Introducing the recovery inspiration group: promoting hope for recovery with inspirational recovery stories

Advances in Dual Diagnosis, Ahead of Print. Purpose The purpose of this paper is to undertake a preliminary evaluation of a novel intervention – Recovery Inspiration Group, which uses recovery stories to promote hope and inspiration for recovery among people with complex mental health difficulties. Design/methodology/approach The Recovery Inspiration Group was delivered to women on a specialist personality disorder inpatient unit, who were concurrently participating in a dialectical behaviour therapy (DBT) Programme. In total, 12 service users participated in the RIG and as part of the intervention, wrote down key reflections after hearing each recovery story. A thematic analysis of these reflections formed the primary basis of t he evaluation. Descriptive statistics derived from a service user feedback survey (n=6) supplemented the qualitative findings. Findings Three themes were identified in the qualitative data, suggesting that participants had engaged with recovery-oriented reflections and experiences: recovery storie s as validating and inspiring; Generalisation of DBT skills; shifting perspectives of recovery: doing better rather than being better. The survey results unanimously endorsed the RIG as a worthwhile and validating experience, which participants would recommend to other service users. Practical imp lications Recovery Inspiration Group appears to be a low-cost and easily replicable intervention with the potential to promote hope and inspiration for reco...
Source: Advances in Dual Diagnosis - Category: Psychiatry Source Type: research