SummaryAlthough there is an increasing focus on recovery within mental health services, there has been limited exploration of the applicability of these principles within forensic services. The authors draw on their experiences within forensic rehabilitation services to discuss the potential obstacles to secure recovery, exploring the systemic and risk management aspects of such a setting as well as considering attachment theory within this context. Some proposals based on clinical experience are given on how such obstacles are faced and tackled.LEARNING OBJECTIVES•To understand the limitations of the recovery approach in forensic settings.•To understand how current risk assessment practice affects patients' autonomy and empowerment.•To understand how the attachment histories of patients in forensic services affect their ability to recover.

Conditions in the family sessions provided an environment for changes in patterns of relating, personal meaning, and emotions to take place. Recovery, for these individuals, appeared to be about repositioning themselves in the world. The shared experience of sessions and the recognition of multiple perspectives within a containing environment may be related to recovery via the development of new perspectives and a more robust sense of self. This has clinical implications for the focus of FI sessions.

No abstract

No abstract

No abstract