David Van Der Velde was featured in Thrive Global talking about the increasingly common occurrence of a mental health (MH) issue co-occurring with a substance use disorder (SUD).
Co-occurring disorders affect each other, and need to be taken into account when treatment for either is administered. Another important issue with people entering SUD recovery treatment with MH issues is how to manage care for those who come in with prescribed medications.
The Executive Director and Co-Founder at Awakening Recovery discusses some statistics and concerns on Thrive Global, read the article here.
David got clean and sober in 1988 at the age of 19, close to death from his own struggles with drug addiction and alcoholism. Now 32+ years clean and sober, he has been consistently active in his recovery community by mentoring others, serves on recovery and youth related non-profit Boards such as LifeWorks and the West Hollywood Recovery Center, and serves on panels at institutions speaking from his own experience about recovery.
Joelene Knight, is the Executive Director and Co-Founder of Grace Recovery, a sub-acute and residential treatment program located in Hollywood, California, as well as a Board Member at Awakening Recovery, a unique life-saving nonprofit that specializes in recovery homes with a long-term, 12-Step addiction solution that creates a lasting change in core beliefs and behaviors.