Relational Recovery for Mental Health Carers and Family: Relationships, Complexity and Possibilities

Whilst recovery theory in mental health has become increasingly influential, much of the focus has been on individualistic understandings. This study aimed to explore the relevance of a family-based recovery framework developed by the authors. This framework explored the CHIME (Connectedness, Hope, Identity, Meaning and Purpose, and Empowerment) tenants of recovery from the perspectives of the consumer, the family role of providing recovery-oriented support and own recovery. Two Action Learning Sets (ASLs) were conducted with Family Peer Workers: the first ASL focused on presenting and receiving feedback on the framework and this feedback was integrated into a new model, which was represented and refined at a second ASL. The results highlight that recovery processes are strongly embedded within family networks, which can be composed of different individuals, relationships, roles and experiences. Furthermore, recovery processes are not static and individual family members can be at different stages. Whilst CHIME provides a useful framework, it did not encapsulate the experiences of loss and complicated grief many families face. A relational framework that encapsulates the interaction of recovery experiences between different family members as well as grief and loss can guide clinicians to support family’s capacity to encourage recovery of individual members as well as ameliorating the family’s psychological distress. This article provides a framework for understanding a relationship-based recovery for families of people living with mental health distress. Recovery processes are strongly embedded within family networks, which can be composed of different individuals, relationships, roles and experiences. A relational framework that encapsulates the interaction of recovery experiences between different family members as well as grief and loss can guide clinicians to support family’s capacity to encourage recovery of individual members as well as ameliorating the family’s psychological distress.