Lesson 4: Fundamental Components of Recovery Attention Recovery is a process that has many different meanings in our society. Some of us are still in recovery from September 11 Twin Towers attack. Others may be more familiar with the Alcoholic Anonymous 12 steps to recovery, still others from some other tragic or unpleasant traumatic experience. The recovery philosophy of AA has influenced many other areas of recovery including recovery from mental illness. Learning Outcomes Upon completion of this lesson's material, students will be able to:
Teaching Resource for the Consensus Statement of Mental Health Recovery
Successful community based programming has evolved to a community based individual recovery process or model from an institutional model. This transition started after the Olmstead Decision requiring treatment professionals to adapt their methods to a more community oriented approach. The ideal of this approach promotes giving the individual consumer more choices and increases their responsibility to make those choices. In institutional settings individual choice was almost non existent. However in the community this system of treatment adds significant responsibility to the individual consumer. Unless the client makes a conscious choice to recover, it will not happen. While there still may be a need for medication and other medical treatment when biomedical imbalance exists, this new process transcends the medical model with a significant paradigm shift. It adds a spiritual dimension to the healing process. The spiritual dimension adds the awareness that some consciousness exists beyond one's ego and body. The consumer accepts where they are, become present in the moment and do what needs to be done. This is spiritual in that it relies on faith in something yet unseen. Some people choose to relate this to a higher power. Others consider it a function of the mind, in any event the belief that a better situation is possible must be held by the consumer before adaptation to the community occurs. This way of thinking can be encouraged and nurtured by the community rehabilitation professional but ultimately the consumer must make this attitude their own. Recovery will not begin to happen until the client believes it is possible and the awakened consciousness of this possibility is present. Community rehabilitation professionals (e.g., case managers, employment specialists, job coaches, and other community support staff) certainly have a significant role to play in encouraging consumers to recover, but ultimately it is the responsibility of the consumer. Assessment Lesson 4 Discussion Share stories in regard to your own process of recovery or achievement (achievement can follow the same sort of process as recovery). How do these experiences give you insight into the lived experience of mental illness as they contend with their own process of recovery? Lesson 4 Quiz Review the 10 Components of Recovery across the various resources in the Lesson Plan. Select three and explain how that particular component would be important, or would play an important role, related to employment The questions in the actual quiz are going to appear as they do below:
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