Recovery Values & Principles

Guiding Principles 

There are many pathways to recovery.
Recovery emerges from hope and gratitude.
Recovery has cultural dimensions.
Recovery exists on a continuum of improved health and wellness.

Recovery involves:
        A process of healing and self-redefinition
        Addressing discrimination and transcending shame and stigma
       (Re)joining and (re)building a life in the community

Recovery is:
      Self-directed and empowering
      A personal recognition of the need for change and transformation
      Holistic
      Supported by peers and allies
      A reality. It can, will and does happen

Source: CSAT White Paper: Guiding Principles and Elements of Recovery-Oriented Systems of Care.

Values 

Hope: Sustained recovery and its rewards are possible for individuals, families, neighborhoods, and communities.

Respect: Treat all peers with courtesy and appreciation of their unique strengths and contributions; negotiate rather than dictate; gain trust by giving trust.

Transparency: Make the criteria upon which decisions are made and the decision-making process visible to all people affected by the decision, e.g., from backroom decision-making to picture window decision-making.

Inclusion: Involve the people who will be affected by a decision in the decision-making process; cultivate mutual learning, interdependence, and reciprocity of support.

Fidelity: Make only promises you can keep; keep the promises you make.

Honesty and Candor: Tell the truth; when wrong, promptly admit it and make amends, e.g., “I made a mistake; it is my responsibility to correct it; I will correct it.”

Forgiveness: Expiate and let go of the past; expect some regression to old styles of interacting, promptly acknowledge such regression and correct it.

Consistency and Endurance: Stay on message and sustain the effort; transformation, like recovery, is not an event but a prolonged process.