New Member of our Advisory Board: William L White

I am thrilled to introduce a new member of our Advisory Board, William L White, one of the leaders of the Recovery Movement in America. Some of you will know that I introduced Bill's work last year in my DDN Background Briefings on recovery and recovery communities. Exciting stuff!

I have been emailing Bill for a while, and finally asked if he would join up. He said it would be an honour and I have to confess that I was absolutely thrilled. Bill has contributed so much, including writing the two best books I have read in this field - and I have read MANY. You should check out 'Pathways from the Culture of Addiction to the Culture of Recovery' and 'Slaying the Dragon: The History of Addiction Treatment and Recovery in America'. 

As far as I am concerned, all treatment agency workers should be provided with these two seminal books to help their professional development and understanding of what they have been employed to do.  

There is a lot to learn from Bill and all the people he was worked with, at one level or other.  I leave you with Bill White's biography:

William L. White is a Senior Research Consultant at Chestnut Health Systems / Lighthouse Institute and past-chair of the board of Recovery Communities United.  Bill has a Master’s degree in Addiction Studies and has worked full-time in the addictions field since 1969 as a street-worker, counselor, clinical director, researcher and well-traveled trainer and consultant.  

He has authored or co-authored more than 300 articles, monographs, research reports and book chapters and 13 books.  His book, 'Slaying the Dragon - The History of Addiction Treatment and Recovery in America', received the McGovern Family Foundation Award for the best book on addiction recovery.  Bill was featured in the Bill Moyers’ PBS special 'Close To Home: Addiction in America' and Showtime’s documentary 'Smoking, Drinking and Drugging in the 20^th Century.' 

Bill’s sustained contributions to the field have been acknowledged by awards from the National Association of Addiction Treatment Providers, the National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence, NAADAC:  The Association of Addiction Professionals, the American Society of Addiction Medicine, and the Native American Wellbriety Movement.  

The Johnson Institute recently published Bill’s widely read papers on recovery advocacy in a book entitled 'Let’s Go Make Some History:  Chronicles of the New Addiction Recovery Advocacy Movement'.    

Thanks Bill!