Access to Opportunity
Clubhouses offer members access to employment, education, housing, social connection, and wellness.
What is a Clubhouse?
A community-based mental health service that empowers people with mental illness to take control of their recovery and thrive through access to opportunities for employment, socialization, education, skill development, housing and improved wellness.
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The Core Elements of a Clubhouse
A Different Approach to Mental Health Recovery
The Clubhouse Model is a psychosocial rehabilitation approach to recovery for people living with mental illness that addresses the social and economic factors essential to long-term well-being, as part of a comprehensive, community-based approach.
Grounded in strengths rather than illness, the Model is built on the belief that recovery happens through choice, contribution, and belonging.
The Clubhouse Model is intentionally designed to create a community organized around purposeful work, where members can contribute and access opportunities for employment, education, relationships, and participation in community life.
The term Clubhouse originated with Fountain House, the first Clubhouse, founded in New York in 1948 by former patients of a New York psychiatric hospital who began meeting together informally as a kind of “club.” Created as a community for people living with mental illness rather than as a service or treatment program, it was built on the principles of membership, mutual support, and shared purpose.
As the Clubhouse Model spread around the world, communities embraced the name Clubhouse as a reflection of these values. Today, the Clubhouse Model has evolved into a global movement, coordinated by Clubhouse International, with belonging, shared responsibility, and meaningful participation remaining at the heart of every Clubhouse.
A Clubhouse is a community people belong to, not simply a program someone attends. A defining characteristic of the Clubhouse Model is that people living with mental illness who join a Clubhouse are members, not patients.
Membership is:
- Voluntary
- Without time limits
- Open to anyone with a history of mental illness.
Members and staff work side-by-side as colleagues, with members participating at every level of Clubhouse operation, programming, and leadership. This partnership fosters confidence, purpose, leadership, and ownership in each member's recovery journey.
Clubhouses support recovery by providing opportunities and conditions that support a healthy, connected life:
- Relationships and belonging
- Employment and education
- Safe and stable housing
- Wellness and community life
A Global Network
Clubhouse International coordinates a global network that is united by the International Standards for Clubhouse Programs™. While each Clubhouse reflects its local community, all share the same commitment to creating places where people living with mental illness can belong, contribute, and thrive.
Learn More
How Clubhouses Work
See how Clubhouses create opportunities for recovery and support for members’ goals and aspirations.
International Standards for Clubhouse Programs™
Explore the principles that guide Clubhouses around the world.
Find a Clubhouse
Connect with a Clubhouse near you and learn more about membership opportunities.