Recovery International (formerly Recovery, Inc., often referred to simply as Recovery or RI) is a mental health self-help organization founded in 1937 by neuropsychiatrist Abraham Low in Chicago, Illinois. Recovery's program is based on self-control, self-confidence, and increasing one's determination to act.

History

thumb|165px|right|Previous Recovery Logo Abraham Low, a neuropsychiatrist, began the Recovery groups in 1937, when he was on the faculty at the University of Illinois at Chicago. At that time, Recovery Inc. was an entity of the Neuropsychiatric Institute at the University of Illinois Research and Education Hospital, and participants in Recovery were limited to those who had been hospitalized in the Psychiatric Institute at the university. The original thirty-seven founding members had recovered their mental health after receiving insulin shock treatments at the Institute.

Low began the groups as part of an attempt to improve the patient's care following discharge from his hospital. In the early years of the organization he encouraged members to advocate for improvements in social policies regarding state mental health regulations. Following backlash from the medical community to these efforts, Low disbanded the group in 1941. His patients, however, asked to be trained to teach Recovery's methods to others and in 1942 Low began to teach members to lead groups in their homes.

The organization separated from the Psychiatric Institute in 1942, operating out of private offices in Chicago. New membership at this time was drawn largely from patients in Low's private psychiatry practice. During the first years following its separation Low remained in close contact with all Recovery groups and received regular reports from group leaders. As the membership and number of meetings grew, it made this level of cooperation with the groups untenable. In 1952, Low allowed expansion of Recovery outside of Illinois, giving control of local groups to former patients who had become group leaders. Following Low's death in 1954, Recovery transitioned completely from a professionally run treatment adjunct, to a peer-run self-help group. On January 1, 2008 Recovery International merged with The Abraham Low Institute and provisionally renamed the new organization Recovery International / The Abraham Low Institute (RI/TALI).

Fundamental concepts

Symptoms

The causes and classification of mental illnesses are considered irrelevant in the Recovery method. Recovery members are simply viewed as people who have developed disturbing symptom-reactions leading to ill-controlled behavior. Symptoms are threatening sensations; including feelings, impulses, and obsessive thoughts. The phrase, "symptomatic idiom" describes the mental association of danger with symptoms.

Reframing language

Recovery developed its own language for labeling psychiatric symptoms and responding to them. This language is centered around two concepts, "authority" and "sabotage." It is suggested that members rely on the authority of a physician's diagnosis with respect to their symptoms. For instance, if a member self-diagnoses a headache as being caused by a brain tumor, but a physician has diagnosed it otherwise, then the member is said to be sabotaging the physician's authority. This is similarly true for the member's prognosis, if a member despairs that their condition is hopeless, but a physician has found the prognosis to be good, this is also sabotage of the physician's authority.

Creating Examples

The Example format was created by Low as a means to allow Recovery to function as a stand-alone lay self-help group that would not require professional supervision. Members create Examples by following a four-part outline, each part requiring a description.

Impact of Pandemic (2020-2021)

Due to COVID-19, more than 300 community meetings were closed, and many new telephone and online meetings were added. This gives people access to more meetings at various times during the week, regardless of geography.

Reading of Recovery literature

The beginning of a meeting is generally reserved for reading from Recovery literature. Members take turns reading sections of a chapter or article. Group leaders will often call on new members during this period, or members who are hesitant to volunteer. After finishing a paragraph a group leader will often ask a member if they experienced any symptoms while reading the literature and will endorse them for the efforts to continue reading despite feelings of discomfort or fear of making mistakes. Professional treatment goals, however, generally emphasize the importance of adherence to therapeutic practices. The concern is more commonly that patients will not follow through with them, rather than that they will never stop practicing them. but similar to a specific study of Emotions Anonymous that found most of the members were middle class. A ratio of two (or more) females for every male is common in studies of self-help groups for persons with serious mental illness. In 1943 Low published a book, Lectures to Relatives of Former Patients to help assist them with the recovery effort; this information was later reprinted in Peace Versus Power in the Family: Domestic Discord and Emotional Distress in 1967.

Effectiveness

: For more details on this topic, see Self-help groups for mental health: Effectiveness

In 1945, Abraham Low found the average member improved considerably after the first or second week in the program as it existed at that time. However, members were required to lose their major symptoms within two months of membership and class attendance. If they did not, this was taken as an indication that the member was still sabotaging the physician's efforts.

A 1988 study found that participation in Recovery decreased members' symptoms of mental illness and the amount of psychiatric treatment needed. About half of the members had been hospitalized before joining. Following participation, less than 8% had been hospitalized. Members' scores of neurotic distress decreased, and scores of psychological well-being for longstanding members were no different from members of a control group in the same community. Long-term members were being treated with less psychiatric medication and psychotherapy than newer members.

Similar psychotherapies

Recovery's methods have been compared to several psychotherapies.

  • Behavior modification
  • Cognitive behavioral therapy
  • Cognitive therapy
  • Control theory
  • Émile Coué's method

Literature

Books

Periodicals

  • Lost and Found
  • Recovery Reporter
  • Recovery News
  • Recovery Journal

See also

  • Abraham Low
  • Abraham Low Self-Help Systems
  • Neurotics Anonymous
  • Emotions Anonymous
  • GROW
  • Self-help groups for mental health
  • Recovery model

References

  • Official Recovery International Website
  • Recovery Canada
  • Recovery Ireland
  • Recovery International channel on YouTube
  • Recovery International records available in the Special Collections & University Archives, University of Illinois Chicago.