Community groups for helping people recover from addictions and mental health conditions are at the heart of the recovery movement. The idea of groups for recovery meeting together may seem like a simple one and not one requiring much effort and thought; however, as this book will show, this is not the case.

In Recovery Groups: A Guide to Creating, Leading, and Working with Groups for Addictions and Mental Health Conditions, Linda Kurtz briefly documents the recovery movement for addictions and mental health care. In the first section recovery concepts are broken down into two fields: how they differ and how they come together. The second section focuses on methods of working with independent self-help groups and leadership in support groups. Kurtz touches on the study of helping mechanisms, social climate, group teachings, group structure, and how to use each of these to improve group performance. In the third section of the book, Kurtz examines social and community actions from members involved in Twelve-Step fellowships and consumer survivor organizations. The final section also details programs that provide employment, housing, and mutual support, explaining how to accomplish these goals without a large expense. It also covers online groups. This book will be useful to students, professional mental health and addiction workers, recovery coaches and peer support specialists, and group members and leaders who are interested in this topic.

We often think that treatment for these serious and life-threatening conditions of the brain is at the heart of recovering from them; but treatment, usually short-term if at all, is only the start. People need very long-term help that keeps them from relapsing while the brain recovers; and that help most often comes from fellow survivors. Costly treatment is out of reach for at least half of those who need it.  Community groups cost nothing and, for addicts, they are ubiquitous.

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