O WILSON
Adversity can intrude into the lives of any one - of any age - at any time:
- in any family,
- in any school,
- in any workplace.
6 Dignity in Mental Health
Peace and tranquility prevail in my life. Sadly, this is not so for others. This is why I pledge to do all within my power to support and promote IMROC and its related Recovery College Network. I see both as humanitarian ventures, each striving with dignity and good intent to change the lives of people of all diagnostic conditions - or even none at all.
- Education for Life.
- The dwelling place of the Free Spirit.
Can you become the unique, awesome, never to be repeated human being that you were called to be? This is the stuff that dreams are made of. Find your power.
Ask ...
- We do nothing worthwhile alone.
- Make recovery a reality.
- Strong teams wanted.
- Apply within.
Marian Moore BA/BSc (Open) CertEd
Wellbeing consultant/writer/speaker
*Draw Back the Curtain
"Ultimately, Personal Freedom is liberty from the restrictions of social oppression and the tragic self-oppression that is fear. Freed from these things, we have the ability to express who we truly are and pursue what we deeply desire without restrictions set by others or ourselves. When experiencing Personal Freedom, we have a heightened sense of genuineness and joy in our being. We feel unbounded, independent, and self-reliant. There is a palpable authenticity and aliveness in how we relate to others and contribute to the world." - Brendon Burchard, 2015
*The Guest House
by Rumi
This being human is a guest house.
Every morning a new arrival.
A joy, a depression, a meanness,
some momentary awareness comes
as an unexpected visitor.
Welcome and entertain them all!
Even if they're a crowd of sorrows,
who violently sweep your house
empty of its furniture,
still, treat each guest honourably.
He may be clearing you out
for some new delight.
The dark thought, the shame, the malice,
meet them at the door laughing,
and invite them in.
Be grateful for whoever comes,
because each has been sent
as a guide from beyond.
*Useful websites
(1) ImROC:
(2) Dr. Chris Johnstone - Specialist in the Psychology of Resilience:
http://chrisjohnstone.info/find-your-power
(3) Spirituality in Mental Health North East Forum
*Spirituality in Mental Health North East (SIMHNE)
- 7 July 2015
- Dear Friends
SIMHNE - OPEN FOR BUSINESS SINCE 2009
See below for sight of a useful article on the affects of adversity in childhood. This issue was also covered at the recent open meeting of SIMHNE. Thank you SIMHNE and Dr. Janis Smith for another memorable talk, one backed up by good science, long experience and sound common sense.
Childhood, disrupted by Donna Jackson Nakazawa. Adversity in childhood can create long-lasting scars, damaging our cells and our DNA, and making us sick as adults http://aeon.co/magazine/psychology/how-childhood-biography-shapes-adult-biology/
I also enjoyed the related talk from friends at 'Capacitar', this on the subject of 'Tools for Wellbeing,' such as meditation and mindfulness. This too pressed all the right buttons for a rapt audience who tried out a range of healing techniques from around the world, such as 'Active Finger Holds' from Indonesia.
For more about the aims and objectives of SIMHNE, an e-mail contact address, together with news of future meetings and seminars, please visit http://www.simhne.co.uk/
- Marian Moore
- Roving Reporter (unofficial)
The NHS 5-YEAR PLAN - Task Force Quote
I think we need to be bold, imaginative, resourceful and persistently challenging. I think we need to spend our energy on identifying the levers within our grasp, each and every one of us, to ensure that our mental health is valued equally with our physical health. Anything less is incongruent to our humanity.
Jacqui Dyer
Reflection 265
Welcome!
Rooted In Mystery
The thrilling bottom line is that I (I don’t mean Douglas, I mean the real I) is absolutely hidden from itself. I know myself as unknowable. I’m rooted and grounded in complete mystery, unknowability, ineffability, unawareness. (Douglas Harding. Face to No-Face.)
- Warm regards
- Richard Lang
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