-
The Evolution of Recovery-Oriented Services in NYC and at MHA-NYC
New York City has a long and proud history of providing a wide range of recovery-oriented programs for individuals with serious and persistent mental illness. Following in the activist path of Clifford Beers who started the modern mental health movement in 1909, six former psychiatric patients and...
-
SAMHSA’s Working Definition of Recovery
For over 20 years, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) has fostered recovery and social inclusion for Americans with mental and/or substance use disorders. Over the years, it has become increasingly apparent that a practical, comprehensive working definition of...
-
Recovery 101: For Those Who Thought They Couldn’t Recover
Advocate for the mental health recovery movement Pat Deegan wrote, “The professionals called it apathy and lack of motivation. They blamed it on our illness. But they don’t understand that giving up is a highly motivated and goal-directed behavior. For us, giving up was a way of surviving....
-
Embracing Agency-Wide Change: Delivering Person-Centered Services at MHA Westchester
Since its organization shortly after World War II, the Mental Health Association of Westchester County (MHA) has provided services to meet the changing needs of our county. MHA quickly became known as the agency which provided services to those most in need, in an atmosphere of respect and focus on...
-
Recovering the Person in Treatment
Person-centered recovery could well be reframed as recovering the person; for isn’t that what treatment is ultimately about? At Wellspring, a multi-service mental health agency in Bethlehem, Connecticut, we base our relational approach to treatment and education on a multi-dimensional concept of...
-
The Family Role in Recovery: Understanding the Illness and Embracing the Process
The fear and distress are unimaginable when serious mental illness strikes families. They become confused when their loved one acts in an erratic or unfamiliar way and may feel helpless when a child or adult refuses treatment. New concerning behaviors emerge, and aspects of their loved one’s...
-
It’s on My Plate
One morning in May of 2009 I woke up in the inpatient psychiatric ward of a regional medical center in western New Jersey. I had admitted myself through the ER the night before - after a suicide attempt. I would be diagnosed with major depression, general anxiety disorder, and substance abuse...
-
From the Publisher – Declining Physical Health: The Other Side of the Recovery Process
When I was struggling through my 10-year battle with depression, the most prevalent thing in the back of my mind each and every day was a silent prayer to recover and no longer suffer with the daily feelings of hopelessness and despair that were the hallmarks of my illness. Nothing else...
-
In My Own Voice: The Disability of Mental Health
Mental illness is known to be a devastating disease that is well understood by the treatment community. In recent years however, we have heard more input from patients (commonly referred to as “consumers”) about their experience with mental illnesses of all types. Clinicians have known...
-
New Directions in Healthcare and the Promise of Recovery
In case you didn’t notice, this is a time of radical change in the behavioral health and health fields. However, challenging the policy and fiscal landscapes have become, it’s important to remember that we’re all still in the business of helping people to recover, achieve goals, and be part...
