SAMHSA Summit on Recovery
There are many pathways to recovery. Individuals are unique with specific needs, strengths, goals, health attitudes, behaviors, and expectations for recovery. Pathways to recovery are highly personal, and generally involve a redefinition of identity in the face of crisis, or a process of progressive change.
Furthermore, pathways are often social, grounded in cultural beliefs or traditions, and involve informal community resources, which provide support for sobriety. The pathway to recovery may include one or more episodes of psychosocial and/or pharmacological treatment.
For some, recovery involves neither treatment nor involvement with mutual aid groups. Recovery is a process of change that permits an individual to make healthy choices and improve the quality of her or his life.