Recovery-Oriented Practice And Person-Directed Planning

Self-determination is a central concept in both recovery-oriented practice (Stoffel, 2011) and person-directed planning (Ontario Ministry of Community and Social Services, 2013). It entails individualised care plan, making own choices, and freedom of whether and how to participate. Hence, I will respect consumers as a person with unique perspective and capacities and let them direct me in unravelling their needs in everyday situations as well as the meanings attached to their occupations. I will encourage them to share their dreams and visions and what they think will create a meaningful life for them on their recovery journey despite the limitations experienced. Based on the acknowledged desires and goals, I will use Planning Alternative Tomorrows

Interventions will be selected using the principles of recovery-oriented practice as well as person-directed planning. In recovery-oriented practice, individuals are learning to grow by adjusting to the challenges in life and finding ways to strengthen oneself, which are elements of self-discovery. Based on this approach, interventions that are deemed appropriate for consumers would cultivate their positive traits and attitudes, instil a sense of hope and equip them with skills to cope with setbacks and barriers on the journey of recovery. Therefore, intervention strategies such as motivational interviewing, stress management skills training and emotion regulation practice would be helpful to support development of adaptive coping mechanisms. This view is consistent with the concepts of person-directed planning, which focuses on building interpersonal resources to overcome life barriers. Person-directed planning involves facilitating consumers to identify community-based resources and develop solid relationships in order to expand the range of support options that they can independently draw upon in the future. Examples would be facilitating exploration of peer support groups and accompanying consumers to attend various community programs and events to build social

In person-directed planning framework, the therapist is a facilitator rather than a decision-maker in planning interventions. Hence, as a therapist, I will use my professional reasoning to suggest potential interventions and make recommendations based on consumers’ personal needs, the social support in their environment and how they are utilising the resources in the environment. However, although I am able to gain a comprehensive understanding of the different factors influencing consumers’ life, I am not an expertise in their life. Intervention decisions should be made by consumers based on what they think will work best, given their knowledge of what worked and what did not in the past. In addition, principles of recovery and person-directed planning emphasise empowering consumers to achieve self-determination and independence in directing their own care plan and decision-making. Therefore, the therapist should optimise consumers’ autonomy and control of resources by providing them with suitable options and opportunities to exercise choice over the treatment they receive instead of choosing interventions based on what is perceived by self as the ‘best’