Recovery Allies

Recovery Allies is for anyone who wants to learn how to help and encourage people in recovery and their loved ones.

It’s also for people who want to change their communities so they support people in all stages of recovery – to build a recovery-friendly community.

My book offers real-world solutions and evidence-based strategies to support people in recovery. Above all, it celebrates the lives of the 23 million Americans living in recovery from substance use disorder.

Recovery Allies isn’t focused on addiction – it’s about recovery. Other books describe how to treat addiction or offer individual stories of recovery and redemption, but this is the first to approach our addiction crisis from a comprehensive community perspective. 

Recovery Allies will teach you about:

  • Reducing the shame and stigma that can prevent people with substance use disorder from asking for help
  • Essential tools to use in your community to fight the addiction epidemic
  • Relapse prevention, harm reduction, and peer support
  • The critical roles of positive relationships and community support for people seeking and maintaining recovery
  • How anyone in a community – from people involved in  healthcare and law enforcement to those working in faith organizations and education – can make use of proven public health strategies 

ENDORSEMENTS

“Given the unrelenting and increasing burden of disease, disability, and premature mortality caused by addiction, Alison Jones Webb’s call for us to become ‘allies’ in recovery highlights an undeniable social reality – that if we’re serious about addressing the addiction crisis, we need to get on the same page, unite, and work together to stand any real chance of making a meaningful and lasting difference. Alison has done a great service at a time of national crisis through expansive review and her articulate, easily digestible summary of the new science of addiction recovery. Her book should inspire and empower policy makers and the public alike to become ‘allies in recovery.’ ”

– John F. Kelly, PhD, Elizabeth R. Spallin Professor of Psychiatry in Addiction Medicine, Harvard Medical School; Founder and Director, Recovery Research Institute, Massachusetts General Hospital.

“This is the resource I will be pointing everyone to when they ask how they can help someone with substance use disorder. The right response is always ‘Educate yourself!’ and this book helps people do just that. Alison compassionately articulates a complex, complicated topic and provides actionable steps that anyone can do. From the first chapter, non-clinical language makes the book very accessible, as she carefully unravels some of the causes and conditions around trauma and mental health with personal stories, expanding the perspective of what recovery looks like. Alison shines a bright light on the many benefits offered by the recovery community. I'm excited to share this book with our readers.”

– Carolyn Delaney, MD, Publisher of Journey Magazine, person in recovery

“This is an important book that I could have used when trying to support my nephew’s ongoing struggle with opioid addiction. Tragically, we lost him to an overdose in 2018. This wonderful, well-researched book comes too late for our family, but I have great hope that it will help many others avoid this terrible and avoidable outcome.”

– Lisa Hallee, J.D., CPPC (Certified Positive Psychology Coach), family member

Recovery Allies: How to Support Addiction Recovery and Build Recovery Friendly Communities, highlights stories of people in recovery to introduce strategies that community members can use to support family, friends and neighbors in recovery. Available this fall from North Atlantic Books.

Home page photo by Alice Donovan Rouse on Unsplash

© Alison Jones Webb