Wellness and recovery programs: a model of self-advocacy for people living with mental illness

People living with mental illnesses, their family members, and advocacy groups have long encouraged the mental health system to adopt a greater focus on wellness and recovery. A superficial interpretation of wellness and recovery may cause some clinicians to devalue the possibility and importance of wellness and recovery for the people they serve, and this may inhibit or disrupt the development of a working therapeutic relationship. This column reviews definitions of wellness and recovery and their applicability to serious mental illnesses and provides an overview of several programs that promote wellness and recovery. In addition to peer-led courses, ongoing peer support and a range of applications for mobile devices can help consumers lead a self-directed and affirming life that facilitates symptom management and reduction and maximizes wellness. By understanding wellness and recovery and how people living with mental illnesses achieve these goals, psychiatrists may build rapport with their patients and improve outcomes. By familiarizing oneself with new resources available to people with serious mental illness, mental health clinicians may be able to suggest supports that extend far beyond the time constraints of our current treatment model.