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The purpose of the paper is to provide a profile of Robert Lawrence.

Robert provides a short background to his life and is then interviewed by Jerome.

Robert talks about the slow onset of his condition, his hospital admission and subsequent long journey of recovery.

Case studies are of course only one person’s story. The world of someone experiencing psychosis is so different that we can only really understand it fully through the accounts of sufferers like Robert.

Robert makes a number of points about how services could be improved, such as through quicker and better treatment and a commitment to promote positive mental health.

Robert talks about “benefits you can live off.” He notes that some governments have not fully appreciated the reality of mental suffering and its effects on trying to live a “normal” life.

Robert’s story has seen him embark on a long journey. He has now managed to study for a qualification which will hopefully bring him employment as a counsellor.

The purpose of this paper is to review the 20 remarkable lives of student accounts published in this journal. These recovery narratives (RNs) are examined first in terms of whether they meet the five elements of the connectedness, hope, identity, meaning and empowerment (CHIME) model of recovery and then in terms of what makes each account remarkable.

Two Excel spreadsheets were created. One had each author’s name and the five elements of the CHIME model, the other the features of a remarkable life.

All 20 accounts fulfilled the criteria for the CHIME model, independently validating this model of recovery. Hence, each account showed evidence of connectedness, hope, identity, meaning and empowerment. A number of additional characteristics stood out from the accounts such as the importance of motherhood and of education.

All 20 accounts were only reviewed by the two authors, who may be subject to bias. To reduce this, the first author did the bulk of the ratings. This paper shows the importance of education for recovery.

Some 15/20 accounts reported problems with mental health services, mainly around waiting lists. Must mental health always remain a Cinderella service?

This is the first attempt to synthesise this particular set of recovery narratives, entitled remarkable lives. These accounts show the richness of the recovery journeys embarked on by many sufferers and these are just drawn from one University. Like the authors of these stories, we too as recovery specialists have much to learn from their inspiring accounts.

Using the “Powerful Connections” method, HR can significantly increase its impact on the organization and veer away from non value‐adding processes, says Robert Bolton, associate partner at Atos Consulting.

The purpose of this paper is to share Ella Vadasz’s story.

Ella wrote a biography of her experiences, including two poems. Robert then asked a series of questions from the perspective of a mental health academic.

Ella shared stories from her life and how her experiences have shaped her. She talked about the emotional impact of a custody battle.

Recovery narratives such as this give us an overview of only a single person’s experiences. However, they allow the person with lived experiences to explore their story in depth.

What Ella has written is very emotional. Her story will give readers an insight into her life and experiences.

There is so much to learn from stories such as Ella’s, in particular from her critique of social services in Scotland and England.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first time that Ella has chosen to share her unique story. This paper features two poems written by her – a first for Remarkable Lives. The value of Ella sharing her story is apparent upon reading it.

The purpose of this paper is to share Danielle Jeffries’ story.

Danielle wrote a biography of her experiences. Robert then asked a series of questions from the perspective of a mental health academic.

Danielle shared stories from her life, and how her experiences have shaped her, including being sectioned under the Mental Health Act.

Recovery narratives such as this give us an overview of only a single person’s experiences. However, they allow the person with lived experience to explore their story in depth.

What Danielle has written is very powerful. Her story will give readers an insight into her life and experiences.

There is so much to learn from stories such as Danielle’s. In particular, the way that she speaks about the impact of a diagnosis of borderline personality disorder.

This is the first time that Danielle has chosen to share her unique story. The value of Danielle sharing her story is apparent upon reading it.

The purpose of this paper is to share Robyn Clegg-Gibson’s story.

Robyn wrote a biography of her experiences. Robert then asked a series of questions from the perspective of a mental health academic researcher.

Robyn shared stories from her life, and how her experiences have shaped her life and herself.

Narratives such as this give us an overview of only a single person’s experiences. However, they allow the person with lived experience to explore their story in depth.

What Robyn has written is very emotional. Her story will give readers an insight into her life and experiences.

There is so much to learn from a story like Robyn’s. In particular, from her experiences of police processes after a crime.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first time that Robyn has chosen to publish her unique story in the written form. The value of Robyn sharing her story is apparent upon reading it.

The purpose of this paper is to share Khia Stacey’s story.

Khia Stacey wrote a short piece detailing her journey, and she was then interviewed by Robert Hurst.

Khia Stacey spoke about experiencing trauma, facing difficulties within child and adolescent mental health services and how she chose to fight on.

Recovery narratives such as the current one give the readers an overview of only a single person’s experiences. However, they allow the person with lived experience to explore their story in depth.

Khia Stacey stresses the importance of listening to service users and gives advice on how mental health professionals can better support those in services.

There is so much to learn from a story such as Khia’s – for those who have had similar experiences and for those who work in mental health services.

This is the first time that Khia has chosen to share her unique story. Its value is apparent immediately upon reading it.

The purpose of this paper is to provide a profile of Rob Wright.

Using a case study approach, Rob gives a short account of his background and is then interviewed by Jerome.

Rob’s is an amazing account of surviving a harrowing upbringing, which fortunately few of us reading this piece will have had to endure.

Rob’s story perfectly illustrates why first-person accounts are so powerful. It is hard to imagine a statistical paper having the same impact as this description of one person’s lived experience.

Suicide is the greatest danger for anyone with a long-term mental health problem. Rob has faced this decision many times and has courageously battled on.

Rachel’s simple, yet profound mantra, of “someone to love, something to do, somewhere to live,” is vital for all of our well-being. As Rob also points out, you still need money to put into the electric meter!

Some people have tough upbringings and some have cruel upbringings. Rob had both. His survival is a testament to the uncrushable nature of the human spirit.

Robert Bolton and Sonia Storr of Atos Consulting discuss how HR must develop new skills in order to continue facilitating value creation.