“ Growth is a spiral process, doubling back on itself, reassessing and regrouping .” Juliea Margaret Cameron  Many recovery models treat recovery as a pass/fail situation. Each relapse is experienced as a total failure necessitating starting over. Reset the clock to day one. The previous months and sometimes years of recovery are no longer counted. As if all of the work, tears, and growth are nothing. No wonder people get discouraged and believe they may never recover. A spiritually affirming approach connects to cycles of nature. Growth in nature is often in spiral patterns and it is never in a perfectly straight line. When spiraling in a growth pattern we are frequently at the same issue as we progress around and as we grow, the spiral takes us to that struggle less and less often, with more strength and skills each time.

  Learning that a son, daughter, partner, or other loved one has a serious mental illness such as schizophrenia, psychosis, bipolar disorder or depression is often a painful experience. People experience a wide range of emotions including denial, fear, confusion, depression, and anger. Sometimes misplaced guilt when learning of a possible genetic component is an issue. […] The post When someone you love has a serious mental illness appeared first on Heart and Mind Connections.