Birch Tree Communities is firmly rooted in the Recovery Model
The recovery philosophy has always been the guide by which we serve our members. Mental health recovery is the belief that people have the power to recover from their illness and live a fulfilling life in the community. Recovery is both a journey and a destination. The recovery journey is an ongoing process of personal growth and a continuous effort on the part of the member to learn how to live a satisfying life in the community with their serious mental illnesses. Regardless of what their journey looks like or whether they reach their ultimate destination, we will walk alongside them.
SAMHSA’s 10 Guiding Principles of Recovery
Guiding Principle #1: Self-Direction
Consumers lead, control, exercise choice over, and determine their own path of recovery by optimizing autonomy, independence, and control of resources to achieve a self-determined life. By definition, the recovery process must be self-directed by the individual, who defines his or her own life goals and designs a unique path toward those goals.
At Birch Tree Communities: We believe that each member is the expert on themselves. Our goal is to empower our members to take the lead in their own recovery journey. Recovery is a highly personalized process, and we honor the time each individual needs to take their own path. Our intention is to be a beginning and not an end, providing the foundation and support for members to continue their growth and recovery beyond our care.
Guiding Principle #2: Individualization and Person-Centered
There are multiple pathways to recovery based on an individual’s unique strengths and resiliencies as well as his or her needs, preferences, experiences (including past trauma), and cultural background in all its diverse representations. Individuals also identify recovery as being an ongoing journey and a result, while at the same time serving as an overall paradigm for achieving wellness and optimal mental health.
At Birch Tree Communities: Recovery is self-directed and empowering. Individuals define their own life goals and design their unique path(s) towards those goals. Self-determination and self-direction are the foundations for recovery as individuals optimize their autonomy and independence. Birch Tree Communities supports members in discovering their values, goals, strengths, and abilities, allowing them to express themselves. Our intention is to create an environment in which dreams are born, encouraged, and pursued.
Guiding Principle #3: Empowerment
Consumers have the authority to choose from a range of options and to participate in all decisions — including the allocation of resources — that will affect their lives and are educated and supported in so doing. They have the ability to join with other consumers to collectively and effectively speak for themselves about their needs, wants, desires, and aspirations. Through empowerment, an individual gains control of his or her own destiny and influences the organizational and societal structures in his or her life.
At Birch Tree Communities: Member feedback is an important asset in crafting not only appropriate treatment and aftercare plans for each member but also effective programming and organizational practices for the entire member census of today and tomorrow. Our member-led Member Executive Council meets monthly to discuss member concerns, branch programming, and company policy. We believe that collaborating with our members empowers them in their own recovery journey and helps us provide services to best meet their needs. Additionally, we strive to bring a measure of joy into every life we touch, ensuring that our support is not only effective but also inspires hope for their future.
Guiding Principle #4: Holistic
Recovery encompasses an individual’s whole life, including mind, body, spirit, and community. Recovery embraces all aspects of life, including housing, employment, education, mental health and healthcare treatment and services, complementary and naturalistic services, addictions treatment, spirituality, creativity, social networks, community participation, and family support as determined by the person. Families, providers, organizations, systems, communities, and society play crucial roles in creating and maintaining meaningful opportunities for consumer access to these supports.
At Birch Tree Communities: We are dedicated to our members' overall wellness. Our wellness initiative focuses on things like improving diet, encouraging exercise, and managing sleep hygiene. We offer weekly nursing groups to educate members about medication and common physical issues related to mental health. Our nurses are key members of the treatment team at each site. We also encourage members to strengthen their social, community, family, and spiritual support systems through day treatment and paraprofessional services.
Guiding Principle #5: Non-Linear
Recovery is not a step-by-step process but one based on continual growth, occasional setbacks, and learning from experience. Recovery begins with an initial stage of awareness in which a person recognizes that positive change is possible. This awareness enables the consumer to move on to fully engage in the work of recovery.
At Birch Tree Communities: We recognize that recovery is different for everyone, and we offer various levels of care and living situations to meet the diverse needs of our members. Our housing options range from high-acuity, 24/7 supervised secure settings to transitional housing with daily support from staff. We also provide support services to those living in their own homes, tailored to their individual needs. Our goal is to provide services in the least restrictive environment possible. Because recovery is not a step-by-step process but one based on continual growth, occasional setbacks, and learning from experience, we remain flexible in all aspects of care. We adjust our continuum of care to move individuals up or down as needed to best support their recovery journey, ensuring they receive the appropriate level of support at each stage. We serve with patience, persistence, and forgiveness, not regarding symptoms of mental illness as evidence of failure.
Guiding Principle #6: Strengths-Based
Recovery focuses on valuing and building on the multiple capacities, resiliencies, talents, coping abilities, and inherent worth of individuals. By building on these strengths, consumers leave stymied life roles behind and engage in new life roles (e.g., partner, caregiver, friend, student, employee). The process of recovery moves forward through interaction with others in supportive, trust-based relationships.
At Birch Tree Communities: We believe that each member's inherent strengths and abilities are key to their success. Our goal is to help members identify these strengths and learn how to leverage them in their recovery journey. We collaborate with members to recognize and overcome obstacles, build their individual strengths and resilience, and move towards a satisfying life in the community.
Guiding Principle #7: Peer Support
Mutual support — including the sharing of experiential knowledge and skills and social learning — plays an invaluable role in recovery. Consumers encourage and engage other consumers in recovery and provide each other with a sense of belonging, supportive relationships, valued roles, and community.
At Birch Tree Communities: Members live and work together, providing mutual support in daily activities, program groups, and group therapy. They rely on each other for friendship, camaraderie, and fellowship. Across all branches of Birch Tree Communities, members assist one another in their recovery every day. The Member Executive Council, consisting of peer leaders from each site, is actively involved in policy review, ensuring member satisfaction, and advocacy.
Guiding Principle #8: Respect
Community, systems, and societal acceptance and appreciation of consumers — including protecting their rights and eliminating discrimination and stigma — are crucial in achieving recovery. Self-acceptance and regaining belief in oneself are particularly vital. Respect ensures the inclusion and full participation of consumers in all aspects of their lives.
At Birch Tree Communities: We intend to respect and befriend men and women overwhelmed by life. Unconditional acceptance is central to the person-centered model and guides the relationships between members and the rest of the treatment team. We promote and model healthy boundaries, use recovery-oriented and strengths-based language, and strive to preserve each member’s dignity, self-determination, and safety. We offer ourselves without discrimination, ensuring that every member receives the support and respect they deserve.
Guiding Principle #9: Responsibility
Consumers have a personal responsibility for their own self-care and journeys of recovery. Taking steps towards their goals may require great courage. Consumers must strive to understand and give meaning to their experiences and identify coping strategies and healing processes to promote their own wellness.
At Birch Tree Communities: Members lead their own recovery journey. Our clinicians collaborate with members to identify long-term goals, and the steps needed to achieve them. Members are responsible for accepting the services offered and working towards their objectives. They also take charge of maintaining their environment, self-administering medication, ensuring their safety in the community, and fostering positive interactions with peers and the treatment team.
Guiding Principle #10: Hope
Recovery provides the essential and motivating message of a better future — that people can, and do, overcome the barriers and obstacles that confront them. Hope is internalized; but can be fostered by peers, families, friends, providers, and others. Hope is the catalyst of the recovery process and is an integral component to the 10 fundamental components of recovery.
At Birch Tree Communities: We intend to inspire hope. Research shows that hope is a crucial element in the recovery process for individuals living with mental illness. It acts as both a trigger and a sustaining factor in recovery. We believe that for every person living with mental illness, there is a real expectation for recovery, and hope plays a major role in achieving this goal. By fostering hope, we help individuals envision a better future and motivate them to take the necessary steps towards their recovery.
