NURS11163 Recovery Approach to Mental Health

Running head: MENTAL HEALTH- NURSING
Clinical recovery and mental health challenges
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1MENTAL HEALTH- NURSING
Introduction- Mental health recovery can be defined as the journey which involves
transformation and healing of a person with mental health problems, thereby enabling him to
lead a peaceful life in the community, while striving to achieve full potential. A recovery from
mental disorder therefore helps these people to improve their health and wellness (Dihoff &
Weaver, 2012). It also provides an opportunity to live a self directed life. Stigma and social
attitudes to mental disorders impose restrictions on people who experience ill health (Mead &
Copeland, 2000).
Key concepts- There are certain fundamental concepts that facilitate easy recovery of mental
patients. Several internal and external conditions such as hope, healing, connection,
empowerment, positive culture of healing help in ensuring that the services are supporting
recovery of the consumers. The key elements are as follows:
 Hope- Mental health recovery provides the concerned patients with a motivating and
essential message that helps them dream of a better future (Tew et al., 2012). The
message helps them hope that he will be successful in overcoming the barriers and
limitations can that they confront in daily life. Learning and unconscious assimilation
influence hopes (Mead & Copeland, 2000). However, it can also be fostered by family,
peers, friends, healthcare providers and other members of the community. Thus, hope
acts as a catalyst in accelerating the recovery process.
 Responsibility- It acts as one of the key concepts in mental recovery. It involves taking
actions that help the person to take control of their lives and gives them the authority to
select from a range of options that help in their recovery. They take responsibility of their
self-car and recovery journey (Mead & Copeland, 2000). It requires enormous courage to

2MENTAL HEALTH- NURSING
work towards their goals. They strive to learn coping strategies that accelerates the
healing process.
 Education- It acts as a vehicle that focuses on interconnectedness of the spirit, mind, body
and the community. They accelerate the recovery process by broadening the social,
intellectual and emotional horizons of the mentally challenged people (Slade et al., 2014).
They provide opportunities to expand the knowledge and skills. Education services help
the concerned people to engage in mutual relationship with good learning outcomes
(Geenen et al., 2015). They also work towards abolishing any prejudice or discrimination
associated with mental illness.
 Self-advocacy- It is defined as the empowerment of individuals who suffer from mental
health problems. It provides them with the authority to select treatment methods from a
range of options and also allows them to participate in the decision making process
(Pickett et al., 2012). The people acquire the ability to join other consumers and are able
to speak for themselves about their desires, wants, needs and aspirations (Sklar, Groessl,
O'Connell, Davidson & Aarons, 2013). This empowerment helps gain control of their
fate.
 Support- Mutual support focuses on sharing of experiential skills and knowledge that are
related to social learning (Chinman et al., 2014). This support plays a crucial role in the
recovery process. The consumers are encouraged to engage other patients or mentally
disabled people in the recovery process and they provide each other with a feeling of
belonging (Corrigan, Kosyluk & Rüsch, 2013). The family also provides the much
needed support to people living with mental illness and assists those people to live and
work successfully in the community.

3MENTAL HEALTH- NURSING
Clinical versus Personal recovery- The concepts of clinical and personal recovery often
overlap. Clinical recovery refers to the idea that focuses on the concept of emergence of an idea
from the expertise of mental health professionals, such as, psychiatrists and psychologists. It
involves the process of getting rid of the symptoms of mental disorder. This works towards
restoration of social functioning and helps the person to return to normal life (Sabin, Stuber,
Rocha & Greenwald, 2015). Thus, in clinical recovery, the disorder is diagnosed and treated by
professionals in order to reduce the symptoms and cure the consumers. On the other hand,
personal recovery illustrates the concept that people who have experienced mental illness result
in emergence of an idea. Thus, this form of recovery leads the mentally disabled people to a
journey that helps them live a meaningful life. It also helps in valuing their roles (Milbourn,
McNamara & Buchanan, 2014). Thus, this kind of recovery encompasses a personal and unique
method of altering the values, attitudes, goals, feelings and skills of the consumers. It facilitates
the process of obtaining a satisfying and contributing life.
Development of recovery- The notion that recovery is not possible for people living with
mental illness was prevalent for many years, which resulted in institutionalizing people and
isolating them from their community. Mental illness recovery was underpinned by the negative
beliefs related to poor prognosis and discrimination (Hall, Wren & Kirby, 2013). The recovery
movement began in the United States, in the early 1970s when people started writing accounts
and experiences of their mental illness. This led to the development of frameworks in clinical
setting that reinforced the concept of psychiatric rehabilitation of the mentally disabled people
(Kidd, McKenzie & Virdee, 2014).
Thus, the main impetus for recovery model development was related to the survivor
movement. The concept of recovery soon reached New Zealand, Canada, United Kingdom and

4MENTAL HEALTH- NURSING
Australia. The Mental Patient’s Association in Vancouver helped in building drop-in centers and
provided residential assistance to mental health consumers, which increased the focus on
recovery programs (Gehart, 2012). The development of coherent and rigorous recovery policies
in New Zealand was influenced by the interaction of psychiatric survivors with the organizations
of the U.K. and the United States.
Lived experiences- People with lived experience are employed in roles that help them to
identify mental health challenges owing to their first-hand experience of mental health
discrimination and recovery (Perlman et al., 2017). Thus, lived experience helps in applying the
learning and knowledge that the consumers have gained through self-experience (Light et al.,
2014).
These lived experiences help to support other consumers in their recovery process,
increase their self-determination and enables improvement of mental wellbeing. In other words,
they help in building the resilience and strength of the consumers by forming a supportive
network (Solomon & Gioia, 2016). Therefore, lived experience improves social work practice
and enhances the recovery of mental health consumers by increasing their expertise.
To conclude, it can be stated that mental health recovery involves making choices that
provide emotional and physical support to the mentally challenged people in order to increase
their wellbeing. It focuses on engaging them in meaningful activities and building social
networks and relationships. Thus, they are able to lead a stable and safe life.

5MENTAL HEALTH- NURSING
References
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