If you are in distress, please contact your nearest distress centre. If it is an emergency, call 9-1-1 or go to your local emergency department

  • Pre Header

    • Contact Us
    • English
    • Français
    Mental Health Commission of Canada

    MHCC Follow Us Block

    Facebook
    Twitter
    Youtube
    LinkedIn
    Instagram
    Read our Newsletter
    • Who We Are
      • Our People
        • Board
        • Executive Leadership Team
        • Directors
      • Careers and Opportunities
      • MHCC Networks
        • Advisory Council
        • Youth Council
        • Hallway Group
        • Former Advisory Committees
      • Corporate Reports
        • Annual Reports
        • MHCC Strategic Plan 2017 - 2022
    • What We Do
      • Caregiving
      • Children and Youth
        • Post-Secondary Students Standard
      • Diversity
      • e-Mental Health
      • First Nations, Inuit and Métis
      • Knowledge Mobilization
      • Mental Health and the Law
      • Recovery
        • Peer Support
      • Seniors
      • Stigma and Discrimination
      • Suicide Prevention
      • Workplace
        • The Standard
        • Workplace Healthcare
        • First Responders
        • Aspiring Workforce
    • Training & Resources
      • Library
      • MHCC Reports
        • Case for Investing
        • Major MHCC Documents
        • Mental Health Strategy for Canada
          • MHS: A Youth Perspective
        • Expanding Access to Psychotherapy
        • MH Indicators for Canada
        • At Home
        • A Framework for Action (2017–2022)
      • Training
        • MHFA
        • The Working Mind
        • SPARK
        • Headstrong Youth Summit
        • Road to Mental Readiness (R2MR)
      • Webinars
      • Toolkits
        • Caregiver Mobilization Toolkit
        • Suicide Prevention Toolkits
        • Online training in psychological health and safety
        • e-Mental Health
        • A Practical Toolkit to Help Employers Build an Inclusive Workforce
      • Newsletter
    • Media Centre
      • Advisories
      • Releases
      • Speeches
      • Statements
    • Events

    Breadcrumb

    Home > What We Do > Recovery
    Recovery

    Recovery

    Share
    Facebook
    Twitter
    LinkedIn
    Overview|Resources

    What is Recovery?

    The concept of "recovery" in mental health refers to living a satisfying, hopeful, and contributing life, even when a person may be experiencing ongoing symptoms of a mental health problem or illness. Recovery journeys build on individual, family, cultural, and community strengths and can be supported by many types of services, supports, and treatments. 

    Recovery principles, including hope, dignity, self-determination, and responsibility, can be adapted to the realities of different life stages, and to the full range of mental health problems and illnesses. Recovery is not only possible, it should be expected.

    Championed by people with lived experience of mental health problems and illnesses for decades, recovery is being widely embraced by practitioners, service providers, and policy makers in Canada and around the world. It is recognized as key to achieving better mental health outcomes and improving mental health systems.

    In recovery oriented practice, service providers engage in shared decision-making with people with lived experience of mental health problems and illnesses, offering a range of services and supports to fully meet a person’s goals and needs. 

    Recovery approaches stand on two pillars:

    • Recognizing that each person is unique, with the right to determine their path toward mental health and wellbeing; and,
    • Understanding that we live in complex societies where many intersecting factors (biological, psychological, social, economic, cultural, and spiritual) have an impact on mental health and wellbeing.


    What are we doing?

    The MHCC is committed to learning from and working with all stakeholders to accelerate this shift. To help people involved in implementing recovery-oriented practices, the MHCC recovery initiative developed three key initiatives:

    • Guidelines for Recovery-Oriented Practice
    • Recovery Declaration
    • Recovery Inventory

    Food for thought: A youth perspective on recovery-oriented practice
    This video, developed with our Youth Council, breaks down what youth see as some of the core principles of recovery-oriented mental health and addiction services. It uses the metaphor of a restaurant to provide an out-of-the-box, light-hearted demonstration of the key concepts of recovery-oriented practice. It is not intended to have all the answers, but to provoke creative thought and start a discussion among service providers about how they could better support and work with youth in a recovery-oriented mental health and addiction setting.

    Want more? Use the discussion guide to help direct your self-reflection or to facilitate critical discussions with others.

    RECOVERY: Hope Changes Everything

    A video produced by the Manitoba Schizophrenia Society.
    A tool for starting conversations about recovery and recovery-oriented mental health services.

    WATCH THE VIDEO

    Introducing Webinars on Recovery-Oriented Practice

    The Mental Health Commission of Canada (MHCC) is hosting a series of free Recovery-Oriented Practice webinars on the third Thursday of every month at 1:00 p.m. ET.

    On Thursday, June 16th, 2016, the sixth webinar in this series, join Howard Chodos, PhD, to discuss how recovery-oriented practice is about appreciating the rich diversity of Canada’s population in order to better respect the choices people make throughout their recovery process and determine how best to adapt services to meet their needs.

    REGISTER NOW

    The Mental Health Commission of Canada (MHCC) created a number of resources to accelerate the shift to recovery-oriented practice. Click on the links below for more information.

    Key Initiatives

    Introducing Webinars on Recovery-Oriented Practice
    Introducing Webinars on Recovery-Oriented Practice
    LEARN MORE
    Guidelines for Recovery-Oriented Practice
    LEARN MORE
    Recovery Inventory
    LEARN MORE
    Recovery Declaration
    LEARN MORE
    Food for thought: A youth perspective on recovery-oriented practice
    Food for thought

    A youth perspective on recovery-oriented practice

    READ MORE
    Previous Pause Next

    Resources

    pdf
    Mental Health Series in Canadian Nurse - September 2014
    Recovery-Oriented Practice
    983.91 kB
    pdf
    Recovery Declaration Brochure
    In 2014 the MHCC invited people in Canada to expand this conversation by signing onto…
    171.61 kB

    Related Initiatives

    Mental Health Strategy for Canada
    Learn more
    Informing the Future
    Mental Health Indicators
    Learn more
    MHS: A Youth Perspective
    Learn more
    Recovery Webinar Series Archive
    View past webinars
    Learn more
    RECOVERY: Hope Changes Everything
    WATCH VIDEO
    Learn more

    Multimédias

    Thumbnail
    Roslyn's Story; How nurses help patients walk the journey of recovery
    Thumbnail
    What is the Mental Health Strategy for Canada?

    Sitemap

    • Who We Are
    • What We Do
    • Training & Resources
    • Media Centre
    • Events
    • Terms and conditions

    Key Priorities

    Substance Use and Addiction
    Suicide Prevention
    Population-based initiatives
    Engagement with Canadians

    Follow Us

    Facebook
    Twitter
    Youtube
    LinkedIn
    Instagram
    Read our Newsletter

    Bulletin

    Facebook
    Twitter
    Youtube
    LinkedIn
    Instagram
    Read our Newsletter
    Health Canada Wordmark
    Order of Excellence
    Mental Health Commission of Canada
    © 2019 Mental Health Commission of Canada