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Each September during National Alcohol and Drug Addiction Recovery Month (Recovery Month), the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s (SAMHSA’s) Center for Substance Abuse Treatment (CSAT) celebrates the successes of those who have achieved long-term recovery from substance use disorders, and highlights individuals who want to help others by sharing their personal journeys of addiction, treatment, and recovery.
This year’s Recovery Month theme, “Join the Voices for Recovery: Now More Than Ever!,” is designed to reach audiences that are susceptible to alcohol and/or drug use during times of stress. The observance also highlights the societal benefits of substance abuse treatment, recognizes the contributions of treatment providers and promotes the message that recovery from substance use disorders is possible.
The following narratives are unique and personal. They highlight the positive effects of treatment and recovery, and how substance use disorders can negatively impact an individual as well as those surrounding that person. Learn from these stories, share their voices, and take action to help expand and improve the availability of effective treatment for those in need.
Carol McDaid Principal of a Public Affairs Firm
Washington, DC
Recovery has given my life great purpose and value – something I sought but never found with drugs. I’m so proud of where I am today. Five years ago, my husband and I founded a recovery community organization in our hometown: the
McShin Foundation in Richmond, VA. This helps us share the gift of recovery with others, while sustaining our own. This is how recovery works – you have to give it away to keep it.
Here’s my story. I started young: by age 12, I was drinking alcohol and smoking pot every day. Like so many others, I progressed and used the whole spectrum of drugs. Ashamed of the quantities I used by myself, I knew inside I was an addict.
By age 29, I was one of the millions of people who used drugs and still go to work every day. Ultimately, my sister and employer joined forces for an intervention. Because I was already demoralized and desperate, it wasn’t a struggle to get me to agree to attend a residential addiction treatment center. My health plan did not cover my treatment, but I am grateful that I had loved ones who could.
In treatment, I was introduced to the 12 steps and continue to use them as the foundation of my ongoing recovery. I lived in a recovery house with other women at first and stayed clean for 6 years. During that time, my relationships with my family, my employer, and much of my past were healed. All areas of my life seemed to flourish except the area of intimate relationships, and after a particularly painful breakup, I relapsed. After a second treatment stay, and with the support of a large recovery community, my recovery now feels solid. I have been alcohol and drug free for 12 years.
My recovery has allowed me to become a wife, a stepmom, a small-business owner, and a recovery advocate in Washington, DC. Every day in my professional life, I am able to use my advocacy skills to bring recovery to individuals and families who need it. I now serve on the Board of Faces and Voices of Recovery, an organization that brings the hope and reality to the public, so that I can keep sharing the gift of recovery.
Dan Cain President of a Therapeutic Community
Minneapolis, MN
After my wife and children, preserving the gift of recovery for those who continue to struggle is the number one priority in my life. I am lucky that I’ve been able to give back since I first found a path to recovery after being paroled from prison in 1972
Prior to that, I had spent the better part of 10 years progressing along a continuum that began with alcohol abuse, and culminated with heroin addiction. At 24 years old, I did not find recovery, recovery found me. After five previous treatment attempts, I entered a long-term therapeutic community.
After a decade of abuse, isolation and pain, I found a community that was unlike any I had experienced at any time in my life. That community gave me acceptance, accountability, and ultimately salvation. It allowed me to become someone I actually like most of the time. It allowed me to find a beautiful wife and father three beautiful, healthy children. And it allowed me to give back some of what I have been given.
Since 1985, I have been the director of that same program that helped me. In that time it has grown exponentially, and we now serve some 1,200 people per day in addiction treatment housing and community corrections programs.
Dave Seward, M.Ed., NCAC II, LPC Executive Director of a Treatment Center
Chester, SC
Since I found recovery in 1986, I have been motivated by a strong desire to give back what I had received. I joined the staff of a small, rural treatment center as a counselor. What I discovered was added strength for my own recovery, while I also bore witness to the struggles of others as they attempted recovery.
I’ve been able to sustain my passion and motivation to develop better methods for treating my clients. In 2005, I became executive director of the agency, and joined the beginning chapter of
Faces and Voices of Recovery. After attending a national conference in Washington, DC, I found renewed motivation and a desire to bring about changes in the treatment delivery system by removing barriers that exist in providing care to all who need it.
At a
Recovery Month celebration in 2009, I was privileged to hear speeches by several of the people in whose recovery I had played a small role. The inspiration of their stories of addiction and recovery and what it has meant to them and to their families will sustain me in the weeks and months ahead. And at the end of my career, I am sure I will be able to look back and take satisfaction in knowing that I made a difference. My journey of personal recovery from addiction continues to this day.
Irene Garza Therapist, M.S.W., Group Facilitator at a Community Health Organization
Detroit, MI
My problem was not any specific substance – it was the disease of addiction. I began using at the young age of 11 to escape the pain of long-term abuse. My life was painful; addiction and violence were rampant in my family. But today I am so grateful to have been given the gift of recovery. I have not used any mind- or mood-altering chemicals for the past 24 years.
I was in and out of treatment centers for several years before I came into contact with others who were “just like me” and was finally able to hear the message of recovery. I began attending 12-step groups and have never looked back. Recovery for me means that I have a life that was not even imagined while I was using. The cycle of addiction in my family has been broken. What this means is that my children, ages 18 and 11, have never known me as a mom with a substance use disorder. They know me as a loving, caring, and compassionate person.
I have had so many wonderful experiences on this journey and I could not possibly mention them all. I will say that I have obtained my master’s in social work and have worked in this field for many years. I am involved in the community and take the responsibility to relay the message of recovery to individuals suffering from substance use disorders very seriously. I am a homeowner, have traveled, and have done many other things that I couldn’t have done if I wasn’t in recovery. However, the most important gifts to me are the internal ones: my self esteem, self worth, integrity, self respect, and acceptance of self. This was unimaginable in my “other life.”
Nancy Schenck Executive Editor for an Independent Publisher
Las Vegas, NV
Who am I today? I’ve been in the publishing field for more than 21 years. I am executive editor of a small independent publisher that publishes books on addiction treatment, recovery, and behavioral health care topics. I could not be doing what I’m doing today without being in recovery.
I’ve come a long way from where I was. After a series of tragic losses during my teenage years, I sought the empty darkness alcohol and other drugs provided. My drugs were all that I had left after 15 years of blackouts.
When I woke up in restraints after my third and last overdose, I knew I could no longer continue using. I have not used alcohol or other drugs since November 30, 1982. I completed inpatient treatment, where I was introduced to recovery and the 12 steps. Then, I embarked on a remarkable journey that unfolded beyond anything I had ever dreamed of before. I was working as a nurse when I achieved recovery, and after some time in recovery, I realized I didn’t want to be a nurse when I grew up. I wanted to write, so I went back to school and got a degree in creative writing.
Working the 12 steps helped me repair my damaged relationship with my parents, who are now deceased, but each lived long enough to see me in recovery. I still attend 12-step meetings on a regular basis, sponsor women, and volunteer at a nonprofit recovery advocacy organization. The life I live today is only because of my commitment to recovery and my belief in the power of the 12 steps.
Brenda Mayer Chemical Dependency Specialist
Tacoma, WA
The tired old adage “Once an addict, always an addict” is simply not true, and I am proof of that.
I believe that an addict, any addict, can lose the desire to use and find a new way to live.
It wasn’t easy for me, though. I began using drugs when I was 13 years old. The early years of my life were marked by my father’s addiction to alcohol and all the pain and chaos that it engendered. I am a survivor of physical, emotional, and sexual abuse, and the post-traumatic stress that it produced in me and my siblings.
By the fall of 1981, the only thing that had ever made my life bearable, drugs, had become the problem. I was physically addicted, mentally ill, emotionally unstable, and spiritually bankrupt. I was filled with despair, self-hatred, and hopelessness. As a last resort, I decided to try abstinence and recovery. Treatment and 12-step support was very hard to find in the Greater Seattle area, especially with no money or insurance. But I found help, and today I can say that I have not used alcohol or illicit drugs for more than 28 years, nor do I misuse prescribed medications.
When my recovery started on September 15, 1981, I had a 9
th-grade education. I was unemployed and unemployable. Since then, I have educated myself and dedicated my career to working with people who are addicted to alcohol and drugs in the largest urban area of Washington State. I have learned to live life on life’s terms even though it has, at times, been very painful. In 2003, my only brother relapsed after 10 years of abstinence from alcohol. Within 30 days he drove drunk and died in a car accident.
I thrive today when I carry the message of recovery to others. I have personally witnessed the recovery of hundreds of people. They are just like me and have turned their lives around and are making a difference in their communities. Together we are the faces and voices of recovery.
Albert Bryan Licensed Addiction Counselor, Social Workers, Treatment Center Co-Founder
New Orleans, LA
My troubles with addiction started with using alcohol when I was 9. As my addiction grew, I graduated from alcohol to heroin and cocaine, using whatever could get me high. My biggest obstacle was accepting the fact that I had a problem. I received my help at an inpatient facility. I have now been in recovery for more than 20 years. Within my recovery process, I have obtained a bachelor’s and master’s degree. I am personally involved in the community and in the recovery and treatment of people who need it.
I am a licensed addiction counselor and social worker; co-founder of a substance abuse treatment organization, and a strong advocate for treatment in my community. We are struggling to rebuild here, because of the damage Hurricane Katrina caused, along with the influx of opiates. The treatment for opiates is expensive and everyone addicted to opiates does not have the opportunity to receive treatment. I would like for everyone to have the opportunity to seek help.
I have experienced many “highs” in my recovery, including graduation, my children getting married, purchasing a home, and witnessing the birth of grandchildren. I also had the honor of being a delegate from Louisiana at the 2009 Recovery Rally. There isn’t much that surprises me, because I have learned that recovery is an ongoing process and, while challenging, is an opportunity waiting to happen.
Neil Kaltenecker Executive Director of a Substance Abuse Advocacy Organization
Atlanta, GA
My professional career began in the field of criminal justice more than 25 years ago, and at work I have witnessed the devastation that addiction brings to individuals, families, and communities. Because of my own problems with alcohol, there is very little that separates me from the people I have arrested, monitored in a county jail or a maximum-security women’s penitentiary, or supervised on probation and parole. Like me, many started drinking at an early age, made poor choices in personal relationships, and continued to use alcohol and drugs in spite of the shameful and damaging consequences.
I drank through high school and college. By the time I reached age 30, my health had deteriorated to a critical point, and my life was a version of hell on earth. When I had the brief, yet intense, conscious awakening that I did not want to live this way anymore, I discovered a strong and incredibly caring community of recovery that was there to support me. Alongside them, I began a period of renewal that healed my body, my heart, and my mind.
I have been in long-term recovery since 1990 and am grateful every day for the incredible opportunities I have had and continue to have since then as a result of recovery. I am a responsible and caring spouse, stepmother, daughter, sister, friend, and colleague. My recovery is at the very core of who I am.
Opportunities for recovery should exist for each and every person. That belief has fueled my passion to bring a message of hope to anyone who will listen. It is also why I am working at an advocacy agency whose mission is to reduce the impact of alcohol and other drug problems in our communities, and why I humbly speak out about my recovery and let others know that they, too, can get well.
Ronnie Katz Substance Abuse Prevention Program Coordinator for a City’s Public Health Division
Portland, ME
In 1969 during my senior year in high school, I was constantly surrounded by friends who were getting high. Whenever I was offered drugs, I would decline and say that I wasn’t ready yet. I graduated that June, and by summer I apparently decided that I was ready and began my 28-year journey into active addiction. By sophomore year of college, I was a daily user and continued down that path for the next 20 years, rarely spending a day without being high.
During those two decades, I watched my great “potential” turn into a “what could have been.” It took five years to complete college and after graduating, I had no idea what to do with my English degree. I managed to find teaching jobs in private schools, but they never lasted long. It wasn’t until I started a job as a drug counselor in a New York City high school that I started to question my own use and the hypocrisy that defined my life.
Also, throughout this time, I was incredibly lonely and wondered why I could not have a romantic relationship. After an illness in 1990, I spent 3 weeks without getting high and realized that I actually liked the way I felt. It took another 7 years for me to find my way into 12-step recovery, following a move to Nashville and a connection on the Internet with a person in recovery.
Twelve years later, my life is amazingly full and happy, with a loving relationship, a successful career, and an acoustic duo called Broadband. I continue to stay involved in a recovery program, and believe that we need to make recovery visible, so that it is accessible to all who need and desire it. And I feel like I am finally becoming the person that I originally set out to be.
Pat Guerin Coordinator at a Recovery Alliance
El Paso, TX
Sometimes I have to pinch myself to believe that I have been in recovery for 39 years. For me, long-term recovery means I am free from the obsession of alcohol, that I contribute to the well-being of my family and my community, and that I am self-supporting through my own contributions. My friends and family have regained their trust in me, and we now thoroughly enjoy each others’ company.
I have so much to be grateful for, beginning with the late great Gert Behanna, a woman who published her own recovery story under a pseudonym “Liz Burns.” Her story made it possible for me to admit that I was hopelessly addicted to alcohol, and that a sober life could be a beautiful and rewarding adventure.
I entered recovery through a 12-step program, where I encountered people just like me. I firmly believe that God works through people to carry a message of recovery, and that “gratitude” is an action word. I have been graced with countless opportunities to practice gratitude, resulting in wonderful experiences I could have once only imagined!
My interests have evolved as I grow in recovery. I have always had a special concern for women-specific services, and one day would like to author recovery materials for them. Recently, I am interested in supporting a grassroots movement to restore rights to felons who now embrace long-term recovery and are productive members of society. Presently, I provide peer-to-peer recovery services, serve as an advocate in three drug courts, and actively participate in my church and 12-step programs.
I aspire to remain teachable and keep my recovery “green,” to enjoy life, and to share the joy of recovery with others.
Donald Greengrass, Sr. Certified Alcohol Drug Counselor
La Crosse, WI
I have escaped death three times in my life, and I know if it wasn’t for recovery, I might not be here today. I have been in recovery for 14 years, after nearly a 40-year battle with alcohol and drugs, either my own a family member’s.
Growing up, my parents’ drinking progressed to the point that it became more important than my siblings and me. I was 4-years-old the first time I turned to alcohol, and again at 5-years-old. In middle school, while other kids went to the movies and roller skating, I got drunk at parties with older friends. I tried marijuana for the first time the summer before my sophomore year of high school, the path that led to my years of addiction.
I joined the Marine Corps after my first visit to a halfway house, and during my 3-year career, I went through alcohol treatment and received an honorable discharge. I was unable to hold a job, and any stipends I did earn, I used to support my addiction. At the age of 30, a doctor told me that if I didn’t receive treatment, I would end up in the hospital, or worse.
It was my third near-death experience and it made me realize I needed treatment. I received help from a state vocational rehabilitation program and graduated from the University of La Crosse. Because of my recovery, today I now enjoy spending time with my wife and kids, golfing, jogging, and working as a certified alcohol drug counselor.
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