Discharge from an addiction treatment program is not the conclusion of the healing process but only the next step in the long recovery journey. The new connections with peers and therapists forged during residential treatment or in an intensive outpatient program should be continually fortified and not neglected after discharge.
The opposite of addiction is connection, it has been said. Harmony Foundation is an over 50-year-old nonprofit addiction recovery program that promotes physical, emotional, and spiritual healing. Its alumni program plays a crucial role in that effort.
To further emphasize the importance of alumni programs, Harmony Foundation CEO James Geckler recently joined the national board of Treatment Professionals in Alumni Services (TPAS), an organization dedicated to the development of long-term recovery support for individuals following their acute treatment period.
The TPAS approach is based on a client-centric approach to activities that promote connection, continual education, and the celebration of recovery. TPAS’s vision is to foster dynamic collaboration between addiction treatment professionals seeking to improve outcomes for people in recovery from addiction.
“Jim’s name in the industry is synonymous with innovation as an organization but he also believes in the value of the individual. He has a natural ability to recognize a person’s potential, providing them with the tools to be their best,” commented Michael Maassel, Harmony’s director of alumni services and co-president of TPAS.
Mental health and addiction services are more needed than ever after the COVID-19 pandemic intensified the already escalating mental health crisis in America and the correlated addiction epidemic.
TPAS’s mission is to provide the skill sets necessary to make an impact with the prioritization of peer support over profit. Harmony Foundation, which has been led by Geckler for some five years, is fully aligned with that concept and has changed the lives of tens of thousands of people with addiction.
“For addiction treatment and mental health programs, TPAS is one of the most effective channels for supporting positive change,” added Geckler. “I look forward to helping effect change for the better and highlight the positivity of lives in recovery—an aspect of the disease of addiction often overlooked by the public.”