THE TEAM

What most excites me about the work I do is the moment when an individual understands that the freedom, hope and meaning of being true to him or herself is worth the risk. The moment when that seed of hope is planted, when the dream of living his or her own life in real time seems achievable, and when the possibility of feeling at peace with him or herself becomes not just doable, but a necessity.

What we do at The Recovery Centre is to hold that reality for the individual until they can hold it for themselves. We don’t lose faith. We respect the rich experiences and influences that each individual has had to negotiate; the sense we make collaboratively of these experiences, the transcending of them, and the search for a broader meaning beyond them, are the keys to the individual’s freedom.

I never cease to feel profoundly moved by the great courage it takes us to face ourselves, and to allow another person to see who we really are. I believe that only by risking this openness can we set ourselves free.

Inspiration:
Carl Jung, for his assertion that the individual knows his or her truth better than anyone else.
Raymond Carver, for writing about the ways in which we fail to hear or understand each other.
Yalom, for so eloquently taking psychotherapy through the nuclear family into a wider philosophical, existential dimension.
Stephen Smith, for the way he champions the souls of the children in his care at Alleyn’s.