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Community Ment Health J (2009) 45:405414
DOI 10.1007/s10597-009-9189-4
ORIGINAL PAPER
The Recovery Process Utilizing Eriksons Stages of Human Development
Suzanne E. Vogel-Scibilia Kathryn Cohan McNulty Beth Baxter Steve Miller Max Dine Frederick J. Frese III
Received: 8 April 2008 / Accepted: 23 February 2009 / Published online: 17 June 2009 The Author(s) 2009. This article is published with open access at Springerlink.com
Abstract Of current interest to the eld are clinical frameworks that foster recovery. The authors offer a psycho-developmental model that parallels Erik Eriksons theory of human development, and theorize that the process of psychiatric recovery involves a psychic reworking of these fundamental steps. Understanding recovery in this context allows the client and the practitioner of psychiatric rehabilitation to design and implement a coherent treatment strategy.
Keywords Recovery Psychodevelopment
Psychiatric rehabilitation Erikson Counseling
Introduction
While the use of scientic evidence-based practices can be integrated into the recovery model of mental health treatment (Frese et al. 2001), there is no equivalent process for psycho-developmental principles. Researchers have noted
that mental health professionals may react with perplexity or negativity when discussing how to integrate recovery into psychiatric care (Drake 2000). A recent Pennsylvania Consensus Conference on Recovery documented a total of 12 barriers to promoting recovery for persons with mental illness (Rogers et al. 2007). This dilemma may occur because there is no concrete theory that translates into useful clinical interventions that promote recovery in consumers seeking recovery-oriented care from traditional providers. In this article, a psycho-developmental recovery model which closely parallels Eriksons eight stages of human development (Erikson 1968) is discussed.
There is strong support for the tenets of this recovery model. One early publication commented on the need to transform the recovering persons self concept into a more functional sense of self that is a dynamic and responsible agent for recovery (Davidson and Strauss 1992). Since then, many authors have discussed the key concepts of personal understanding and self-determination (Shattell et al. 2007; Bellack 2006; Davidson et al. 2008a, b; Farkas 2007). Other authors have stressed the importance of empowerment as well as instilling vital hope and optimism (Resnick et al. 2004, 2005; Davidson and Strauss 1995; Schrank et al. 2008).
The National Consensus Statement on Mental Health Recovery (United States Department of Health...