Recommended Definition -- Recovery From Mental and Substance Use Disorders is a process of personal, relational and family healing that includes each striving to achieve their full potential and reconciliation.

Sis Wenger
National Association for Children of Alcoholics

Over 30 years ago mental health clinicians – social workers, psychologists, psychiatrists, and marriage and family counselors – began to name what they were seeing clinically: children with behavioral and mental health problems, teens who were depressed and suicidal, and adults with anxiety and relationship disorders, depression, and many with what is now called post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The ratio of persons being treated for these issues who identified as having an alcoholic parent was dramatically disproportionate to the general population. An increasingly clear correlation between these presenting problems and growing up in a family impacted by an addicted parent motivated the creation of a movement in the mental health and addiction prevention and treatment worlds, which culminated in the creation of the National Association for Children of Alcoholics, Adult Children of Alcoholics (ACOA) Al-Anon, Alateen, family programs in treatment centers, and support groups in student assistance programs. These programs developed for one reason: Children and families living with the addiction of a loved one are profoundly impacted -- developmentally, emotionally, and interpersonally -- and all must be part of the recovery paradigm – or the “recovery” is narrow, not complete, and sets the family up not to stop the familial transmission of the disease, whether a mental health disorder or addiction.
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The psychic and sometimes physical health damage to impacted children and family members living with a loved one suffering from a mental health or addictive disorder – especially -- especially a parent -- requires healing and recovery support as do the persons afflicted with these disorders. This crucial point is ignored in the proposed definition of recovery from mental health or substance use disorders. The science is clear; the clinical research is clear; the Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) Study is clear. All affirm what the clinical world saw over 30 years ago – that children and families also need to recover from the effects of addiction. Yet, this overwhelming and growing evidence appears to be ignored in the proposed definition of recovery and in the four guiding principles for this definition.

Recovery From Mental and Substance Use Disorders: A process of personal, relational and family healing that includes each striving to achieve their full potential.

Recovery From Mental and Substance Use Disorders: A process of personal, relational and family healing that includes each striving to achieve their full potential.

Definition of Recovery Forum
Thank you for the opportunity to participate in this forum. I feel that the feedback I am providing will add to the many principles of recovering from substance use/abuse and mental disorders.
My name is Mattie Coleman and am presently a student at Los Angeles Southwest College, and will be completing the Substance Abuse Counseling Certification Program there. I have successfully completed the first module of the program and am at present a Recovery Specialist. Here is a principle of recovery that I feel that must be added to your forum ativities.

Current Working Definition:
Recovery from Mental and Substance Use Disorders: A process of change through which individuals work to improve their own health and well-being, live a self-directed life, and strive to achieve their full potential.

My Definition
Knowing and understanding your value to Jesus Christ our savior, through knowledge and understanding that comes from Him. About you!, from the standpoint of recovering from Mental and Substance use/abuse disorders.
Potentially, you as one that suffers from mental and/or substance use disorder have value to Jesus because of His sufferings. Yes, He suffered! (Luke 24:26 – 1 Peter 2:21) And through the suffering of living on the earth and the cross, achieved His full completion of a Work that He and God had planned. To save you! Not only from sins (His blood, Rev. 1:5), but from disorders (His broken body, 1 Corinthians 11:24, Isa. 53:5, resulting in healing). *When you potentially (of one who already have potential), are lead (of Him) to be diagnosed by a competent professional in mental illness and substance use/abuse that becomes apart of your life (here on earth), your potential is reached. Remember not many have reached that potential, but this does not mean that potential isn't there. Since you have been diagnosed and participating in being medicine compliant and/or counseling programs for your temporary suffering, to Jesus you have reached your potential.
Now you become able to do things because of direction. Jesus calls this obedience, (to run to the one that is speaking). Because of the value He sees in you, (because you are of value to Him), you didn't run out to get baptized, you didn't try to “go find” Jesus. *You responded to Him by knowing that their was something about you that was problematic and decided with His help to become medicine compliant and to attend meetings and programs. Then, He helped you to change.
Deciding to take actions on problems and behaviors that made you less valuable to Him (you thought),is evident of value. Initiated by Christ, you know what decisions to make, and, *while not knowing, you were following what pleased Christ, therefore, you know that even before you were diagnosed, your value to Christ is reality, through Grace (favoring you, no matter what your sin, sickness, even thought you are problematic).
My clients feel that they are of no value! This is far from the truth. You decided to get help. * You trusted in Him, without knowing it. Do you get it now?

“*” These statements intertwine. Please read them separated from the other sentences, together.

Our Center (On Our Own of Montgomery County, Maryland) held a discussion group to provide feedback on this definition of recovery.

There was strong consensus among the participants that "recovery" as it applies to those with substance abuse issues and those with mental health issues are quite different and therefore that it is conceptually confusing to link the two.

Some participants also felt that the definition is (perhaps purposefully) overly vague, nebulous and non-specific, and therefore not very useful, at least by itself.

I think it would be useful for SAMHSA to extend the deadline for comments and to encourage consumers to come together as we did, to discuss this in order to provide individual and collective feedback.