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Personal Recovery

Wellbeing

The Oxford English Dictionary defines well-being as ‘the state of being comfortable, healthy or happy’. However, much like the term ‘recovery’, this can mean a lot of different things to different people. The CHIME factors, which are described elsewhere on this website, are a useful way of thinking about well-being. Another popular model is the […]

Empowerment

At a basic level, the term ’empowerment’ simply means ‘becoming powerful’. Building personal empowerment involves reflecting on our personal values, skills and goals and being prepared to adjust our behaviour in order to achieve our goals. Personal empowerment also means being aware that other people have their own set of values and goals which may […]

Meaning in Life

Having a sense of meaning and purpose is essential for humans as we need to feel that we have a role. This role might be through our connections, our sense of hope or our identity. So, we may get out of bed on a morning because we want to see someone important, because we think […]

Identity

Identity is simply ‘who we are’. It comes from many things – what we do, what we are interested in, our beliefs, our relationships and our experiences. People who have received a mental health diagnosis can start to believe that this is the most significant part of their identity. The attitudes, behaviour and language of […]

Hope and Optimism

Hope is a central aspect of personal recovery and some would say that recovery is impossible without hope. It is central to sustaining motivation and supporting expectations of an individually fulfilling life. Why have hope? Because recovery is not only possible, it is almost inevitable. Many studies show that most people who experience mental health […]

Connectedness

There is strong evidence that indicates that feeling close to and valued by other people is a fundamental human need and one that contributes to wellbeing. Humans are social creatures and relationships are vital to building our support network and strengthening our identity. Although connectedness often refers to our connections with other people, it can […]

What is personal recovery?

Personal recovery is used to describe the process of building a meaningful and satisfying life, with or without ongoing difficulties/symptoms. This is different to what is meant by clinical recovery, which refers to the point where symptoms have gone, for example, a person will have recovered from a cold when they stop coughing and sneezing. […]