“Regardless of the path you or your loved one take to find a long-term recovery solution from substance use disorder, compassion and forgiveness as the watchwords will help all involved find lasting recovery.”
This is from Awakening Recovery’s Executive Director and Co-Founder David Van Der Velde’s recently published article on Thrive Global about the negative role that stigma plays in the process of people getting the help they need and is available.
A common misunderstanding is the perception of a substance use disorder as a “moral weakness.” The resulting stigma is compounded by the idea that therapy, education and medications can always fix the problem.
Read the entire article on Thrive Global 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.