2023-10-12 13:11:24
Prefaced by Luc Vigneault, peer helper and research coordinator in Quebec, “My recovery diary. Tools and Reflections” is primarily aimed at users of mental health and psychiatry, as support for their ability to act. Created by the Sans Souci Clinic, in Brussels (Belgium), this richly illustrated document (testimonials, quotes and drawings) can be shared with loved ones and caregivers, “ because getting better and better requires equipping yourself, thinking and meeting ».
S’equip
According to the authors of this guide, “ the tool is what allows work to be done. Here, work on ourselves. It might be a simple pencil and piece of paper or, more elaborate, a crisis plan or network map. It can also be our own experience. There are countless recovery tools. We chose several. These are accompanied by a wealth of information and questions that we are asked to answer but at our own pace, without any form of obligation. A peer helper from a place of connections, for example, can support us in this work of knowing ourselves. The bond created with him/her will make our work truly interesting and hopeful!«
Roftenand
Recovering also means reflecting and exercising critical thinking. The last two chapters tackle this more precisely. There are also many questions there. What are our user rights? How can we work to horizontalize the patient – caregiver relationship? What is partnership and participation? The user’s choice is at the center. Yes but still? How to communicate and realize that it is the user who is recovering and not the caregiver who supports, comforts and accompanies them?
Smeet me
« What if we started by meeting? » Thus ends the last and fifth chapter devoted to the
stigma and self-stigma, major obstacles to the recovery of suffering people
psychic. This is an additional question which suggests a small way out. Since, like
writes the philosopher Marie Absil, “ when the “crazy people” have a face, a story, when they are our neighbors, people we meet on a daily basis, we can observe a change in behavior over time. (…). What would happen if care no longer focused primarily on users’ shortcomings but also focused on people’s abilities?“. This is exactly one of the major challenges of the concept of recovery: focusing on people’s strengths and no longer on their weaknesses.
Un notebook to give meaning
« My recovery diary. Tools and Reflections » represents the continuation of a first notebook focused on recovery as such and published in 2018: “ Patricia’s flower », mental health recovery notebook for the user, their loved one and the professional. These two notebooks are the result of collaborations between peer helpers, caregivers, researchers and correctors. Without forgetting the many users who offered us their testimonies.
• Both notebooks are available free of charge in paper format by contacting the Sans Souci Clinic on 02/478.04.33 or to download here. (They are 50 and 118 pages respectively).
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#notebook #recovery
