Understanding the phases of recovery from serious mental illness: the roles of referent and expert power in a mutual-help setting

This study explored an approach to studying recovery that is sensitive to the multiphase and. contextual nature of the recovery process. The authors focused on the experience of recovery in a)mutual-hell) group), Schizophrenics Anonymous (SA). Prior qualitative research conducted with SA revealed that. SA participants experience four phases of recovery: (a) mourning and grief (b) awareness and recognition, (c) redefinition and transformation, and (d) enhanced well-being and quality of life. Surveying a national sample of SA participants, they explored whether these four phases were predicted by different change mechanisms (i.e., referent and expert power) within SA and whether these mechanisms varied according to participants' role in the organization. Referent and expert power were found, to differentially relate to the phases of recovery for members and leaders. They conclude that. our understanding of the processes and contexts that facilitate recovery can be enhanced by using recovery models that arc selling-specific and reflect the multifaceted nature of the recovery process. (c) 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.