Recovery is defined as the process of developing new meaning and purpose in life as one grows beyond the catastrophic effects of mental illness. This study aimed to develop a program to facilitate recovery and examine its effectiveness in a randomized controlled trial. The program was developed with three components that enhance benefit finding, personal meaning, and a sense of happiness. Sixty-three participants with long-term mental illness were randomly allocated to the intervention group (n=32) or the control group (n=31). The intervention group attended eight 2-h group sessions, with one held every week. Recovery was assessed at baseline, post-intervention, and at a three-month follow-up. In the per-protocol analysis, after excluding those who dropped out, the intervention group showed significant improvement in recovery compared with the control group (P<0.05). In the intention-to-treat analysis, a repeated measures analysis of variance did not show any significant intervention effect (time×group) (P>0.05). The program had the potential to facilitate recovery.