Wayne Fenton and Recovery

We come to the recovery concept from 2 different directions. F.F. is a consumer professional who has both a scientific appreciation for schizophrenia as an illness and personal experience of battling both the illness and stigma from mental health professionals and the community. He came to the recovery concept as a function of his personal struggles and growth. A.S.B. is a behavior therapist who has long believed that social learning principles and procedures could help people with serious mental illness learn skills and strategies that would help them achieve their personal goals. While his approach and clinical values have always been consistent with recovery-oriented care, it was only recently that he had become attuned to the recovery model per se. While neither of us ever spoke with Wayne directly about recovery, our sense is that he did not need to come to it, in the sense that either of us did. He was a natural born humanist for whom the concept and practice fit like a silk glove. He could effortlessly reach outside himself and the constraints and prejudices promoted by his training to listen to clients in their terms and let them lead him rather than vice versa. That is a special talent and gift that is especially noteworthy given the traditional psychiatric training he received.