Recovery focus grows, even if under the surface

Of all places one might expect to find an update on recovery, it might not automatically be the American Psychiatric Association. Yet in December (2011) and January (2012) its monthly journal Psychiatric Services had no fewer than six articles in addition to several editorial opinions that together directly led to investigating whether time recovery centers and focus on recovery be considered a best practice. While noting that recovery is a process of coming to terms with one's illness rather than the elimination of its symptoms, all of the studies underscored that with treatment practice focusing on a person's recovery plan, a significant positive effect was achieved related to personal empowerment, hope and self-efficacy. Flaherty discusses issues surrounding this focus on recovery.