The governance of sexuality in a Recovery-oriented mental health service: Psychosis, consumers and clinical approaches

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‐researched and 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 work on 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. Discussion While the policy framework authorized a Recovery approach, clinicians practised surveillance, hierarchical observation and normalization, 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.