The roots of recovery
lie within the US survivor movement. Recovery is a set of values
that offers an alternative to a “maintenance approach”
which is seen as primarily “caring for” people. In the
recovery approach we “care about” people”. We
care about the circumstances in which people find themselves and
we work to support them to be able to bring their life back under
their own control. We care about their access to the information
that will help them make the choices they need to make, and we care
about the way in which other people impact adversely on their lives.
When we care about people we treat them with the respect and dignity
that we would expect ourselves. We recognise any disability they
may be experiencing because of their distress and work with them
to minimise the impact of the disability on their capacity to do
what they want. |
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us as practitioners this means: |
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Recognising
and supporting the personal resourcefulness of people with mental
illness. |
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Holding
an environment of hope for the client. |
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Supporting
people to “take control” to make real choices based
on objective information. |
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Creating
a relationship that encourages the growth of self-confidence,
self-esteem and self-acceptance. |
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Validating current
coping strategies and experience. |
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Supporting the
client to take positive risks, which may fail, then supporting
them to try again. |
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Actively supporting
clients to use community resources. |
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Combating discrimination
and social exclusion. |
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