For Immediate Release - Alexandria, VA

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NAADAC, The Association for Addiction Professionals, the nation's largest membership organization for addiction-focused professionals, celebrated the first annual "National Addictions Counselor Day" with an event at The Salvation Army Harbor Light Center in northeast Washington, D.C., today. The event was part of the 13th annual observance of National Alcohol and Drug Addiction Recovery Month.
The Harbor Light Center is an in-patient alcohol and drug treatment facility. NAADAC presented the center's counselors with a plaque in recognition of their work with patients who are recovering from addiction. A tour of the facility followed.

"We are here to celebrate both those in recovery and the counselors who are frontline health care professionals providing, on a daily basis, key services to patients with addictive disorders," Pat Ford-Roegner, executive director of NAADAC, said.

Addressing more than 40 patients, counselors and recovery advocates, George Gilbert, chief policy officer for the federal government's Center for Substance Abuse Treatment, said, "Counselors are the backbone of treatment."

In addition to the Harbor Light event, D.C. Councilmember Carol Schwartz, R, has introduced a ceremonial resolution that designates Sept. 25 as "National Addictions Counselor Day" in the nation's capital.