Mental Health Recovery Model

Recovery can look different, depending on who is being asked. As stated in class discussion, "Mental health recovery is a journey of healing and transformation." Recovery can allow a person to reach self-determination and live a meaningful life based on their choice. Recovery is a collaboration between the client, family members, primary care doctors, and mental health professionals. The recovery model can assist in removing boundaries from recovery that traditional methods, such as the medical model, can otherwise create. 


The recovery model focuses on the needs of the client rather than on an organizational agenda, or a comfort level. It takes the lived experience and insights of the client and their families and uses it to create a

Those with mental illness have been viewed as violent or unpredictable over people without a mental illness. Some beliefs can even be associated with demonic or spirit possession. These are only some explanations that lead a person to believe that those who suffer from a mental illness are different. Although each individual’s experience with mental illness is unique, understanding culture, religion, and socioeconomic factors can provide a support to mental health professionals. In 2001, the World Health Organization (WHO) identified stigma and discrimination towards mentally ill individuals as “the single most important barrier to overcome in the community.” Stigma can encourage discrimination against individuals with mental illness. In turn, this effects how a person who is stigmatized views themselves. For instance, when a stigmatized person is directly denied resources like a job, housing, or healthcare, this puts that person at a disadvantage. Stigmatized people then experience discrimination at all levels, such as economic, social, legal, and institutional (Davey, 2017). In addition, stigma can prevent mentally ill individuals from seeking treatment, adhering to treatment regimens, finding employment, and living successfully within the community as a

It primarily relies on objective and measurable observation. This offers the advantage of explanations which can be understood and handled similarly in the profession giving comfort of knowing what others are talking about and what they are doing. The medical model provides useful information about patterns of illness and effectiveness of therapies. However, only allowing professionals who use this model to develop skills within a particular framework, which is continually used even when a problem requires alternative methods. The medical model incorporates measurable and quantifiable data, which provides less assurance for psychological factors that can be more important; denying the importance of external stresses and inner emotional