The initiation of recovery may be marked by processes of transformational or incremental change. The former, which has been christened "quantum change," involves sudden recovery-inducing experiences that are dramatic, unplanned, positive, and enduring. The latter depicts a process of recovery initiation with the following components (these are not necessarily sequential events but build on each other):

·        hope and resolution for change;

·        first steps toward self-management;

·        a process of stabilization (ownership and active management of one's own recovery);

·        a mastery of rituals of daily living (increased comfort and confidence, self-monitoring and active efforts to prevent relapse, deepened insight about self in relationship to illness); and

·        a sustained movement toward health and community integration (increased quality of life via greater independence, self-acceptance, a safe and pleasant living environment, satisfying relationships, and meaningful activities).

Within such incremental models, factors required to initiate recovery are often quite different than the factors that later serve to maintain and enrich recovery. As a result, interventions helpful at one stage of recovery may be ineffective or even harmful at other stages. For example, continuing to provide care taker functions within an assertive community treatment model could have negative effects upon individuals who are developmentally ready to take ownership of their own recovery.