The “Active Recovery Triad (ART)” method is now being introduced in Ukraine

Recovery is more than treating symptoms. It is about helping people regain hope, rebuild relationships, make their own choices and find meaning in everyday life.

Together with GGZ Noord-Holland-Noord, SOFT tulip has introduced the Active Recovery Triad (ART) approach to Ukraine through a peer-to-peer training programme for staff working in residential care institutions (internats) in the Zakarpattia region.

The training was delivered in Turya Remeta, Mukachevo No. 1, and the Mukachevo Women’s Internat, equipping care professionals with practical tools to support recovery-oriented mental health care.

At the heart of the Active Recovery Triad (ART) is a simple but transformative idea: recovery is something we build together.

Rather than placing professionals at the centre of the process, ART brings together three equal partners; the client, their family or support network, and care professionals. Together, they define meaningful goals, make decisions, and share responsibility for the recovery journey.

This also changes the conversation. Instead of asking, “What is wrong with you?”, ART encourages us to ask, “What matters to you?”

Throughout the programme, participants explored practical ways to put this philosophy into action by:
✔ focusing on people’s strengths instead of their limitations;
✔ actively involving families and support networks in the recovery process;
✔ recognising and addressing stigma and self-stigma;
✔ turning recovery goals into concrete, achievable actions;
✔ supporting people to make their own choices and take meaningful steps towards greater independence.

The four-session programme introduced care professionals to the principles of Active Recovery Triad (ART) and how to apply them in everyday practice. Participants learned how recovery goes beyond symptom management by supporting people in rebuilding their identity, relationships, daily routines, and social participation. 

Through practical exercises, case discussions, and real-life examples, they explored recovery-focused communication, shared decision-making, the role of families and support networks, and concrete tools for helping clients take meaningful steps toward greater independence and a better quality of life.

As René Keet from GGZ Noord-Holland-Noord puts it:

“Even small changes, such as asking a different question, supporting instead of taking over, or involving one network member more consciously, can help recovery become visible in daily life.”

A big thanks to the trainers @Charlotte K. and @Carlijn Licht, their advisors @Michiel @Bahler and @Wendy Weijts, @Iryna Roshkovych for translation and coordination and the Department of Social Policy of Zakarpattia Oblast for their leadership and commitment to transforming mental health care in Ukraine.

This movement is another important step towards person-centred, recovery-oriented care and the ongoing transition from institutional care to community-based support.

Together, we are proving that recovery is possible, and that hope can become part of everyday practice.

A brief history of the method

ART wasn’t built in a lab, it grew out of practice. Between 2014 and 2016, a large group of stakeholders in Dutch long-term mental health care — care workers, policy advisors, managers, directors, researchers, peer workers, and family representatives — spent two and a half years developing the model together, in response to a clear gap: while recovery-oriented thinking had already transformed short-term and community mental health care in the Netherlands, it had barely reached long-term residential care, where roughly 21,000 people still relied on largely traditional, problem-oriented support.

ART was formally introduced in the Netherlands in 2016. Since then, it has been adopted by more than 20 mental health organisations across the country, with a model fidelity scale (the “ART monitor”) developed to track how closely teams implement its principles in practice — and research has since linked stronger adherence to the model with better recovery outcomes and higher satisfaction among both service users and their families.

Now, that same model is crossing borders — into Zakarpattia’s internats.