Remarks by
A. Kathryn Power, M.Ed.
Director

Center for Mental Health Services
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

Blazing The Trail To Recovery Through Transformation:

October 25, 2006
Portland, OR

Good evening. I’m Kathryn Power, director of the Center for Mental Health Services. I’m honored to share in your conference and regret that I cannot be there in person. It’s always a moving experience for me to meet you and hear your stories of recovery. You are hope! You are the evidence that individuals can take charge of forging their own paths to wellness and recovery.

Twenty-one years ago, Alternatives ’85 blazed a new trail in self-help as the only national conference organized by and for consumers and survivors. That pioneering effort cleared the way for an annual opportunity for consumers to share their experiences. Since then, the trail to this conference has become well worn. Thousands of people have found their way here to celebrate their faith in themselves, their recovery, and their future.

The Alternatives conference is not a destination for the solitary traveler. Instead, it is a gathering point for individuals who want to use their own journey toward recovery as a guide for others who seek a similar destination. Those who come to this meeting give life to the ringing words of Ralph Waldo Emerson. He stated, "Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail."

Our quest for mental health transformation demands that we break new trails in how recovery is planned and achieved…and who chooses the route. We seek a recovery path that consumers themselves direct, and one that fits their lives and circumstances. Consumers should be the primary decisionmakers in their own mental health care. Families should be able to guide the care of their own children.

I look to you, as consumers and survivors, to be the trailblazers in transforming our mental health system. Your needs must drive the care and services provided. Your individuality, as defined by your age, race, culture, and gender, must guide treatment options. And your experiences—which provide the best, most intimate, and most informed knowledge about mental illnesses and recovery—must be the roadmap for change.

In recognition of your central role, I designated 2006 as the "The Year of the Consumer." Because you must continue as leaders of transformation, I will be extending this designation through 2007.

We at the Center for Mental Health Services have launched numerous activities to mark this year. Let me share some of them with you.

Last year, when I spoke at the Alternatives conference, I announced that we soon would issue a consensus statement on recovery. I have made copies of this statement available at this conference. The statement defines recovery as "a journey of healing and transformation enabling a person with a mental health problem to live a meaningful life in a community of his or her choice while striving to achieve his or her potential." The statement also identifies 10 fundamental principles of recovery, including self-direction, individualized and person-centered care, peer support, respect, and responsibility.

We now are distributing the statement and using it to spark discussion. How, for example, can consumers and families be empowered to take charge of the recovery journey? Our goal is to stimulate a national dialogue about the very real possibility of recovery from even the most serious mental illnesses, particularly when consumers are at the center of decision-making and care.

To add to this discussion, we are encouraging greater research and reporting on the benefits of shared decisionmaking, which is a process by which consumers and providers work together to make informed choices among treatment options. We see this process as a concrete tool for promoting individualized plans of care and recovery.

We are expanding opportunities for consumers to lead others toward recovery. We soon will complete a Peer Specialist Certification Resource Kit and send it out to various constituency groups in each State. Our kit is designed to help train former or current consumers to be certified peer specialists. We are continuing to promote peer support services by funding 5 technical assistance centers and 19 statewide consumer networks. We should be issuing a request for a new cohort of grantees within the next few months.

We also are working to widen the trail to better mental health care by reducing, and eventually eliminating, the use of seclusion and restraint. This year, we intend to double the number of grants we award to States to encourage their exploration of more humane alternatives. We soon will issue regulations to set training, use, and reporting requirements for all federally funded health care settings. We have developed "Roadmap to Seclusion and Restraint Free Mental Health Services," a training curriculum to educate providers and consumers about alternatives.

A most important step in transformation is to end harmful stigma and discrimination. In August, SAMHSA hosted our second annual Voice Awards in Hollywood. The Voice Awards acknowledge media and consumer leaders who give a voice, and a face, to mental health problems. Our award winners are trailblazers who dare to challenge misinformation and stereotypes. By using their talents, as well as real or fictional stories, they are helping Americans realize that mental health problems are a fundamentally human, commonplace, and treatable experience.

These initiatives are designed to help empower you, as consumers, to use your experiences to change minds and change lives. Research tells us that interpersonal contact is the most effective way to eliminate stigma and discrimination. Just by sharing your strategies for self-help and peer support, you are helping to transform each other and—through you—the mental health system.

This meeting itself is a symbol of transformation. Think about your exponential power to lead change. During the next few days, hundreds of you will learn new self-help and peer support skills. But when each of you returns to your community and shares your new-found knowledge, thousands of other can benefit.

Make the most of your time together at this conference. Share your hope, your recovery journeys, and your triumphs. Plan new pathways to transformation, with yourselves as leaders. As with any worthy venture, there must be pioneers—individuals whose courage and commitment lead them to "go where there is no path and leave a trail." In transformation, you must be those pioneers. Remember: You are the true trailblazers in creating a future in which anyone with a mental illness can find hope in recovery and a full life in the community.

Enjoy a most successful conference. Thank you.