National Recovery Month September 2012 – this year’s theme, “Join the Voices for Recovery: It’s Worth It.”

National Recovery Month InfoGraphic

Mental and/or substance use disorders (also known as behavioral health conditions) affect millions of individuals, as well as their families and friends who are concernedabout them. Many opportunities exist to help them reclaim their lives, restore their relationships, and build promising futures. With the right care, support, and commitment, people with behavioral health conditions can improve their health and direct their own recovery path.

The 23^rd annual National Recovery Month (Recovery Month) observance this September will celebrate the effectiveness of treatment services and the reality of recovery. Recovery Month is sponsored by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).

This year’s theme, “Join the Voices for Recovery: It’s Worth It,” emphasizes that while the road to recovery may be difficult, the benefits of preventing and overcoming mental and/or substance use disorders are significant and valuable to individuals, families, and communities. People in recovery achieve healthy lifestyles, both physically and emotionally, and contribute in positive ways to their communities. They also prove to family members, friends, and others that prevention works, treatment is effective, and people recover.

Select from the links below and be re-directed to a sampling of SAMHSA’s website pages for more information and directions on how to plan and celebrate National Recovery Month in your community:

Proclamations Encourage your local government officials to sign an official proclamation that designates September as National Recovery Month. When local officials publicly sign such a statement, public attention is drawn to your Recovery Month events and activities, and the community as a whole recognizes that local governments are committed to improving citizens’ access to treatment programs for alcohol and drug use disorders. Proclamations can be issued by governors, state legislatures, municipalities, counties, cities, or towns and examples of prior years’ proclamations can be found at this link.

Media Outreach The Media Outreach section provides instructions to plan and promote Recovery Month activities and events, as well as templates to customize and send to local and online media outlets.

Event Planning Organizing an event for National Recovery Month is a great way to celebrate people in recovery, their families, and others throughout the community who make living in recovery possible. Events help unite those already in recovery and can broadly spread the message that prevention works, treatment is effective, and people recover.  Examples of Recovery Month events in communities across the country may provide inspiration on how to plan your event.  

Recovery Month Toolkit provides extensive information on event planning, media outreach, and other resources.

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Lisa Frederiksen

Author | Speaker | Consultant | Founder at BreakingTheCycles.com

Lisa Frederiksen is the author of hundreds of articles and 12 books, including her latest, "10th Anniversary Edition If You Loved Me, You'd Stop! What you really need to know when your loved one drinks too much,” and "Loved One In Treatment? Now What!” She is a national keynote speaker with over 30 years speaking experience, consultant and founder of BreakingTheCycles.com. Lisa has spent the last 19+ years studying and simplifying breakthrough research on the brain, substance use and other mental health disorders, secondhand drinking, toxic stress, trauma/ACEs and related topics.

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