Abstract
Introduction
The Recovery approach introduced a radical shift in the positioning of consumers as subjects rather than objects of mental health treatment. While this approach has been internationally adopted, the practice of Recovery has been under‐researchedand a knowledge gap exists regarding the intersection of sexuality and psychosis.
Aim
The study aim was to investigate how sexuality was governed in a long‐stay mental health rehabilitation facility that was Recovery‐oriented.
Method
A case study methodology with a conceptual framework using Foucault’s workon disciplinary power was used.
Results
The findings illustrated how mental health clinicians were caught between two main and incompatible models of care: a psychiatric one and a Recovery one.
DiscussionWhile the policy framework authorised a Recovery approach, clinicians practised surveillance, hierarchical observation and normalisation, which are tenants of a psychiatric model of care. However, the study found that sexuality was an area that opened questions about the psychiatric model for clinicians. Consideration of consumers’ sexual needs allowed the clinicians to think of consumers more as subjects like themselves than as objects to be treated.
Implications for practice
Consideration of consumers’ sexuality opens up possibilities for questioning the objectification of the consumer via the psychiatric model.