Larry Davidson

Larry Davidson, Ph.D., is a professor emeritus of psychology and founding director of the Program for Recovery & Community Health (PRCH) in the Department of Psychiatry of the School of Medicine at Yale University. He also serves as senior policy advisor for the Connecticut Department of Mental Health & Addiction Services (DMHAS) and for five years was project director for the Recovery to Practice initiative of the federal Substance Abuse & Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA).

Trained in phenomenological philosophy and its application to the development of human sciences, his research has been primarily qualitative and participatory in nature, conducted in collaboration with persons with lived experiences of mental illness and substance use. This research has focused on processes of recovery in serious mental illnesses and addictions and translating the implications of what has been learned about recovery into the development and evaluation of recovery-oriented policies and practices. These include person-centered care planning, peer-delivered recovery supports, and pathways to community inclusion for persons in recovery.

In addition to being a user of psychiatric care himself, Professor Davidson has produced over 400 publications in collaboration with student, trainee, and junior faculty mentees, including A Practical Guide to Recovery-Oriented Practice: Tools for Transforming Mental Health Care and The Roots of the Recovery Movement in Psychiatry: Lessons Learned. His work has been influential internationally in shaping the recovery agenda and in providing recovery-oriented, person-centered, and culturally responsive care.