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Recovery By Design

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IMG_4652Today’s show highlights a unique collaboration between The Richmond Behavioral Health Authority and mOb+storefront for community design.

You can listen to the show here 

This collaboration brings art, design and recovery together.  Jennifer Yane of Jennifer Unlimited has been working with the Richmond Behavioral Health Authority since 2006 to teach and create art with program participants in the Marshall Center. This year, they joined with mOb+Store Front for Community Design to bring design into the series and elevate it to arts activism. The soundscapes you will hear throughout the interview were created by participants in mOb.


Individuals in Recovery

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This show focuses on individual stories of people in recovery and how they support others through their peer support recovery work.

The soundscapes that are embeded within the show are created by participants in the Recovery By Design project. This is a collaborative project between RBHA and the mOb Studios. This project will be highlighted in the show broadcasting on the fourth Friday of the month.

You can listen to today’s show here

Guests:

Jay Biggers – peer support specialist at McShin Foundation
Cheryl Cummings – peer support specialist at the Richmond Behavioral Health Authority
David Rockwell – peer support specialist at Henrico Mental Health and Developmental Services
Brandi Welch – peer support specialist at McShin Foundation

Conversations on Legislation, Funding, and Best Practices

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Today’s show focuses on the impact of addiction, best practices in treatment, the power of advocacy and legislative advances. Our guests today are considered experts in both the development of and the provision of services; and through their combined advocacy efforts, have effected great changes in the perception of addiction.

You can listen to the show here

Guests

John Lindstrom is the Chief Executive Officer of the Richmond Behavioral Health Authority (RBHA). RBHA is the primary behavioral health services agency serving the residents of the City of Richmond and providing a variety of services for those in crisis or in recovery from mental health, substance abuse and intellectual disabilities. RBHA has recently opened a medical care unit to provide medical service through an on-site primary care clinic. RBHA provides health, wellness and recovery for the whole person through the integration of behavioral health and primary health services. John has over 20 years working in the mental health recovery field and has implemented many new and innovative programs at RBHA.

James May is the Director of Planning, Development, Research, Evaluation and Director of Substance Abuse Services at the Richmond Behavioral Health Authority. Jim has over 25 years working in the field of addictive disorders and mental health. He has developed many innovative programs for substance services, has brought new funding streams to RBHA to expand services to bring more specialized and holistic recovery programs to consumers. 

Carol McDaid is a co-founder and Principal of Capitol Decisions Inc. A special focus of Capitol Decisions is national alcohol and drug treatment policy. For over 15 years, Ms. McDaid has worked with leading non-profit drug and alcohol treatment centers, addiction physicians, and other prevention and consumer organizations to refine public policy addressing alcohol and other drug addictions. Ms. McDaid led the Parity NOW Coalition behind passage of the 2008 “Paul Wellstone and Pete Domenici Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act.” This landmark legislation requires insurers to treat addiction, mental, and physical health problems equally. The Parity NOW Coalition became the model for successfully advocating for inclusion of addiction and mental health benefits in health-care reform legislation. Because Ms. McDaid personally overcame addiction, she understands the challenges, political and personal, of dealing with alcohol and drug issues. 

 

National Recovery Month (Recovery Month)

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National Recovery Month (Recovery Month) is a national observance that educates Americans on the fact that addiction treatment and mental health services can enable those with a mental and/or substance use disorder to live a healthy and rewarding life. The observance’s main focus is to laud the gains made by those in recovery from these conditions, just as we would those who are managing other health conditions such as hypertension, diabetes, asthma, and heart disease. Recovery Month spreads the positive message that behavioral health is essential to overall health, prevention works, treatment is effective, and people can and do recover.

Recovery Month, now in its 25th year, highlights individuals who have reclaimed their lives and are living happy and healthy lives in long-term recovery and also honors the prevention, treatment, and recovery service providers who make recovery possible. Recovery Month promotes the message that recovery in all its forms is possible, and also encourages citizens to take action to help expand and improve the availability of effective prevention, treatment, and recovery services for those in need.

Celebrated during the month of September, Recovery Month began in 1989 as TreatmentWorks! Month, which honored the work of the treatment and recovery professionals in the field. The observance evolved to National Alcohol and Drug Addiction Recovery Month (Recovery Month) in 1998, when the observance expanded to include celebrating the accomplishment of individuals in recovery from substance use disorders. The observance evolved once again in 2011 to National Recovery Month (Recovery Month) to include all aspects of behavioral health.

Each September, thousands of prevention, treatment, and recovery programs and services around the country celebrate their successes and share them with their neighbors, friends, and colleagues in an effort to educate the public about recovery, how it works, for whom, and why. There are millions of Americans whose lives have been transformed through recovery. These successes often go unnoticed by the broader population; therefore, Recovery Month provides a vehicle to celebrate these accomplishments.

(excerpts from Recovery Month website: www.recoverymonth.goc