Adventure Ahead

Last month we placed the compass on a map of mental health and it continued to point in the direction of recovery-oriented services and beyond to previously uncharted territories. As we look into the frontier we view a landscape that requires working partnerships, people before paper, potential for personal growth, and where self-determination can make it all happen. The challenge is to get out of the established and fortified metropolis of “traditional” and “safe” services to the frontier outposts that become inclusive, livable communities of lives based in recovery and wellness.

As stated last month, part of blazing trails to the recovery and wellness frontier includes learning a new vocabulary of mutuality and acting in a way that shares risk and expertise. To successfully achieve this, those who live with challenges to their mental health must feel empowered to fully participate as partners in whatever services they seek. The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) describes Empowerment as:

Consumers have the authority to choose from a range of options and to participate in all decisions—including the allocation of resources—that will affect their lives, and are educated and supported in so doing. They have the ability to join with other consumers to collectively and effectively speak for themselves about their needs, wants, desires, and aspirations. Through empowerment, an individual gains control of his or her own destiny and influences the organizational and societal structures in his or her life.

If you are comfortable in the traditionally safe and fortified metropolis of treatment services, you can put away your compass and live in the shelter of what is offered to you. But if you are willing to abandon what mental health services do for you and partner with them to take risks necessary to gain control of your destiny, pick up your compass and let’s join together on the path to wellness.