Kidney transplantation is the preferred treatment for patients with end-stage chronic renal disease. There appears to be no recent and extensive review of the literature on psychosocial recovery from adult kidney transplantation. This comprehensive review considers literature on six aspects of patient recovery and rehabilitation: psychiatric sequelae, functional recovery, stress and coping, the psychological impact of failed kidney transplants, quality of life (QOL), and adherence with medications. We conclude that although studies have become both more ambitious and rigorous, there is a pressing need to move away from descriptive research toward carefully designed multidisciplinary psychological intervention studies with kidney transplant patients.