Personal Stories
'Working Towards the Future'
Workways
This booklet about people‘s experiences of employment, and success in their personal journeys, has been produced by Workways, following a suggestion from the Workways Support Group.
As Glenn Robert says in his Foreword:
"People with severe challenges to their mental health have previously been some of the least able to get and keep work and employment – despite the great majority wanting to.
It is therefore very important and impressive to hear stories of potential and possibility, how some people have managed to open or re-open the door on work and employment. It is something to learn from and celebrate as a source of hope and the stories that follow uphold this hope, illustrate the struggle and offer understanding and inspiration to others."
Here are some stories from people in recovery around Devon.
'Sharing Recovery Stories' Leaflet
Choosing to share stories of personal recovery
This leaflet from Recovery Devon invites you to submit your own story of recovery and offers guidance on how to do so.
'Many people struggle to overcome mental health difficulties. One in four of us will experience some form of mental illness at some point in our lives.
Recovery is possible. When we can choose a more meaningful life, even when we still have occasional or ongoing difficulties, we feel more in control.
This gives us strength and gives hope to others.
Often small details, and people who take special care, make a big difference.
We want to help people wishing to tell their own stories.'
Gathering and Publishing Personal Stories
by Julie Liebrich
Julie developed and edited the wonderful book, 'A Gift of Stories', while she was Commissioner for the Mental Health Commission, Wellington, New Zealand.
She has very kindly given us permission to make available her own Introduction and Reflections from her book. It was the inspiration for many of the collections of recovery stories that have appeared since, including the collection, 'Beyond the Storms, Reflections on Personal Recovery in Devon'.
The complete book, 'A Gift of Stories' is available for purchase online.
Glenn Roberts has provided a Preface, in which he writes:
"Julie Leibrich set the standard and pointed the way for many of us when, in 1999, she led publication of, 'A Gift of Stories: discovering how to deal with mental illness.' There have been personal accounts of mental illness and the struggle for recovery before but this was new and special in representing a collaborative endeavour between the people offering their stories and the compilers and publishers, with the overall intent that the book would be a source of hope and guidance to others - and it was.
More than 10 years later it remains the model and sets the standard for others to follow not only because of its attractive format and engaging contents but also because of the guiding values and respect it embodies for all its contributors and those who offer their stories as a gift to others."
Devon Partnership Trust recently published this collection of stories of personal recovery from mental illness,
It contains 30 stories and poems from 26 contributors and was edited by Laurie Davidson and Linden Lynn.
As it says in the introduction, "Rediscovering Ourselves with Recovery Stories":
"Recovery story telling is not easy.
These stories are a tribute to the courage and resilience of their authors. People have shared with us their reflections, as they move towards self knowledge and wellbeing. The masks have gone; new voices speak. There is here a fusion of emotion and reason, which carries honesty and hope."
To download it (pdf, 76 pages), please click here.
Hard copies can be obtained (free, donation requested) from Jayne Clarke,
email jayneclarke@nhs.net
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