Comedian Craig Ferguson to Serve as Keynote Speaker at The Council’s 2023 Fall Luncheon

The Council on Recovery is excited to announce that award-winning comedian and host of the Late Late show Craig Ferguson will serve as keynote speaker at our 2023 Fall Luncheon on Friday, October 13, 2023 at the Hilton Americas – Houston Hotel!

Craig Ferguson is a multiple Grammy-nominated, Peabody and Emmy Award-winning actor, writer, producer, director, and comedian with a diverse career that encompasses film, television, and the stage. He hosted the wildly popular Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson, which ran for ten years on CBS and remains a cult favorite.

Craig Ferguson

He achieved notable success on the North American comedy circuit and has performed to sold-out theaters all across the country, including Carnegie Hall and Radio City Music Hall. Craig has recorded five widely acclaimed stand-up comedy specials for Netflix, Comedy Central, Epix and Amazon. He is also a New York Times bestselling author and published his most recent book, Riding the Elephant, in 2019.

Ashley and Steve Birdwell, and Walt and Edith Parmer will serve as event co-chairs. As a non-profit organization, gifts from our Speaker Series events make our services accessible to those who may otherwise not be able to receive them. Thanks to the generosity of our donors, The Council can deliver best-in-class education, treatment, and recovery support to all families, with the promise that we turn no one away.

Visit our Speaker Series website to learn more or reserve your table today.

Providing Pathways to Stability and Success with Navigation Services

Our Community Navigators are helping clients access the services they need to achieve their personal goals.

For more than 75 years, The Council on Recovery has served as the place to start for anyone impacted by addiction and co-occurring mental health disorders. We understand that we alone cannot prevent and treat substance use disorders, and have worked to form strategic partnerships with treatment centers, hospitals, schools, and other community services to progress our mission. The Council is proud to now officially provide Navigation services, in collaboration with United Way of Greater Houston, to help people navigate this network of resources and access the services they need to begin and sustain a life in recovery.

When someone is struggling with substance use disorders and potentially related issues like financial hardship, unemployment, lack of transportation, and homelessness, the road to stability can be long and confusing. For some, barriers such as shame and stigma, cost, lack of insurance, and simply being unaware of the resources available to our community can make stability seem impossible. Our navigators can help clients break through these barriers.

 United Way Community Navigators are coaches and personal guides who work one-on-one with individuals and families, helping them create their own personalized journey to financial stability and access services along the way. Community Navigators make important connections and referrals to services and help address potential obstacles.

Navigation services

Our Community Navigators are already changing lives.

When Rossana Ishee, MSW, LCDC-I, CHW, reached out to one of the clients participating in our Discovering Choices outpatient treatment program, he immediately expressed interest in our Navigation Services. In addition to client-centered coaching, Rossana was able to provide him bus passes, referrals to other agencies such as credit unions and health care, and teach SMART goal setting and evidence-based breathing techniques.

This client has not only successfully graduated from Discovering Choices, but is strong in his sobriety. He has also since received HVAC certification training, is employed full-time, attends classes at Houston Community College, and is working on his goal to get his own transportation!

To learn more about United Way Community Navigators, click here. If you or someone you love is impacted by addiction or another mental health disorder, or is in recovery and might benefit from Navigation Services, contact us today.

“Full House” star Jodie Sweetin Helps The Council on Recovery to Raise More Than $460,000

Star of the hugely popular 90’s sitcom “Full House” Jodie Sweetin inspired a crowd of more than 800 Houstonians at The Council on Recovery’s 38th Annual Spring Luncheon on Friday, April 21, 2023. Co-chaired by Kim and Kevin Boone and Matthew and Meredith Goldsby, the event raised more than $460,000 to help individuals and families impacted by substance use disorders and co-occurring mental health conditions.

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Board of Trustees Chair Amanda Polich opened the luncheon with a warm welcome and highlighted the Speaker Series’ legacy of education and awareness. Reverend Cindy Cline of Unity Church provided the invocation. Polich returned to bestow the Community Champion Award to the Halliburton Charitable Foundation, which has given nearly half a million dollars in support of our services for children and youth through their annual golf tournament and employee matching gifts.

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Board of Trustees Chair Amanda Polich
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Reverend Cindy Cline

The Council’s President & CEO, Mary H. Beck, LMSW, CAI, highlighted the direction and future of The Council, and emphasized the need to normalize conversations on substance use and mental health at home, in schools, workplaces, and beyond.

“Recovery shouldn’t have to be hidden,” she said. “It should be ok for people to ask for help when they are struggling with substances. It should be ok to ask for help at school. It should be ok to ask for help at work. It should be ok to ask for help from your doctor or clergy. It should be ok to ask for help from your family.”

Luncheon Co-Chairs Kim Boone and Matthew Goldsby followed with moving testimonials on how addiction has impacted their own lives.

“As a parent of 2 middle school-aged girls, I am acutely aware of the pressures my kids will face that can too easily lead them to a pathway of substance abuse,” said Boone. “And that’s a huge part of why I am so passionate about my work with The Council. I want to ensure that my kids are armed with the right information and tools to make good decisions in the face of adversity.”

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Mary H. Beck, LMSW, CAI
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Kim Boone and Matthew Goldsby

Keynote Speaker Jodie Sweetin then took the stage in an entertaining, thoughtful, and inspiring conversation with Dr. Sean Fitzpatrick, Executive Director of The Jung Center of Houston. They discussed her adoption and upbringing, acting career in “Full House,” and the years of struggle and recovery that followed.

Sweetin stressed the importance of prevention and education efforts for young people in her address, saying, “I’m so grateful that my daughters live in a time when conversations around addiction and mental health are easier to have.” She also praised the work of The Council, saying, “An important thing that The Council does is work with teens and their parents to address the family system.”

In her closing remarks, Sweetin said, “If you’re here today and you’re struggling, please know that it will change, and you can ask for help. It will be okay.”

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Dr. Sean Fitzpatrick and Jodie Sweetin

How We Are Helping Address Texas’ Shortage of Mental Health Professionals

Texas is facing a worsening shortage of mental health care professionals, including licensed social workers, therapists, psychologists, and psychiatrists.

Now, 98% of Texas’ 254 counties are wholly or partially designated by the federal government as mental health professional shortage areas. While the number of mental health professionals state-wide slightly increased last year, it does not make up for the number of people leaving the profession due to financial and emotional strains. The state also faces a dwindling number of providers who will train individuals working toward the licensures that are required for practicing mental health care, which will only worsen the shortage.

This workforce shortage is a crisis that is already compounding another crisis.

Texas ranks last in access to children’s mental health services, and 33rd for adult behavioral healthcare, according to Mental Health America. To make matters worse, the demand for mental health care has increased since the COVID-19 pandemic began, as substance use disorders, anxiety disorders, depression, and related mental health conditions increase at alarming rates. If we do not address this workforce shortage immediately, Texans will continue to struggle with long-term and potentially life-threatening mental health conditions.

Workforce shortage

How does The Council help address this crisis?

Our priority is to get people impacted by substance abuse the help they need, whether that’s at The Council or elsewhere.The shortage of available mental health professionals is now one of the biggest barriers keeping them from getting help. Here are three ways The Council is working to diminish that barrier:

  1. We train mental health professionals. The Council offers multi-disciplinary training for undergraduate, graduate, and post-graduate interns seeking licensure-hour fulfillment. Our Mary Bell Behavioral Health Clinical Fellowship has been a pillar in our efforts to train the next generation of clinical behavioral health professionals for more than a decade. We also provide continuing education workshops for licensed professionals employed at The Council and across Houston. Through these, we hope to retain skilled and compassionate professionals to help effectively address Texas’ mental health crisis.
  2. We train other professionals. Since its inception, The Council’s Center for Co-Occurring Disorders and community education efforts has trained hundreds of medical and public health professionals to recognize the signs and symptoms of substance use and co-occurring mental health disorders and recommend appropriate courses of action.
  3. We partner with organizations to recruit new professionals. We’re working with the Network of Behavioral Health Providers to reach a behavioral health workforce that can serve diverse communities by supporting their recruitment and advocacy initiatives across the Greater Houston area.

Announcing Jodie Sweetin as Keynote Speaker for our 38th Annual Spring Luncheon

The star of the classic 90’s sitcom “Full House,” Jodie Sweetin, will share her story of recovery at The Council’s premiere fundraising event on Friday, April 21, 2023 at the Hilton Americas – Houston Hotel.

The Council on Recovery is excited to welcome Jodie Sweetin to Houston as the keynote speaker for our 38th Annual Spring Luncheon! Actress, producer, host, author and activist Jodie Sweetin garnered the love of millions in her role as Stephanie Tanner on ABC’s long-running, hugely popular sitcom “Full House” and the widely popular Netflix spinoff “Fuller House.”

She previously pulled double duty as co-Executive Producer and star in the rom-com Just Swipe and just wrapped production on “Craft Me a Romance” where she once again stars and serves as co-Executive Producer. Jodie also co-hosts the popular parenting podcast “Never Thought I’d Say This,” which is currently in its fifth season. She is a published author of her memoir UnSweetined, in which she chronicles her struggle with substance use disorder until becoming sober more than a decade ago. She is now a passionate advocate for substance use prevention among youth and young adults.

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Since its inception 40 years ago, The Council’s speaker series has promoted a message of hope and healing, and helped to reduce the shame and stigma of substance use and related disorders in the Houston community and beyond. The Council provides treatment and recovery support to individuals affected by substance use and other co-occurring mental health conditions, regardless of their ability to pay. Funds raised through our annual luncheons ensure that no family in need is ever turned away.

For more information about our Speaker Series, visit our speaker series website. Tables and individual tickets will be sold at a later date.

The Council and Recenter Partner to Expand Access to Addiction Treatment Services

The Council on Recovery is excited to announce that we are providing our Discovering Choices outpatient treatment program at Recenter’s campus in the heart of Houston! This partnership will expand access to world-class addiction treatment services to those who most need them.

What is it?

Discovering Choices is The Council’s outpatient addiction treatment program that serves individuals who may not have the financial resources to afford them. Our dedicated, licensed staff conducts an assessment of all clients to gather information regarding the severity of use and how it has impacted daily functioning, in order to develop an appropriate treatment plan. Treatment will include individual counseling, process groups and psychoeducation.

Recenter is a nonprofit organization that provides programs and services to help individuals who are predominantly homeless recover from substance use disorders.

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Who does this program serve?

Anyone over the age of eighteen and who meets financial and diagnosis criteria can receive these addiction treatment services. They do not have to be a current client at The Council or Recenter. For more information or to inquire about eligibility, please call 713-942-4100, and select option 3.

Why is it needed?

The cost of addiction treatment often prevents people struggling with substance use disorders and co-occurring mental health conditions from getting the help they need to live a life in recovery. Discovering Choices is provided at no cost to those who are eligible. While The Council currently provides this program virtually, providing it in-person at Recenter will benefit those who prefer in-person interaction with treatment providers and peers. People who also do not have their own means of transportation could also easily get to campus, as it is on a Metro rail line and bus route.

If yourself, a loved one, or a client/patient is struggling with substance use, contact us today through our website or by calling 713-942-4100, option 3. Click here to view and download the flyer for this program.