I’ve been working with a client now for some time who has had suicidal ideation, eating issues, depression, anxiety and other struggles throughout our time together.

Over the last couple of months there have been big changes – it’s been scary moving from troubled to less troubled and now feeling ‘okay’ with self. We have discussed how strange it is to feel okay when for so long the struggle was all that was known.

It’s bizarre, odd, strange and so unfamiliar to be in a different space. Although the client hated the old pattern of her life, the unfamiliar place of being okay has also been hard to accept and trust that it’s possible.

This made me think of how even though clients don’t like the difficult, the way mental health issues consume them, it is known and familiar and to move away from that is risky. My client is now navigating unfamiliar territory and gaining strength day by day to walk in this new landscape.

Feeling stuck, trapped and frightened is unbearable so the bridging into the new requires support, understanding and perseverance.

We now move towards maintenance and finding ways to sustain this new growth, insight and personal understanding.

The courage to step and stay on this bridge is phenomenal to see.