‘Setting the Intention to Heal: The Starting Point of Mental Health Recovery’ by Douglas Bloch

August 11, 2014 by

dblochHere is such an important blog about healing and recovery. Thank you, Douglas.

‘“The readiness is all.” William Shakespeare

In my work facilitating depression support groups, I have discovered three essential factors to healing from depression, which I call ”the three pillars of mental health recovery.”  In my earlier blogs for Mad in America I wrote about two of these pillars  – connecting with community and using a holistic approach to treat symptoms. Now I would like to present the first and MOST IMPORTANT pillar – Setting the Intention to Heal.

I define setting the intention to heal as “making the decision that you want to get well, even if you don’t know how.”  Setting the intention to heal does not require that a person know the exact path that will heal him from a major depression or other mental health disorder. It just requires that he or she wants be well.

Read More ➔

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

‘Setting the Intention to Heal: The Starting Point of Mental Health Recovery’ by Douglas Bloch

January 15, 2014 by

dblochSome very helpful reflections from Douglas Bloch, who blogs on Mad in America.

‘“The readiness is all.” William Shakespeare

In my work facilitating depression support groups, I have discovered three essential factors to healing from depression, which I call ”the three pillars of mental health recovery.”  In my earlier blogs for Mad in America I wrote about two of these pillars – connecting with community and using a holistic approach to treat symptoms. Now I would like to present the first and MOST IMPORTANT pillar – Setting the Intention to Heal.

I define setting the intention to heal as “making the decision that you want to get well, even if you don’t know how.”  Setting the intention to heal does not require that a person know the exact path that will heal him from a major depression or other mental health disorder. It just requires that he or she wants be well.

Read More ➔

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

A wonderful blog from a recovery ally

July 15, 2013 by

DSCF1611_2Please check out Jim’s blog. Jim is the executive director of a counseling center in the States that specialises in addiction, dual diagnosis, and trauma.

I quote from the introduction to this blog: “Every day he [Jim] works to bring people to a deeper understanding of themselves in order to help them find their way to a meaningful recovery. He has a wonderful perspective on what it takes to walk that path – and how patients and counselors can work together to accomplish lasting recovery.”

Read More ➔

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

‘An old cynic now believes in Recovery’ by Maggie Messenger

June 26, 2013 by

P1010935I really liked this blog on Wired In To Recovery, which appeared in June 2010.

‘I have just returned from a visit to the SHARP Recovery service in Liverpool. Having worked within the drug and alcohol field for almost 20 years I had heard the word “Recovery” tossed about here and there and, like a revival of the “midi”, come back into fashion again!

So I took my old cynical head and was prepared to look and see what this “new and improved Recovery” looked like.

Read More ➔

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

The Recovery Formula: An essential recovery read

May 29, 2013 by

book-the-recovery-formulaI love my books, but a book has to be bl–dy good for me to start raving about it. I have a large collect of recovery books and again my standards are high. A book needs to be pretty special doe me to start promoting it.  

Well, I found one that impressed me so much that I agreed to write a Foreword. A book by Beth Burgess called, The Recovery Formula: An Addict’s Guide to getting Clean & Sober FOREVER. Here’s what I had to say:

‘Over the many years I’ve worked in this field, I have heard from so many people with a substance use problem who have struggled to understand their addiction. They had a strong desire to give up using drugs or stop drinking, but had no idea how to go about it. They had tried to stop using or drinking on numerous occasions, but kept on relapsing.

Read More ➔

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: , , , , , , ,