Over the past year, SAMHSA – as part of its Recovery Support Strategic Initiative – has worked with the behavioral health field to develop a working definition of recovery that captures the essential, common experiences of those recovering from mental and substance use disorders, along with 10 guiding principles that support recovery.
One of the key events that led to the current working definition of recovery was a 2010 meeting of behavioral health leaders, including mental health consumers and people in addiction recovery, who developed a draft definition and principles of recovery to reflect common elements of the recovery experience for those with mental/substance use disorders. Other significant efforts include national consensus meetings that SAMHSA held in 2004 and 2005 to develop separate definitions of recovery from mental health problems and addictions. SAMHSA is developing a working definition of recovery to help policy makers, providers, funders, peers/consumers and others to design, deliver, and measure integrated and holistic services and supports to more effectively meet the needs of individuals served by behavioral health systems.
In recent months, SAMHSA has reviewed drafts of the working recovery definition and principles with stakeholders at meetings, conferences and other venues. Additionally, in May 2011, SAMHSA posted the working definition and principles on the SAMHSA blog and invited comments from the public. Many of the comments received have been incorporated into the current working definition and principles. > > > > Read More
