The Mental Health Recovery Movement and Family Therapy, Part I: Consumer-Led Reform of Services to Persons Diagnosed with Severe Mental Illness

In 2004, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services issued a consensus statement on mental health recovery based on the New Freedom Commission’s recommendation that public mental health organizations adopt a “recovery” approach to severe and persistent mental illness, including services to those dually diagnosed with mental health and substance abuse issues. By formally adopting and promoting a recovery orientation to severe mental illness, the United States followed suit with other first-world nations that have also adopted this approach based on two decades of research by the World Health Organization. This movement represents a significant paradigm shift in the treatment of severe mental health, a shift that is more closely aligned with the nonpathologizing and strength-based traditions in marriage and family therapy. Furthermore, the recovery movement is the first consumer-led movement to have a transformational effect on professional practice, thus a watershed moment for the field. Part I of this article introduces family therapists to the concept of mental health recovery, providing an overview of its history, key concepts, and practice implications. Part II of this article outlines a collaborative, appreciative approach for working in recovery-oriented contexts.