The Main Place has
been promoting recovery and wellbeing for over 25 years. During that
time our mission has always included: “By coming to together we are
building better lives for ourselves”. In coming together we have
learned about each other and our recovery journeys. Whether it has
been seeking to over the impact of schizophrenia, bipolar disorder,
clinical depression, panic and anxiety disorders,
obsessive-compulsive disorder, trauma, etc…the common element to
our recovery has been to learn to come to terms with unquiet
minds.
Many of us have
sought to achieve recovery and well-being that minimizes the use of
med/somatic services. While we acknowledge the importance of
treatment in our recovery journey, the process of coming to terms
with our unquiet minds has been in large part a deeply personal,
self-directed process. Along the way we have found certain things to
be true:
Working a recovery plan is
essential to getting and staying as well as possible.
Part of that plan should include
what one does on a daily basis to maintain recovery and wellbeing,
(a daily maintenance plan).
Many of us can point to a persons
or persons who were instrumental in helping to navigate the journey.
Adopting a program that depends on
principles and not personalities, and doesn’t require you
‘reinvent the wheel’, can be very helpful.
Getting and staying connected to a
group of people who are working on their recovery increases the
likelihood that we will recover.
Recovery makes possible whatever
progress we make. Without recovery our progress in not sustainable.
Members of The Main Place have found
numerous things helpful in learning to live with their unquiet minds.
Some of these have included, finding someone who will listen and
cares, prayer, meditation and/or relaxation, affirmation and positive
self-talk, limiting the time you allow yourself to obsess, avoiding
people, places and things that are not good for your recovery,
learning impulse control, planfulness and responsibility, going to
recovery groups and meetings, staying busy, spending time with your
pets, listening to church music, and keeping a journal and reading it
periodically to see how your thinking has changed.
Peer Support promotes recovery and
well-being! At The Main Place we have implemented evidence-based
programs like, WRAP, BRIDGES, Wellness-Management and Recovery and
Get Connected recognizing that ‘one size doesn’t fit all’. We
look forward to hearing from others about what works for them and
hope that sharing ours provides hope and help with yours.
