This afternoon I went for a 6K run. It was hot, I didn't really want to go and I thought about just skipping my run. I told myself that if I went for 10 minutes and still didn't want to run, I would turn back. As Gene Simmons, Paul Stanley and the crew rocked out in my ear phones, I began to think about a topic I had recently presented on at work.Vicarious Resilience refers to the positive paradigm shift that occurs in helping professionals. When working with folks who have experienced challenging life circumstances we tend to see the harm, damage and negative trauma folks have experienced. I became aware of this early this year- after completing an assessment- I would say to
myself "that poor person." Implicit in my thinking was a deficit understanding of this persons reality; I neglected the strength of their recovery. Vicarious resilience in its simplest terms is the shifting of the "helper" to learn resilience from the people they support. If you're interested in my slide-show presentation- please let me know and I will share it.
I began to think of vicarious resilience on my run. I've been completing assessments for a new group I am running in the community. As I was running I began to think of the stories of recovery from the past few weeks. Stories of diagnosis and life experiences that exceed anything I had experienced. I thought about their journey and felt a sense of inspiration to continue to heal and get well. The incredible journey of people I work with instil a sense of hope in me, not that I will recovery to optimal health, but that there is a life to live admit mental health crisis.
As I looked down at my watch- I had been running for 40:00 minutes. The consumer/survivors I belong to and support gave me the inspiration to continue to take care of myself. This is a form of support that transcends the dominate and mainstream mental health system- this is a system where there aren't clients, or patients; there is only a bond between two people.
