Recovery to Practice (RTP)

RTP is a five-year initiative to promote mental health recovery principles and practices for psychologists.

Mental health recovery is a journey of healing and transformation enabling a person with a mental health condition to live a meaningful life in the community of his or her choice and to achieve his or her full potential.

Adapted from the National Consensus Statement on Mental Health Recovery (PDF, 163KB)

Overview of the Recovery to Practice Initiative

Funded by a subcontract from the federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), the RTP initiative has two primary purposes: to develop an online resource on recovery principles and practices for mental health professionals across the major mental health disciplines, and to develop recovery-focused trainings for mental health professionals. 

Through SAMHSA's contractor, Development Services Group, APA is assessing the degree to which mental health recovery has been integrated in the field of psychology and developing a curriculum for training psychologists.

We aim to develop a curriculum that:

1. Enhances the current psychology training system by emphasizing recovery outcomes as the basis for clinical care,

2. Enhances the recovery knowledge, skills and attitudes of students, supervisors and administrators in psychology, and

3. Is consistent with and will enhance the current accreditation standards.

We invite psychologists, consumers, family members and other individuals who are interested in this initiative to stay in touch with us. You can connect with us in one of the following ways:

• Sign up to pilot our curriculum in your doctoral program. We will be piloting our curriculum in the fall of 2012 and invite you to participate through your organization.

• Join our public email list. You will be able to communicate with others who are interested in RTP and mental health recovery. We will also update you periodically with information on the project and ways you might be able to participate.

• Submit comments to our office regarding our project, your experiences, or anything else related to mental health recovery.

• Email us directly.

• Call us at (202) 336-6127.