Recovery can be an instrument of life

Going through illness, hardships, grief, trial and error, can bring about many personal challenges. Whether a physical, mental, emotional or spiritual form of complaint, each of us has the capacity to try to manage. Our management could be different from one person to the next. However, each of us can find our instruments that can work or ease our symptoms. 

When a young person picks up a guitar for the first time it may seem overwhelming, to play how they wish they could play. The wish to play can drive a person to practice. One person may accomplish this in a short space of time. Another will need lots of patience and a longer length of time to achieve their desired sound. Some may never achieve their wish, though can find a use or comfort in the art of playing.

Similar to a person who suffers from mental health distress, the instrument they use (medication, therapy, alternative or holistic) may bring their wish to have a healthy well-being. This can happen quickly or, like learning the guitar, it has a slower progress. Or it may not happen how they hoped, though it could open up a new pathway or direction in their life. Similar to one door closing another opening. 

Being creative with possible instruments is a forte of many therapists. My philosophy is to open the therapeutic toolkit and offer the possibility of trying a tool, with the hope it can bring a good effect. This proposal is made after lots of listening and reflecting. In the exchange of the possibility of trying a new resource, it’s helpful to reassure the person that if it’s not useful then the possibilities of other techniques may be tried. For me, this is the essence of integrative therapy.

When someone becomes ill, it may be hard for them to accept. The loss of how things were. The pain of their condition. The dream that has been squashed. So ask yourself some new questions. What can I do? Where could I be now? Going forward, what could be useful to try? Then it’s the trial and error many go before us. Recovery can open possibilities to start again. To move into new elements of life. Meet people who may have not crossed our path before. Progress like we never imagined. So the instrument or instruments we choose help from could facilitate not only recovery but a whole new world and outlook on life. From something painful, dark and lonely to something beautiful, bright and wholesome.

If you’re searching for your instruments then it could arise anywhere you engage. Counselling could be the right option for you. Here you could find a place in yourself to be happy once again. You could become the person you are. Finding a renewed positive direction. A new potential that awaits your disposal. A new zest to ignite and journey with. A new song to create and form as a band or a solo guitarist of life you once believed in.