Welcome to the King County Mental Health Recovery and Resiliency Page

"Mental health recovery is a journey of healing and transformation enabling a person with a mental health problem to live a meaningful life in a community of his or her choice while striving to achieve his or her full potential."... "Resiliency is the ability to bounce back after adversity... Resiliency is innate and can be learned."

The King County Council recently voted unanimously to approve a new Recovery Ordinance!  They also approved a five-year plan for further development of recovery and resiliency oriented behavioral health services in King County.  Click on these links to learn more:

Ordinance

Plan

Recovery is a journey and a process for everyone. Research and experience has found that for a significant percentage of people diagnosed with a major mental illness, full recovery is possible. People can and do get well. Having a job is a powerful way to fuel recovery. For more information about employment services, please go to the Employment page. Peer support services are mental health services provided by people who live with mental health challenges and are in recovery themselves. Peers provide proof that recovery is real. See the Peer Support Services page for more information. For new job opportunities for people trained as peers, click here.

Resiliency can be defined as an innate capacity that when facilitated and nurtured empowers people to successfully meet life’s challenges with a sense of self-determination, mastery and hope. Resiliency is particularly important for children, youth and families and older adults.

The King County Mental Health, Chemical Abuse and Dependency Services Division (MHCADSD) is proud to partner with mental health agencies in King County to build a recovery and resiliency oriented system, including involving people who participate in mental health services in the design, administration, leadership, services and/or day-to-day program decision-making. Read King County Transformation Initiatives to learn more.

Having a safe place to live is a basic to everyone. MHCADSD has programs to help people with housing. Mental health agencies will help people rebuild their lives, whether that is a job, school or community and family activities.

The federal Substance Abuse Mental Health Services Administration has a new website with resources and information about Shared Decision Making for mental health services.  As the website states: Shared decision making (SDM) is an emerging best practice in health care and mental health services. It pairs a style of communication and decision making tools to help balance clinical information about mental health conditions and treatment options with an individual’s preferences, goals, and cultural values and beliefs.   Please go to: http://www.samhsa.gov/consumersurvivor/sdm/StartHere.html to learn more.

We welcome your comments and suggestions! Please send us an email to kcrecoverypage@kingcounty.gov