Transforming Lives
March 2017
Living in Recovery – Picture progress
A FIELD TRIP TO KEMAH Gessner Day Habilitation participants make memories for a lifetime
Client Natalie ( left ) proudly shows her poster with Rehab Clinician Monica McDermott . The poster showcases Natalie ’ s progress in accomplishing her goal to better express herself .
What does recovery look like ? When you fracture a bone , you get a cast to help it heal . Once the cast is off and you are able to return to normal activities , it is assumed that you are recovered from the fracture . For those living with mental illness , though , recovery is not as simple to define because each person ’ s journey is unique . The children and adolescents who visit our Southwest Family Resource Center are illustrating their individual stories of recovery in a colorful and visible way by creating recovery posters .
Each young person receiving services works with a rehab clinician to determine a list of achievable goals based on the child or adolescent ’ s unique situation . This is known as a recovery plan .
Monica McDermott is a rehab clinician at the Southwest Family Resource Center . She believes that this treatment component is empowering to her clients .
" Creating a recovery plan with them allows them the opportunity to think about what they want to work towards , and then we provide them the tools to help them do that ," McDermott said .
When the client has made progress on specific goals , they are presented with the opportunity to a create a poster to illustrate their progress and recognize their accomplishment .
" I think it ' s really important to celebrate recovery because it definitely instills hope in the kids and also the parents . Many of the kids that we work with have a lot of stress , external stressors and internal stressors , and they have to deal with focusing on where they can improve ," McDermott said .
" For the kids , they get really excited about it . They ' re really happy and proud especially since the majority of time they might hear a lot of criticism , so this allows them to have something to be proud of and to look forward to . Once we do one , they want to do it again for another goal , and so it motivates them to work towards another goal . "
The poster is created in two to three sessions with the rehab clinician . The client chooses the theme and their own words to describe their improvement .
" They break down exactly what made them successful . With that , they see a lot of the work that they were able to do ," McDermott said . " It ' s not like just completing homework . It ' s empowering for them . It ' s a colorful , fun project ."
The posters are displayed throughout the clinic . Clients receive two certificates of completion , one to take home with them and one to display at the clinic .
The walls of the clinic are now decorated with multiple client posters that paint a hopeful picture of recovery for all to see . After all , this is what recovery looks like .
THE PES RENOVATION Providing a more suitable space for children and adolescents in crisis
EMPLOYEE SPOTLIGHT : JOEL L . CARR , PH . D . Helping to improve quality
THE COMMUNITY TRAINING DEPARTMENT Empowering with knowledge
Transforming Lives March 2017
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