Recovery-Oriented Psychotherapy: Practical Recommendations for Psychologists in Organized Care Settings

The concept of recovery has become an increasingly common framework for organizing mental health care, thus many psychologists find themselves working in settings that espouse a recovery orientation to service delivery. However, the concepts of recovery and recovery-oriented services are complex and have many definitions and psychologists struggle to know whether or not the psychotherapy they provide is aligned with recovery-oriented care. This article provides practical recommendations on how to integrate recovery into the common processes of psychotherapy that cut across all theoretical orientations or particular treatment approaches. Specifically, this article details the process of building a therapeutic bond, conceptualizing a client's problems and goals, implementing a treatment plan, and discharge planning, all from a recovery-oriented perspective. A case demonstration and analysis is presented to illustrate the recovery-oriented psychotherapy process described in this article. Impact Statement Recovery is an increasingly common treatment philosophy guiding best practices within mental health care systems. However, psychologists may be uncertain about how to best integrate recovery into their psychotherapy practice. This article provides practical guidance to psychologists and other mental health providers, about how to deliver recovery-oriented psychotherapy.