Our Movement’s Accomplishments: Recently, at a BRSS TACS (Bringing Recovery Services to Scale TAC) leadership conference, Dr. Ron Mandersheid, Executive Director of the National Association of County Behavioral Health and Developmental Disability Directors (NACBHDD), stated that every significant advance in the mental health field in the last 10 years has been conceived of and promoted by persons with lived experience. He cited the advent of recovery as a unifying force. I too am convinced that our movement has played the most significant role in inspiring the field to embrace recovery. I and other persons with lived experience were able to establish recovery as the vision of the New Freedom Commission. This spring, at another BRSS TACS conference on policy development, a senior administrator from Massachusetts stated that stigma and discrimination would only be reduced when persons with lived experience run the mental health system. The appointment of Paolo Delvecchio to Director of the lead government agency on mental health, the Center for Mental Health Services is a move in that important direction. Persons with other disabilities and with addiction disorders have for many years played leading roles in their fields. Another very important accomplishment has been the growing roles for peers in the areas of Services and supports, Training and Education, Evaluation and research, and Policy and planning. I call these contributions: STEPS to recovery.
via madinamerica.com