Background Despite a growing body of research exploring the application of recovery-oriented models of mental healthcare in Asia, few studies have sought to illuminate people’s experiences of mental-health recovery in culturally diverse countries such as Singapore.

Aim To demonstrate why constructivist grounded theory (CGT) is a suitable technique for unravelling experiences of mental-health recovery.

Discussion Mental-health recovery is still an emerging concept in Singapore. CGT can guide research design and analysis, enabling more culturally specific understandings to emerge. The authors explain the main features of CGT, as well as the strengths and limitations of the methodology and possible issues researchers may encounter applying it.

Conclusion Suitable frameworks to guide research into mental-health recovery are urgently needed and CGT provides a flexible but systematic approach for multi-ethnic environments.

Implications for practice CGT has the potential to guide deep exploration of and theory-development concerning mental-health recovery in Singapore and other countries with similar social and cultural settings.