Introduction
Mental health is an integral part and most important component of health. Mental disorders are illnesses that cause disturbances in a person’s thinking, behavior, and emotional state. The patient has abnormal thoughts and perceptions of reality (hallucinations, suicidal tendencies, paranoia), unstable emotional state and behavioral reactions (aggression, depression), and difficulties communicating with others. People with these illnesses desperately need professional help because negative attitudes toward such diseases persist even in today’s society. Psychiatric problems can be treated with therapy, medication, or a combination.
The Development of the Recovery Model
The main figures who influenced the development of the recovery model are Judy Chamberlin, Clifford W. Beers, John Percival, and Rachel Grant-Smith. John Percival contributed to the emergence of this model because he was dissatisfied with the work of the doctors who treated his psychosis (Tambling, 2022). For centuries, people who had suffered spiritual, mental, or bodily trauma often recovered (underwent spiritual, psychological, and sometimes physical rehabilitation) in numerous monasteries. The recovery model began to gain popularity at the end of the 20th century. In England and the United States after World War II, rehabilitation principles were developed, which later became the basis for rehabilitating the sick and disabled in different countries. Rehabilitation is the use of various opportunities to reduce the impact of factors that limit a person’s vital activity or lead to a loss of ability to work. At the same time, such a branch of science and practice as physical science and practice as physical and rehabilitative medicine is an independent medical specialty aimed at providing physical and cognitive functioning (behavior including), participation in social life (primarily quality of life) and modification of personal and environmental factors.
Defining the Recovery Model
The advantage of the recovery model over others is that it makes a person believe in recovery. People facing mental illness often lose hope because society imposes the view that they are incurably ill. This is why a person becomes completely immersed in their illness and cannot be completely cured. Many treatment models focus on suppressing the symptoms but do not address the true cause of the illness (Mullen et al., 2020). Treatment of symptoms can lead to a temporary sense that the illness is over, but patients soon return to their previous condition, continuing to live their old way. The recovery model focuses on full recovery, not treating these symptoms (Morales & Moreno, 2020). This process involves an in-depth analysis of life and changing every aspect on the way to full healing (Pincus et al., 2016). In this connection, it is necessary to pay more and more attention not only to clinical but also to psychological and social factors and personal and social features of the individual in their interaction and, thus, to provide more versatile and effective care.
Recovery model therapy involves facilitating the growth and development of the patient through the phases of recovery. For the recovery model to have long-term effects, it must be linked to more objective measures of disease course and functioning in society. The authors believe that the main limitation of the consumer model of personal and social recovery is that it needs to be based on established psychological principles and is built on vague, objectively defined constructs. However, the recovery model, as many authors believe, should be recognized when patients, usually due to treatment and rehabilitation, no longer have serious symptoms of illness affecting personal independence and can function relatively normally in their families, social life, work, studies, self-management and leisure time activities (Llewellyn-Beardsley et al., 2019). In other words, the form of recovery follows functioning.
The Major Concepts of the Recovery Model
Hope, empowerment, self-responsibility, and social connections can be considered the main concepts of recovery. The patient needs to participate in community activities for recovery (Eddie et al., 2019). It is important to understand that recovery is a complex path. There will be deviations along the way, which may entail a return to old behaviors, and the person may or may not return to their previous level of functioning. It is important to believe in recovery and not give up, which is the concept of hope.
Empowerment is shifting the focus from the clinician to the patient. People must rely on their abilities, not the doctor, to do all the work. Self-responsibility is the patient following up on his or her actions for a speedy recovery (Eddie et al., 2019). The patient needs to understand what his or her actions are causing the disorder and try to get rid of the underlying cause on his or her own. As bearers of experience, people are not simply automatons driven by neurocognitive processes. Self-efficacy represents the power of one’s control of internal and external experience; confidence in one’s abilities, including others’ capabilities, contributes to self-esteem and life satisfaction. Social bonding is the patient’s avoidance of self-isolation. In order to successfully get rid of the disorder, it is necessary to be an active member of society, which can help eliminate depression and other serious disorders.
Similarities Between Postmodernism and Social Constructionism and the Recovery Model
The goal of social constructivism is to identify how individuals and groups create their perceived reality. This theory looks at how people create social phenomena that are institutionalized and turned into traditions (Chiara & Romaioli, 2021). In the recovery model, some aspects are shaped by society, after which the patient adopts them and forms his or her treatment. Scientists have developed a postmodern approach in practical psychology, according to which the problem of mood is a problem of perceiving the surrounding present tense; it is a problem of the ability to regulate processes of spontaneous “slipping” of consciousness from the “here and now” into the future or the past (Holtz, 2020). In practice, the provisions of these theories are applied very widely. The patient’s perception and vision of the world play an important role in the recovery model. Doctors encourage the patient on the road to recovery by changing preconceptions, if any. In this way, people overcome the disease with their strength, completely changing their lives and their view of life. This is the similarity between Social Constructionism, Postmodernism, and the Recovery Model-they are based on man’s perception of the world around him.
The Importance of the Recovery Model to Marriage and Family Therapy Practice
Gradually, the approach to the family as a unit of psychological analysis and psychological influence began to gain more and more popularity. In this connection, the “identified patient,” the one for whom the family has gone to therapy, is viewed by family therapists not as a patient but as an element of a dysfunctional family system. Accordingly, the family therapist’s work focuses not on the intrapsychic problems of individuals but on the interaction patterns, structure, and processes of the family as a whole (Bohley & McGuire, 2022). Consequently, family therapy creates the conditions for forming a functional family organization that will ensure the realization of the potentialities of each family member.
Marriage is a socially regulated permanent bond, usually between a man and a woman, based on personal feelings and sexual relationships to create a family. Each person is an individual with his or her outlook on life. This can lead to conflicts that escalate into hurting each other. Gradually, an approach to the family as a unit of psychological analysis and psychological influence became more and more popular (Wittenborn et al., 2019). Accordingly, the “identified patient,” the one for whom the family went to therapy, is viewed by family therapists not as a patient but as an element of a dysfunctional family system. Accordingly, the family therapist’s work focuses not on the intrapsychic problems of individuals but on the interaction patterns, structure, and processes of the family as a whole. Consequently, family therapy creates the conditions for forming a functional family organization that will ensure the realization of the potentialities of each family member.
There can be many problems in family life that lead to the development of mental disabilities. Individuals may be disadvantaged in their marriage and society, causing them to lose faith in their abilities. Such cases lead to a person’s dysfunction, and they become dependent on their partner (Tadros et al., 2021). The recovery model can help individuals believe they can control their life and mental health. The model can also help to get to the root cause of the problem in the marriage.
How Applying the Concepts of the Recovery Model Will Make Me a More Effective MFT
With the recovery model, MFT will provide quality care that is different from other treatment approaches. The person will treat the therapist as an assistant rather than the main actor, making for a different relationship between the two. The relationship between the patient and the therapist is important in treatment (Coyne et al., 2019). In the majority of cases, with correct and timely diagnostics of mental diseases, prescription of early and adequate treatment, and application of the recovery model, combined with methods of social rehabilitation and psycho-correction, it is possible not only to stop acute symptoms quickly but also to achieve full restoration of the patient’s social adaptation.
Conclusion
Thus, the recovery model can be a very effective method of treatment. People begin to analyze the disorder from within, getting rid of the root causes. This model is superior because the doctor cannot fully influence the patient’s life. People with mental disorders take responsibility for themselves and help themselves get back on track. However, this treatment method can only be accepted for adequate patients who can assess their condition and take the necessary steps.
References
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