Recovery and Wellness Foundations
The recovery frame
Federal behavioral health policy defines recovery as a process of change through which people improve their health and wellness, live a self-directed life, and strive to reach their full potential. Four dimensions anchor this: health, home, purpose, and community. Ten guiding principles follow - hope, person-driven, many pathways, holistic, peer support, relational, culture, addresses trauma, strengths and responsibility, and respect. Peer recovery work is built on these, not on a single treatment model.
Concepts to know
- Recovery is nonlinear. Lapses are common and are information, not failure.
- Recovery capital: the social, physical, human, and cultural resources a person can draw on. Peer work builds capital, not just abstinence.
- Wellness is multidimensional: emotional, financial, social, spiritual, occupational, physical, intellectual, environmental.
- Stages of change - precontemplation, contemplation, preparation, action, maintenance - describe readiness, not a prescription. Match support to the stage.
- Trauma is common; trauma-informed practice assumes it, avoids re-traumatization, and prioritizes safety and choice.
Traps
Questions test whether you treat recovery as abstinence-only, assume your pathway is the right one, or push action before readiness. Watch for 'fixing' language and for labeling a person by behavior. Another trap: confusing a lapse with a full relapse and responding with shame.
Rule of thumb
Ask 'what does recovery look like for you?' before offering anything. A peer who says 'I've got 90 days, so I'm recovered' is best met with affirmation plus curiosity about what is working, not a lecture about the future.