Little is known of how recovery can be utilized in the prevention and management of staff-directed aggression in community mental health settings. The paper presents results from two studies of competence development among staff in community mental health services partaking in education and training in the prevention and management of staff-directed aggression afforded by the Agency of Health in the Municipality of Oslo. In the studies we found that the most competent and ‘powerful’ conceptions of practice corresponded to a large extent with principles of practice known from the recovery and person-centred approach. The findings add to the existing knowledge of staff’s perceptions and experiences of violence in community mental health services. Additionally, the findings describe recovery as a particularly promising route to decrease workplace violence in mental health services. The findings will also have practical use for practitioners in devising applicable and effective practices in handling staff-directed aggression.