Recovery & living well
Progress can mean more than a change in symptoms. Explore what you want more room for in your life and the support that could help you move toward it.
Your life is wider than a symptom score.
Personal recovery involves building a meaningful life in your own terms, whether or not you still experience symptoms. It is distinct from the clinical goal of reducing symptoms.
Your goals can include connection, interests, health and everyday choices. This is not a fixed set of stages, a race or a promise that difficulties will disappear.
Based on Central and North West London NHS Foundation Trust · Humber Teaching NHS Foundation Trust
Room for the life you want to live.
- What matters
Your own meaning and goals
- Your connections
People and places that offer support
- Everyday choices
Activities and needs you want room for
- Your care
Health support and a plan you can review
Your goals can be broader than symptom change.
Personal recovery can concern agency, connection and a meaningful life alongside health challenges. It is not a requirement to become symptom-free or feel hopeful on demand.
What matters
An ordinary role, relationship or activity may be important to you.
What helps
Care, community and practical support may contribute differently.
What changes
Needs and goals can be reconsidered over time.
Based on CNWL NHS
What would you like more room for?
Reflection areas you can choose; they do not measure how “recovered” you are.
Connection
A relationship or sense of connection that matters to you.
Meaningful activities
An activity you would like to enjoy or return to.
Health & practical needs
A health or practical need you want supported.
Your choices
A choice or goal you want included in your care.
Based on Central and North West London NHS Foundation Trust · Humber Teaching NHS Foundation Trust
Your goals can sit beside clinical review.
A conversation with your care team can include what has changed, what helps and what you want to work toward. You can ask how the plan will be reviewed.
A symptom measure, when appropriate, describes one part of the picture. It cannot decide how meaningful your life is or whether your progress counts.
Based on Central and North West London NHS Foundation Trust · Humber Teaching NHS Foundation Trust · NHS
- 1What matters to you?
An activity, connection or choice you want room for.
- 2What helps or gets in the way?
Support, circumstances or a need you want understood.
- 3What could be reviewed?
A goal, a practical step or part of your care plan.
Support can address health and the life around it.
Explore the options and ask what fits your circumstances and needs.
Based on Central and North West London NHS Foundation Trust · Humber Teaching NHS Foundation Trust · NHS · NIMH
A setback can be a reason to review support.
You can ask which parts of a plan still fit and what needs to change. There is no required staircase of recovery or universal finish date.
Professional review can address symptoms and treatment, while practical or community support helps with other priorities. Ask who can help coordinate these parts.
Find support. Prepare your next step.
Explore a tool, prepare a conversation or find someone to talk to. Choose what feels useful to you.
Use the free guides to learn what to expect or find someone to talk to. If you need urgent help, go straight to the country-labeled support contacts.
Find urgent supportPrepare for a conversation
A few prompts to help you explain what you have noticed and what you would like help with.
- A simple notes builder
- Copy your notes to keep
- No account needed
You decide how much to write and share.
Find your wordsFind your next kind of support
Explore where to begin with everyday support, professional help or an urgent conversation.
- Ways to ask for help
- Country-specific crisis contacts
- Support at your own pace
If you need urgent help, go straight to support.
Find supportYour first sentence does not need to be perfect.
You could name something you want to do, keep or understand, and ask what support would make it more possible. You can start small without defining your whole future.
Based on Central and North West London NHS Foundation Trust · Humber Teaching NHS Foundation Trust
“I would like my care to include this goal for my everyday life. Can we talk about what would help and how we could review the plan?”Make it sound like you
Your questions, with room for nuance.
You can read just the answer you need.
Must my recovery look like someone else’s?
No. Personal recovery is defined around the person’s own priorities and circumstances, rather than a standard sequence.
Based on CNWL NHS
Where this information comes from.
Use this hub to learn and prepare questions. It does not diagnose you or recommend a personal treatment plan. By Selfmora editorial; sources checked . Updated .
Additional explanations and examples: sources consulted . Examples illustrate ideas; they do not assess your personal health. Your questions
- What do we mean by recovery?
- Recovery: meeting needs and achieving goals
- Mental health assessments and care review
- Help for mental illnesses