One ring to rule them all: Applications of the CHIME framework of mental health recovery

Robert Hurst; Lisa Ogilvie; Ijeabalum Asike; Andrew Voyce; Jerome Carson

doi:10.1921/swssr20252593

Authors

Robert Hurst Associate Lecturer in Psychology, Psychotherapy and Counselling at the University of Bolton. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0054-6703
Lisa Ogilvie Visiting research fellow, University of Greater Manchester https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7718-052X
Ijeabalum Asike PhD Student, University of Greater Manchester
Andrew Voyce University of Greater Manchester
Jerome Carson Professor of Psychology, University of Greater Manchester https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7596-116X

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.1921/swssr20252593

Keywords:

mental health recovery, addiction recovery, lupus, recovery narratives, CHIME framework

Abstract

The CHIME Model has become the dominant model of mental health recovery. The model has been grounded in the lived experience literature of people recovering from mental health problems. Four of the components were first articulated by Australian researchers. These were Hope, Identity, Meaning and Empowerment. English researchers added Connection, thus forming the acronym CHIME. In this paper we show how we have added to this basic model. Robert and Jerome were the first to describe C-CHIME, with the C reflecting Creativity. This was also Jerome’s experience in mental health services, that often those people who recovered most, had creative talents, such as photography, artistic skills, filmmaking, or poetry. Lisa and Jerome discovered that a critical element in recovering from addiction was the concept of Growth. For someone to give up an all-consuming addiction, something needs to replace this in their lives. This could be education or developing a new career. Ije found that there were additional critical elements in her recovery from lupus. She felt that Pain, Acceptance, Adaptation and again Growth, were key in addition to the core elements of CHIME. Andrew Voyce briefly describes his own long journey of recovery that took place over a 20-year period. He illustrates how CHIME can be harnessed to explain his own recovery. Finally, we look at how practitioners might apply the CHIME model and its variants in their clinical practice. We note the lack of an assessment that might just guide this process, but which could also serve as an outcome measure.

Author Biographies

Robert Hurst, Associate Lecturer in Psychology, Psychotherapy and Counselling at the University of Bolton.

Robert Hurst is an Associate Lecturer in Psychology, Psychotherapy and Counselling at the University of Bolton. He is also a practicing counsellor. Robert’s other research interests include meaning in life, mental health recovery, and creativity.

Lisa Ogilvie, Visiting research fellow, University of Greater Manchester

Dr Lisa Ogilvie is a visiting research fellow at the University of Greater Manchester, and a qualified counsellor and chartered psychologist working for a drug and alcohol treatment centre. Her specialist area of research and practise is addiction recovery, in particular realising the pluralistic advancement of positive psychology in this field. Lisa is also interested in narrative research, exploring the lived experience of addiction and recovery, to which end she curates a series of addiction recovery stories for the Emerald journal Advances in Dual Diagnosis. Orcid: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7718-052X

Ijeabalum Asike, PhD Student, University of Greater Manchester

Ijeabalum Asike is a PhD student at the University of Greater Manchester. She is a qualified Psychotherapist and has her private practice. Ijeabalum’s research is focused on the Lived experience of Black people with Lupus. She also has lupus and is investigating the factors that enable people with lupus to flourish. She has adapted the CHIME framework to include factors such as Pain, Acceptance, Adaptation, and Growth (PAAG). This is called PAAG-CHIME. Email ima1epss@bolton,ac.uk Orcid: 0009-0003-8200-8136

Andrew Voyce, University of Greater Manchester

Dr Andrew Voyce was awarded an Honorary Doctorate in Social Science from the University of Greater Manchester in 2024. He graduated without a degree from Reading University, obtained two Bachelor’s degrees from the Open University and has a Master’s degree in Social Policy from the University of Brighton. He supports mental health recovery and is an activist through his website AndrewVoyce2.com. He advocates for better mental health awareness through lecturing and Mental Health First Aid and The Langford Centre’s Patients Council. He has an interest in autoethnography, alienation and 1960s youth culture, and has published a number of academic articles. His Orchid number is 0000-0001-8705-3161.

Jerome Carson, Professor of Psychology, University of Greater Manchester

Jerome Carson is Professor of Psychology at the University of Greater Manchester. His interest in recovery from mental health problems largely developed in 2006 when he worked for the South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust. While he now works as an academic he retains his interest in recovery and also applications of the CHIME model.
Orcid: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7596-116X

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