Services & Programs > Mental Health Services > Psychiatric Rehabilitation Program (PRP)

Psychiatric Rehabilitation Program (PRP) maryland virginia

CRi provides support to adults, children, and families impacted by serious emotional or mental health challenges. PRP focuses on connecting individuals within the community, behavioral support, education, and recovery, improving the ability to maintain healthy relationships and gain greater independence.

  • Online Referral Form: Click HERE!  
  • Printable Referral Form: Download HERE!


Our Recovery Model

CRi's PRP is based on the stress-vulnerability model of recovery. This model helps all parties to understand the impact of mental illness (and sometimes addiction, too), & other coping strategies. The program offers assistance in budgeting, time, & household management as well as a variety of daily living skills, social skills, & wellness practices.

Some people are vulnerable to experience the symptoms of mental illness. This can be rooted in genetics, & it often affects brain chemistry. CRi promotes the following steps to recovery & assists with rehabilitation through individualized & targeted programming:

  1. Be physically healthy—eat well; rest soundly; exercise.
  2. Stay away from alcohol a& recreational drugs
  3. Use medication to help with symptoms of mental illness


Stress can trigger symptoms of mental illness. To recover from mental illness, CRi promotes & assists with the implementation of coping skills.


Characteristic of the Recovery Model

The model takes a holistic view of a person’s life. The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) has outlined four dimensions to consider when supporting someone in recovery:

  • Health: In order to manage or recovery from mental illness, people must make choices that support both their physical and mental well-being.
  • Home: People need a safe and supportive home environment.
  • Purpose: Having meaningful daily routines such as school, work, family, and community participation are important during the recovery process and for maintaining wellness.
  • Community: Supportive social relationships provide people with the love, emotional availability, and respect that they need to survive and thrive.


Recovery Model vs. the Medical Model

The recovery model of mental illness is often contrasted against what is known as the medical model. The medical model posits that mental disorders have physiological causes, so the focus on treatment is often on the use of medications.

While the two models are often presented as being in opposition to one another, researchers have suggested that the two are complementary and can be used together during the treatment process. The medical model ensures that biological causes are fully addressed and that people receive the medication-based treatments that they need, while the recovery model ensures that patients are able to be directly involved in their own treatment.

The medical model is rooted in utilizing treatments that are based on empirical research, but the recovery model offers the personal empowerment and peer support that people need to cope with their illness and work toward getting better.

One of the major strengths of the recovery model is that it focuses on individual strengths and abilities rather than on deficits and pathologies. It places trust in the individual to know their own experience and to be able to take an active role in their treatment.

A number of programs, including the Wellness Recovery Action Plan (WRAP) and the NAMI Family-to-Family program, incorporate both medical and recovery models and have research backing their effectiveness.


Principles of Treatment

SAMHSA defines ten guiding principles which recovery treatment is based on. Every institution that operates according to the recovery model should be striving to incorporate these into their care.

  • Self-directed
  • Individualized and person-centered
  • Empowerment
  • Holistic
  • Nonlinear
  • Strengths-based
  • Peer support
  • Respect
  • Responsibility
  • Hope


Our Goals

Young Adults in the Psychiatric Rehabilitation Program focus on:

  • Taking care: Eating well; taking medication properly; getting enough rest & exercise
  • Networking: Getting out in the community; making & keeping friends/connections; joining groups, teams & clubs of interest.
  • Growing independence: Taking care of individual living space; navigating around town; handling money, filing for benefits.
  • Celebrating Self: Learning about & celebrating individual cultural heritage.
  • Peace & harmony: Learning how to handle conflict & how to express anger in a healthy way; getting along with the people of authority.
  • Word Usage: Making requests in a positive way—including when to say no. Staying safe & handling distractions, roadblocks & bullies in a positive manner.
  • Time management: Managing time to take care of all school work, chores &  time for recreation. Fighting boredom by creating purpose.
  • Managing emotions: Learning about how emotional disturbance can get in the way, and how to help get through it. Catching on to potential warning signs and figuring out how to get extra help.
  • We have your back: Plan what you would do in a crisis, and how to reach out.


Adults in the Psychiatric Rehabilitation Program focus on:

  • Reaching out: Getting out into the community to find friends and activities. Strengthening bonds with people who support recovery from mental illness. Joining groups and organizations of interest.
  • Self care: Learning how to really care for the self. Taking care of the body, physical health. Learning how to plan for, shop and cook good meals. Getting the most out of psychiatric medication.
  • Moving up: Retaining housing. Managing money. Learning how to get around the community. Reviewing and filing for benefits & entitlements. Considering employment or furthering education.
  • Coping: Acquiring the skills needed to handle situational challenges (social skills, independent living skills, time & money management, handling emotions, setting boundaries).
  • Busting Stigma Barriers: Learning that people with mental illness are just people. Getting rid of any feelings of shame and embarrassment. Learning how to talk to others.
  • Naming it and Taming it: PRP participants understand mental illness and how to handle symptoms. They learn how to get through the tough times by identifying personal warning signs & learning how to tame mental illness & triggers.


Who Is Eligible?

Eligible Adults:

  • Live in Anne Arundel County
  • Have Medicaid
  • Are seeing a therapist and/or a psychiatrist and
  • Have been diagnosed with a mental illness on the Priority Population List.




Eligible Children & Adolescents:

  • Are residents of Anne Arundel County; have Medicaid; & have adequate housing
  • Are seeing a therapist &/or psychiatrist for a serious emotional disturbance, and
  • The symptoms of this serious emotional disturbance get in the way of
    • Staying in their home or school;
    • Safety for the child or adolescents, or others.
  • Children & adolescents who may be returning from a higher level of care, & need this kind of program to move ahead,
  • Children & adolescents who could stay out of a more intensive level of care with the help of this program.
  • Children and adolescents must have enough behavioral control to be safe in the psychiatric rehabilitation program & benefit from the psychiatric rehabilitation provided.


INTERESTED IN CRi SUPPORTS? 

  • Online Referral Form: Click HERE!  
  • Printable Referral Form: Download HERE!


Further Reading

For an in-depth look at the recovery movement, the American Psychological Association has 15 learning modules that are accessible to the public. The topics range from a broad overview of the recovery model to ways it is being implemented in practice.