Recovery To Practice (RTP) Initiative Print

RTP LogoOverview of the Project

As a part of the federal government’s efforts to promote recovery for all Americans affected by mental illness and/or addiction, in May 2009, SAMHSA announced its Recovery to Practice (RTP) Initiative.  The RTP Initiative is designed to hasten awareness, acceptance, and adoption of recovery-based practices in the delivery of addiction-related services and builds on SAMHSA’s definition and fundamental components of recovery (SAMHSA, 2011).

To guide this effort, SAMHSA desired to learn more about the depth and breadth of integration of recovery and recovery-oriented concepts within the various professions essential to the recovery movement and funded the Recovery to Practice (RTP) Initiative.

“By bringing together the major mental health and addiction professions with people in recovery, advocates, and other stakeholders (including experts in curriculum and workforce development), the RTP Initiative begins to address how we can translate the vision, values, and principles of recovery into the concrete and everyday practice of mental health and addiction practitioners” (Recovery to Practice E-News, 2010).

Six professional associations received awards through this Initiative:

RTP Flyer

Through the RTP Initiative, NAADAC is tasked with the following:

  • Assess the current status and needs of recovery-oriented principles and practices within the addiction profession;
  • Design and deliver a national Situational Analysis with information derived from addiction professionals and review of the literature; and
  • Develop an outline for a recovery-based training curriculum for addiction professionals.

The resultant curriculum outline is currently being utilized by NAADAC to develop a national training curriculum that will become a part of the national certification process for the addiction workforce. This recovery-oriented training curriculum will:

  • Educate addiction professionals about a recovery-oriented model of care;
  • Educate addiction professionals about addiction recovery (and their specific role in promoting it); and
  • Teach competencies needed to integrate addiction recovery concepts into practice.
NAADAC will deliver this educational experience through a multi-level approach that includes 9 webinars, 3 articles in NAADAC's magazine, a large collection of electronic print resources, inclusion of recovery-oriented test questions into certification test banks, and informational sessions at the NAADAC annual conference and other state affiliate events.