In his experience the people who make successful recovories from any form of behavioural health problem, such as addictions, depression and anxiety, are those who consistently go against their impulses, who push through by changing old habits and thinking patterns - and trying new things. Rehab expert Jef Mullins explains what he believes to be the essence of good recovery.
The anti- Impulse to ask for Help
The starting point for recovery is usually that initial decision that you have had enough and that you are 'sick and tired of being sick and tired'. Jef Mullins from PROMIS Clinics, Mind Campus describes how it is that very first effort to go aginst your normal impulse to protect the illness that marks the new journey. It is the moment you go against your impulse and decide to give in, or to let go, and be prepared to believe all the people who keep telling you how much you have disappointed them, how you will never amount to anything, and you stand up and ask for help.
In his article - Thinking of Recovery from Addiction, Jef says, "Asking for help is not a thing that is easily done when you are suffering, silently and guiltily. It requires the belief, or at least, as Patrick Casement describes it in “On Learning from the Patient”, the unconscious impulse to protect your addictive behaviour that makes hope that things can get better, that you can pull through."
Jef goes on to describe how, "a key responsibility for those of us who work with people in recovery, who design the therapeutic spaces that comprise our offices and clinics, is to create an environment where our patients are safe and are encouraged to take a hundred tiny risks".
It is about taking baby steps within an appropriately safe environment. These steps result in new decisions, new thoughts and even feelings. He says, "Change is scary, but they should never have to do it on their own. Change requires change and that should be applauded and enabled."
