Mental health recovery is not only a hard to define process, and a deeply personal journey. We know people can recover and there is hope, but it takes a lot of resiliency. At Victor, we are founded on the belief that everyone deserves to soar, despite any mental or behavioral hurdles in their way.

As we continue our series on Resiliency and Recovery in mental health, we look through the patient’s perspective on this topic. Many people have a story about having to overcome mental health issues and it’s these struggles and triumphs that connect us as humans. This human connection is now more important than ever.

To read our story, Resiliency and Recovery: Mental Health Professionals [CLICK HERE]

Our Story

Many years ago, a 10-year-old boy named Dave Favor was taken from his family’s home and placed in an orphanage. This experience left him feeling lost, abandoned by those he loved, and afraid. His hardship inspired him to create Victor, an organization that helps troubled children and families succeed in life.

He believed that every individual should have the best chance for success and a happy and full life by treating them in a community setting modeled more like a family than an institution. Because of this philosophy, Victor infuses hope and compassion into its model of treatment. We’ve learned these principles of recovery better help those struggling with mental illness and behavioral issues.

Today’s Reality

Resiliency and hope in mental health recovery are necessary, if not critical in finding success. When someone is in the throes of addiction, depression, an ongoing ailment, or new diagnoses their situation can seem bleak. It feels like their life is being controlled by something they have no power over.

Getting through the day is difficult, even with basic tasks like eating, hygiene, and leaving the house. People can feel like they are a burden or disappointment to their loved ones. We need patients and clients to know that their situation is never hopeless or as dark as it seems.

Those undergoing mental and behavioral health treatment need to practice resiliency because the road to recovery is often long and complex. But those things can also be to their benefit. There can be wins all along their healing journey if we can just keep working with them to stay their course.

Mental illness recovery is more possible today than ever before because our knowledge and resources have grown exponentially. Someone going through treatment now is receiving the best methods and technology available.

Recovery Plan

We need to look at the whole picture if we are to truly set our clients up for a successful recovery and ensure the most resiliency. There are four areas in life to support recovery:

• Health: Overcoming or managing one’s disease(s) or symptoms and making informed, healthy choices that support physical and emotional well-being.
• Home: Have a stable and safe place to live.
• Purpose: Engage in meaningful daily activities, such as a job or school, volunteering, caring for your family, or being creative. Work for independence, income, and resources to participate in society.
• Community: Build relationships and social networks that provide support, friendship, love, and hope.

By incorporating all these principles, our clients don’t just say they no longer have a mental illness or that their symptoms are under control. Instead, they say they have their lives back and better than ever. One of the best examples of this was our Wraparound Treatment with Jo.

Jo was an adolescent we started working with in 2018. She had previous trauma and was struggling at home and in the school setting, she was also experiencing hardships with her foster care placement. Mentally she was struggling with self-harming behaviors, suicidal ideation, and several hospitalizations.

Our goals were to encourage Jo to learn positive coping skills while we worked through her underlying needs. We also considered her need for consistency and a support team as she faced her current and future challenges. For the next two years, we showed her that constant support and built a relationship with her as she healed.

As we walked with her through her recovery, we learned more about her and what she liked to do. We incorporated her favorite activities to create healthy coping mechanisms. We worked with her foster family and encouraged them to do family activities and eat together so Jo could feel more comfortable at home. She eventually felt comfortable enough to express herself to her foster parents, identify her emotions and use her coping skills.

Jo is a great example of resiliency in recovery for a person in treatment. With the help of a compassionate community, her own dedication, and consistency she was able to graduate from her treatment and thrive.

Defining Recovery

When a person begins their recovery journey, they are deciding to take back control of their life. It’s an act of courage. In the entire mental health process, the person in treatment is showing the most resiliency. They are having to learn new ways of thinking, making life changes, and they must choose to keep going even after failures and setbacks. They don’t let the bad days win.

At Victor we believe in honoring and believing in our clients. We share our expertise, encouragement, and hope with them. Without their resiliency to keep doing the work, none of what we do would be possible.

We hold this value as an entire organization across all our services. If you would like to work to help people find a new life beyond their mental illnesses, we invite you to see what jobs we have available.