Disaster Recovery from Within.
Disaster Recovery from Within.
In November 2022, we watched whole towns get covered in water as many parts of Victoria flooded. Thousands were left homeless. 12 months on and there are still families living in caravans or garages, all trying to rebuild their lives.
Recovering from a Disaster can be a scary and isolating space. Many don’t know who to talk to or what to do next, existing in a spin of emotion and fear. However, it can also be a place of inspiring strength and great resilience.
Working in the Disaster Recovery space has given me the best insight into recovery, what it is and what it looks like. My biggest take away is that recovery truly looks and feels different every day! One day you may need someone to simply listen, where as the next day you need someone to fight for you and the day after you need help with the basics, such as building a bed.
A memory that is etched in my mind is when I travelled to country Victoria. I travelled out to see a farmer whose entire property was covered in water for almost 2 months. The black water rusted anything it touched and as water receded thousands of fish were left behind. Hundreds of thousands. I will never forget arriving at the farm, getting out my car, jumping into the farmers ute and driving through the mud mixed with fish carcass. Though heartbreaking, seeing the devastation first-hand was a privilege as I was given glimpses of the world through the client’s eyes.
You see, no one else looks at the world through your eyes or feels the way you feel. No one else has your background or dreams. Therefore, to recover from an event that has turned your life upside down, the primary focus needs to be on remembering who YOU are. A disaster changes your environment and your thinking process but the one thing that doesn’t change is the very essence of who you are.
It would be my privilege to help you find YOU again.
Disaster Recovery work has shown me that total devastation can be overcome with the right tools in place. Information, support, and courage seem to be the key ingredients required to overcome disaster and open the door to recovery. Dr Brene Brown describes courage in four pillars, vulnerability, clarity of values, trust and rising skills. In the context of recovery, this looks like being brave and asking for help, remembering who you are, trusting the services around you and growing in your knowledge and skills.
Disasters come in all shapes and sizes and the recovery journey is different for everyone. At Next Door Counselling, you are met in your living space, accepted exactly as you are and partnered to begin and maintain your recovery.
Written another way you are assisted to open the door to the next chapter of your crazy wonderful life.