Recovery support is moving from the dictates of the treatment industry to the rapidly growing field of recovery support. Treatment only happens for 11% of addicts. For those who do go to treatment, this is just the first step of a lifelong journey to wellness. More people are identifying as being in recovery as opposed to identifying by the vehicle they used to find recovery such as 12 step programs. Recovery often means facing several addictions as well as significant lifestyle changes.
The US population for 2018 is 326,766,748. 13% of us are in addiction recovery. Almost 24,000,000. But trying to study how we stay in recovery is hard. The search engines are glutted with news about addiction treatment. Yet of the 21,000,000 who are in active addiction, only 11% or 231,000 people find treatment.
1.From William White and Mike Collins: “The Future of Recovery Support Part 1“:
“Disruptive innovation, a term coined by Clayton Christensen, describes a process by which a product or service takes root initially in simple applications at the bottom of a market and then relentlessly moves up market, eventually displacing established competitors.”
“The worlds of addiction treatment and recovery mutual aid are on the brink of being radically disrupted and transformed. New recovery support institutions and bold innovations in how, when, and where recovery supports are delivered will pose unprecedented threats and opportunities for established players within the treatment and mutual aid arenas.”
2.From Bill: “Swimming Against the Flow“:
“Early recovery is rough. We have to deal with physical withdrawal, feelings that are unmedicated (perhaps for the first time in many years), the normal stresses of everyday life and quite a few others directly related to our addictions, expectations of ourselves and others, financial and legal problems…the list goes on and on. For most of us, getting through the first few weeks and months sober will be the most difficult thing we’ve ever done.”
“For years we not only went with the flow of our addictions, as Batchelor Roshi implies, we often drifted aimlessly. There’s a lot of catching up and growing up to do. We don’t have the answers yet and we have to accept that. As another wise man once wrote, “Acceptance is the answer to all my problems today.”
“For folks in recovery, acceptance no longer means going with the flow. It takes a lot of uncomfortable buffeting and lots of effort when we choose to swim against the current. It’s exhausting. It can wear us down to the point of simply giving up, drifting through the rapids and banging against the boulders of our addictions until we are drowning again.”
3. Sample of training available by the state of Virginia–training is free–Peer Recovery Specialist (PRS) in Richmond–
Peer Recovery Specialist (PRS) Training – Richmond
Description: Services provided by the Peer Recovery Specialist are a permanent critical component of the continuum of care services that substantially improve an individual’s ability to sustain recovery and wellness. DBHDS is pleased to announce an upcoming Peer Recovery Specialist (PRS) training. The 72-hour training curriculum focuses on the principles and philosophy of recovery, facilitating learning by relating the training to the participant’s personal, lived experience in their own recovery. The 72-hour training provides practice in core skills of peer-to-peer support. DBHDS PRS training is acknowledged by the Virginia Certification Board and the Virginia Board of Counseling.
