The following post is from our Recovery-Centered Clinical System (RCCS) Tidbit of the Month series. Each month, the RCCS Steering Committee creates practices to support our recovery culture within our programs and among staff. Click here to learn more about the RCCS.

RCCS Tidbit of the Month: My Story

A Component of the Five Awarenesses of the RCCS Program Culture

The word sonder, coined in 2012 by Author John Koenig means the awareness that each random passerby lives a life as vivid and complex as your own, populated with ambitions, friends, routines, and worries. They are living a story that is happening invisibly around you, with relationships and connections to other lives you’ll never know existed.

This sonder experience reflects conversations typically heard in RCCS trainings. In these trainings, it’s often mentioned that we are all on a life’s journey and may meet people only once, briefly, and then continue with our journey, never to see each other again. This experience is especially true for program staff serving clients and members.

We can view this role as a small part of someone else’s life story with joy—we have a chance to connect and learn about the incredible journey this person has been on and all the possible wonders of that continued journey.

Choosing to view this experience with joy requires curiosity and nonjudgment. It requires us to be aware of our biases, compassionate, and respectful. These are all the same elements of the RCCS Program Culture Awareness. This approach is a primary intervention.

In this month’s RCCS Tidbit, we highlight the RCCS Conversation of My Story and how we can look back on the ups and downs of our life story and explore what has made us stronger and what skills and talents we have gained along the way.

Practice

By telling and thinking about your story, you can influence the rest of it. Starting today, you can change the way the story goes moving forward!

Draw out your life timeline. Label good times and events that occurred, as well as the difficult times and events that occurred.
Most importantly, focus on your comebacks and answer the following:
- What were the times/events this past year that made you stronger? When and how?
- Who or what helped you come back?
- What didn’t help?
Thinking about challenging times ahead, what protective factors might you consider that helped you bounce back again?