4th National Conference on Women, Addiction and Recovery: Thriving in Changing Times

One of the key elements to the recovery community is the community, the strong network that alcoholics and addicts use to lean on in times of struggle. Staying connected to your peers who are also working for a better life through recovery is so important; how well one stays connected to the community will make or break one's success. Within the 12 Step community there are a number of ways one can reach out on top of one's daily or weekly meetings that can help strengthen one's recovery and help give back to the community that has helped them. Every year countless conferences are held all over the world that bring hundreds and thousands in recovery together.

Thriving in Changing Times will be the theme of this year's National Conference on Women, Addiction and Recovery. It will happen at the Chicago Marriott Downtown, Magnificent Mile, on July 26-28, 2010. "The conference is grounded in the principles of recovery and gender-responsive, trauma-informed care", according to JoinTogether.

The conference offers opportunities to explore a wide array of topics such as the following:

• family-centered treatment
• health policy affecting women's treatment
• women and the criminal justice system
• co-occurring mental and health conditions
• comprehensive recovery support for women
• using technology in innovative ways
• culturally responsive approaches
• workforce development strategies

Speakers include:

Joan Borysenko, Ph.D., Stephanie Covington, Ph.D., Jean Kilbourne, Ed.D., Carol McDaid, Lisa Najavits, Ph.D., Francine Ward, J.D., Hon. Pamela S. Hyde (invited), Hon. R. Gil Kerlikowske (invited), Hon. Richard M. Daley (invited), Ijeoma Achara, Ph.D., Hortensia Amaro, Ph.D., Aida Giachello, Ph.D., Nancy Young, Ph.D. among others!

Sponsored by:
the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) in partnership with Treatment Alternatives for Safe Communities (TASC).

Co-Sponsored by:
NASADAD Women's Service Network; The National Council for Community Behavioral Healthcare; and State Associations of Addiction Services (SAAS); in partnership with SAMHSA's Addiction Technology Transfer Center (ATTC) Network.

Edward Moore "Ted" Kennedy Died

The world lost another great man this week, a man who had traits that we could all hope to have. In May of 2008 Edward Moore "Ted" Kennedy (February 22, 1932 - August 25, 2009) was diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor which limited his appearances in the Senate. He died on August 25, 2009, at his home in Hyannis Port, Massachusetts. According to Wikipedia, "Kennedy played a major role in passing many laws, including laws addressing immigration, cancer research, health insurance, apartheid, disability discrimination, AIDS care, civil rights, mental health benefits, children's health insurance, education and volunteering. In the 2000s, he led several unsuccessful immigration reform efforts. At the time of his death, he was continuing to work on universal health care legislation, which is often described as his 'life's work'".

Ted Kennedy was the champion of many great causes in the United States; the mistakes he made in his early life are now overshadowed by his great deeds. Over the years, it has been said, Teddy had his struggles with alcohol, as did his son Patrick Kennedy; both of them fought for the rights of addicts as well as the rights of all. We owe a lot to the Kennedys for the legislative changes they were responsible for during their lifetimes; our younger generations are truly not aware of most of their great deeds. The blood, sweat, and tears that the Kennedy family gave and is still giving is absolutely amazing and something to marvel over!

Representative Patrick Kennedy (RI) has been a champion for the cause of alcoholics and addicts; he himself suffers from Bi-Polar disorder and the disease of addiction. Patrick worked tirelessly for the bill HR1424 (known as the Paul Wellstone and Pete Domenici Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act of 2008) and it was finally passed in 2008 as part of Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008. The bill ensures that people who suffer from the disease of addiction and mental disorders can get a fair shake from their insurance companies. According to then Republican Senator Pete Domenici of New Mexico: "This bill targets insurance plans that cover more than 50 employees. About 113 million people, we figure, are in group insurance plans that have, as part of their health care, mental health coverage. All of those, now, will have imposed on their insurance policy by operation of law that the insurance company will pay for mental health treatment in exactly the same way they cover physical ailments — the same amount of days in the hospital, the same amount of co-pay, and all the other technical words will be equal. And that's not what it used to be, and not what it is today. Insurance companies were already moving in that direction, but now we've made it so they can't slide backwards"(Time.com).

I encourage everyone to watch this video of Rep. Patrick Kennedy testifying concerning mental health parity at a House of Representatives Committee on Education and Labor Subcommittee on Health, Employment, Labor and Pensions hearing on July 10, 2007. This is a powerful video and it helps to clarify the "disease of addiction." I look forward to hearing your thoughts.