“The Re‐covery Model” – An integrative developmental stress–vulnerability–strengths approach to mental health

Abstract

This paper describes the “Re‐covery Model”, an innovative approach to facilitating recovery in people with enduring symptoms of psychosis and other extreme states. This model has been developed by experience‐based experts (EBEs), and mental health professionals, some of whom are also EBEs. It provides a shared understanding of the “human condition” in the bio‐socio‐psycho‐cultural and spiritual developmental context in which resilience and vulnerabilities shape the person. It is easily understood and helps service clients, clinicians, and significant others to come to a shared identification of the patterns that create vicious cycles of stigma and deteriorating function. It offers a hope‐inducing pathway towards victorious cycles of building resilience and manifesting a life worth living, and integrates intervention strategies from a variety of evidence based therapies to facilitate recovery. The approach and its implementation are discussed in detail.

Keywords:

• cognitive behaviour therapy
• families
• hearing voices
• integrative approaches
• stigma
• user‐led services

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank the EBEs, other clinicians and service clients who have shaped and contributed to the development of the Re‐covery Model through their insights, and Auckland District Health Board which has supported its development. Preparation of this paper has been partially completed as part of a New Zealand Health Research Council Foxley Fellowship awarded to Malcolm Stewart.