Recovering Relationships: A Feminist Analysis of Recovery Models

Abstract

Two models of recovery based on the concepts of independence and interdependence are contrasted from a feminist perspective. Drawing on social and psychological analyses, the authors critique the overemphasis of independence as the goal of health care and instead advocate a more relational model of therapy that reinforces social and emotional connections between people. Two narratives from occupational therapy are used to illustrate the differing assumptions underlying these models. The authors discuss some of the structural and interactional barriers to the expression of interdependence in health care institutions. They suggest that through purposefully sharing practice experiences and instating collaborative, nonhierarchical models of organization, practitioners can begin to overcome these barriers.

Connectedness: A Review of the Literature With Implications for Counseling, Assessment, and Research

“…We suggest that researchers could ultimately develop and experimentally examine interventions that promote adaptive connectedness beginning in childhood and throughout the life span. Findings reported in the recovery, social support, medical, and psychological literature (Brown & Gillespie, 1992;Forte et al, 1996;Stiver & Miller, 1995;Turner, 1997) have illustrated how certain forms of connectedness can be empowering and worth fostering through interventions. Future research could tease out the risk factors that are most critical to focus on (e.g., women who have high emotional ambivalence but have low social connectedness) in our intervention efforts.…”

“…Some of the consequences of disconnectedness may include self-alienation, loneliness, and a lack of meaning or purpose (Bellingham, Cohen, Jones, & Spaniol, 1989). Brown and Gillespie (1992) highlighted the commentary of contemporary social commentators and cultural analysts on the serious social costs of an extreme imbalance between individualism and communitarianism: social discontent and increased alienation may be outcomes of this imbalance (as cited in Cordingley & Webb, 1997, p. 142). Loss of connectedness may also have serious health effects at the broader societal and cultural levels.…”

The implementation and evaluation of a community rehabilitation team: a case study

“…Some service users may wish for long-term home care rather than/as well as short-term rehabilitation, if only for social reasons. Further to this, some authors 15,33 question the appropriateness of independence as a goal because it conflicts with positive social values such as connectedness and interdependence.…”

A Different Voice in Occupational Therapy

“…Poslusny (1991) has taken this idea one step further to propose a nursing paradigm based on interaction, caring and sensitiVity ('Friendship as a paradigm'). More importantly for occupational therapy, Brown and Gillespie (1992) have proposed a 'relational model of recovery' which challenges the idea of independence as the main goal of intervention. Gilligan's 'different voice' would argue that success and health do not equate with independence, but with interdependence and connectedness.…”

“…Brown and Gillespie (1992) describe difficulties in implementing a relational model of recovery in a health care system Which is suspicious of' non-medical model definitions of health, and which requires measurable outcomes. The prejudices arising from declaring oneself a feminist practitioner are not difficult to imagine and might be predicted to emanate from without and within our profession and gender.…”