Recovery Capital

Rather than focusing on the disease and deficits, recovery-oriented programs focus on building upon strengths, measured in terms of recovery capital.

Recovery Capital is the internal and external resources that are available to initiate and sustain long-term recovery. Recovery capital includes a person’s skills and attributes, family and social connections, physical and mental health, safe places to live and play, employment and education, and community affiliations. To gain a better understanding, it is helpful to look at four different types of recovery capital: Human Capital, Physical Capital, Cultural Capital and Social Capital.

Recovery capital, also known as recovery capacity, differs across individuals and differs within the same individual over time. Recovery capital also interacts with problem severity to shape the intensity and duration of supports needed to achieve recovery. Persons with lower recovery capital and higher problem severity are more likely to need more intensive service for a longer period of time to achieve recovery. In contrast, persons with higher recovery capital and lower problem severity are more likely to need less intensive services for shorter periods of time to achieve recovery.

Resources:

• Granfield, R. & Cloud, W. (1999) Coming Clean: Overcoming Addiction without Treatment
• White, W. & Cloud, W. (2008). Recovery capital: A primer for addictions professionals. Counselor, 9(5), 22-27.

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