IMAGUS – ESCOLA DE SUPERAÇÃO E CIDADANIA: O PRIMEIRO RECOVERY COLLEGE NO BRASIL E NA AMÉRICA LATINA Imagus – Recovery and Citizenship School: the first Recovery College in Brazil and Latin America

Abstract

This article presents the proposal for the creation and implementation of Imagus – School of Recovery and Citizenship (ESC), inspired by the international model of Recovery Colleges and grounded in the Recovery approach. It is an unprecedented initiative in Latin America, aimed at social inclusion and the promotion of citizenship among people experiencing various forms of exclusion, particularly those with lived experience of severe mental disorders. The project is based on principles of empowerment, protagonism, resilience, and peer support, proposing an educational service rooted in co-production and adult education, where lived experience is recognized as a source of knowledge. Imagus-ESC aligns with the principles of the Brazilian Psychiatric and Sanitary Reforms and the Anti-Asylum Movement, offering courses, workshops, and events that promote life skills, educational reintegration, and community participation. In addition to presenting the project’s conception and structure, the article discusses the transformative potential of the Recovery College model in the Brazilian context, in line with the World Health Organization’s guidelines and the global movement for psychosocial care and human rights.