The recovery approach in mental health focusses on how a person can live a rich and rewarding life despite the ongoing presence of mental illness symptoms. The approach is now a central tenet of mental health services both in Wales and internationally, however it is contested, with evidence of varying understandings between professional disciplines and between professionals and service users. Despite the commitment in policy to a recovery approach there is evidence that the bio-medical model still dominates in community mental health teams (CMHTs) and this raises questions regarding the future of the recovery approach in mental health.

My work will explore the relationships between discourses and reproduction of power in social practices and interactions within a CMHT. In particular I am interested in how recovery discourse is used in the CMHT to shape professional practice and interactions. I will use a variety of data including recordings of multi-disciplinary meetings, ethnographic field notes and policy documents.