The conjunction the recovery and the citizenship psychiatry movements leads to an approach centred on full citizenship, an approach that redefines the traditional hierarchy of power and participation in society. For such a redefinition, it is necessary to revisit some reductionist ideological constructs. This is a condition for a more equitable redistribution of powers with a wide array of stakeholders taking part in a discussion by which persons with mental health problems are actively involved and recognized. This paper introduces for the first time the notion of civic recovery, a notion that emerged from a research agenda that includes persons in recovery as equal research partners.