Recovery Learning Library

Welcome to the Recovery Resilience Solutions Recovery Learning Library where you will be able to explore a dynamic range of information, resources, news, and innovative recovery topics

Viva la Evolution, featuring Lori Ashcraft, where you can watch podcasts and interviews, as well as explore a variety of articles by Lori Aschraft covering important topics and key players in Recovery and Resilience;
Resources, where you can access free trainings and materials, as well as view links to recovery-oriented books and publications on our ever-growing reading list;
Media, whereyou can view fun and exciting videos and other media links about the work that we are doing in RRS; and
News, where you can read the RRS Newsletter with articles, updates, events and other topics about the exciting work we are doing in California, in other parts of the U.S., and internationally.

Media Viva la Evolution Show all

Viva la Evolution

#33 Shanel, From The REAL Team

Shanel shares her journey of recovery and how she is evidence that recovery is real. Listen on Spotify Watch on YouTube

Viva la Evolution

#32 Rob Wipond, Your Consent Is Not Required

Rob gives us a fresh look at some old practices about forced treatment. Listen on Spotify Watch on YouTube

Viva la Evolution

#31 Mike Zeeb, Peer Support Educator

Mike talks about his life and his passion. Listen on Spotify Watch on YouTube

Recovery News

April Peer Review Newsletter

Read Crestwood Recovery Resilience Solution’s March newsletter.

Viva la Evolution

#030 Douglas gets his life back

Listen on Spotify Watch on YouTube

Recovery News

March Peer Review Newsletter

Read Crestwood Recovery Resilience Solution’s March newsletter.

Viva la Evolution

#029 Robert Whitaker reveals stories that need to be told.

Listen on Spotify Watch on YouTube

Viva la Evolution

#028 Overcoming Adverse Childhood Experiences – Theresa Sorensen

Listen on Spotify Watch on YouTube

Viva la Evolution

#027 Alex Barnard – Inside California Conservatorship Coercion and Care for Mental Illness

“Conservatorship needs an overhaul” With Dr. Alex Barnard Listen on Spotify Watch on YouTube

Viva la Evolution

#026 Ken Minkoff balances the need for structure and flexibility in organizational growth

Listen on Spotify Watch on YouTube

Viva la Evolution

#025 No Force First – Best Practices: Kevin Huckshorn

Listen on Spotify Watch on YouTube

Recovery News

February Peer Review Newsletter

Read Crestwood Recovery Resilience Solution’s February newsletter.

Viva la Evolution

#024 How Recovery Happens

A peer tells his story of the ups and downs of the recovery journey. Listen on Spotify Watch on YouTube

Viva la Evolution

#023 Kells Perry

Kells Talks About Generational Trauma, the Imposter Syndrome, Gender Identity, and How She is Thriving Listen on Spotify Watch on YouTube

Viva la Evolution

#022 Vince Caimano – The Amazing Growth and Effectiveness of Peer Support Opportunities

Hey PEERS!!! Vince Caimano catches us up on the amazing growth and effectiveness of peer support opportunities worldwide. Listen on Spotify Watch on YouTube

Viva la Evolution

#021 Welcome to Recovery Practices

The power of a recovery-based welcoming practice. Listen on Spotify Watch on YouTube

Recovery News

January Peer Review Newsletter

Read Crestwood Recovery Resilience Solution’s January newsletter.

Viva la Evolution

#020 Peer Support the early days two programs from the 1970s: Beth Stoneking

Peer support in the early 70s. We are taking a look at two programs that demonstrated the feasibility of peer support against all odds. Listen on Spotify Watch on YouTube

Viva la Evolution

#019 The Wisdom of Peer Support Specialists and Supervisors

The editors of the book entitled WHAT IT TAKES: Wisdom from Peer Support Specialists and Supervisors describe the purpose of the book and its importance. Listen on Spotify Watch on YouTube

Viva la Evolution

#018 Peer Support is Alive and Well in Singapore!

Peer support is alive and well in Singapore thanks to the brilliance of a group of dedicated peers. Listen on Spotify Watch on YouTube This project is funded in part by the generous support from Rutgers University PeerTAC, the Alliance for Rights and Recovery, and the New York State Office of Mental Health.

Viva la Evolution

#017 Relapse is Different in Recovery

Experiencing relapse is a learning opportunity to strengthen resilience and create a broader platform for a meaningful life. Listen on Spotify Watch on YouTube This project is funded in part by the generous support from Rutgers University PeerTAC, the Alliance for Rights and Recovery, and the New York State Office of Mental Health.

Recovery News

December Peer Review Newsletter

Read Crestwood Recovery Resilience Solution’s December newsletter.

Viva la Evolution

#016 William’s Story: Lessons in connecting to the person, not the problem

Lessons in connecting to the person, not the problem Listen on Spotify Watch on YouTube This project is funded in part by the generous support from Rutgers University PeerTAC, the Alliance for Rights and Recovery, and the New York State Office of Mental Health.

Viva la Evolution

#015 Dr. Mark Ragins: Learning and teaching about the possibility of recovery

Dr. Mark Ragins talks about his groundbreaking work of learning and teaching about the probability of recovery Listen on Spotify Watch on YouTube This project is funded in part by the generous support from Rutgers University PeerTAC, the Alliance for Rights and Recovery, and the New York State Office of Mental Health.

Viva la Evolution

#014 Copeland Center for Wellness and Recovery – Taking Action for Wellbeing!

Today we’ll hear from Matthew Federici, Director of the Copeland Center, who describes the full array of programs offered by the center and moving on from WRAP. Watch for the PTG emergence Listen on Spotify Watch on YouTube this project is funded in part by the generous support from Rutgers University PeerTAC and the Alliance […]

Viva la Evolution

#013 How Recovery Happens

We will closely examine the surprising journey of how recovery actually happens and we will see it play out as Gloriana shares her recovery story that gives us a close look at the ups and downs of the process. Listen on Spotify Watch on YouTube This project is funded in part by the generous support […]

Viva la Evolution

#012 The healing power of relationship: Dr. George Woods

The healing power of relationships, our superpower for transformation, can sometimes get lost in the morass of paperwork, professional distance, and convenience. This interview with Dr. George Woods shines the light on the importance of cultivating authentic meaningful relationships with those we serve. Listen on Spotify Watch on YouTube This project is funded in part […]

Viva la Evolution

#011 The Peer Employment Learning Center in Action

Peer Employment in Action: Here’s how it actually happened in the first Crestwood Campus. A lot has happened since these early days and we’ve learned a lot from this amazing experiment. If enough people believe in something and are willing to take action, the impossible becomes possible. Listen on Spotify Watch on YouTube This project […]

Recovery News

November Peer Review Newsletter

We’re so excited to bring you our first edition of the monthly “Peer Review.” We promise this won’t be a sleepy scholarly journal. We can assure you, however, we’ll make every effort to awaken you to valuable information and resources, helping you promote peer support services, as well as recovery, resilience, and wellness outcomes in […]

Viva la Evolution

#010 The Structure and Components of The Peer Employment Learning Center

This very innovative program trains people on conservatorship to become peer support specialists. Chris and Jim describe the structure and components of the Peer Employment Learning Center, including the program evaluation carried out by Rutgers University. Listen on Spotify Watch on YouTube This project is funded in part by the generous support from Rutgers University […]

Recovery News

Crestwood Recovery Resilience Solutions (CRRS) was invited to present to the European Association of Centres of Medical Ethics

Crestwood Recovery Resilience Solutions (CRRS) was invited to present on the Peer Employment Learning Center (PELC) to the European Association of Centres of Medical Ethics at the University of Warsaw in Poland, September 14-16, 2023. The presentation was well attended and we fielded many very good questions. The reception of our talk was very positive, […]

Resources

Suggested Reading: “The Woman They Could Not Silence” by Kate Moore

From the New York Times, USA Today, and Wall Street Journal bestselling author of The Radium Girls comes another dark and dramatic but ultimately uplifting tale of a forgotten woman hero whose inspirational journey sparked lasting change for women’s rights and exposed injustices that still resonate today. “Moore has written a masterpiece of nonfiction.”―Nathalia Holt, New York Times bestselling author of Rise of the […]

Resources

Building Bounce Back Families

This is a free 90-minute fun, engaging, and highly interactive workshop to provide participants with concrete tools and a process to build and strengthen resilient family relationships. The instructional package includes a downloadable facilitator guide, workbook, and PPT with video links. You can deliver this workshop to an individual family member, a whole family, or […]

Resources

The next 40 days to a resilient journey of meaning and purpose:

This free downloadable“Next 40 Days Flight Packet” is an orientation workbook to accompany the free interactive, online 90-minute video class below. You can take this fun and thought-provoking course as an individual, team, organization, or even with your family. The 90-minute video course will provide prompts and pauses for writing your reflections in this flight packet […]

Viva la Evolution

#009 CAMHPRO Peer Run Programs and Peer Support In All Settings

The magical alternative to traditional treatment that leads to recovery – Peer-run programs and peer support in all settings Listen on Spotify Watch on YouTube This project is funded in part by the generous support from Rutgers University PeerTAC, the Alliance for Rights and Recovery, and the New York State Office of Mental Health.

Viva la Evolution

#008 Leadership For a Recovery Organization

Listen to Shannon’s amazing story of building a large peer workforce and the recovery opportunities that were made possible. Listen on Spotify Watch on YouTube This project is funded in part by the generous support from Rutgers University PeerTAC, the Alliance for Rights and Recovery, and the New York State Office of Mental Health.

Viva la Evolution

#007 The Heart and Soul of Leadership in a Recovery Organization

Leading from the heart is perhaps the most courageous form of leadership and the most effective. Listen on Spotify Watch on YouTube This project is funded in part by the generous support from Rutgers University PeerTAC, the Alliance for Rights and Recovery, and the New York State Office of Mental Health.

Viva la Evolution

#006 Organizational Recovery: A Bridge to Leadership

Last spring our boss, Dr. Patty Blum, suggested we procure Edye’s consultation services to help us develop a strategic plan for Recovery and Resilience Solutions (RRS). This was a very good idea because we had our heads down and hadn’t looked up for a while to see where we wanted to go and to agree […]

Viva la Evolution

#005 Resilience Tools for Recovery Organizations

Today we are going to share some “tools” with you that will help you sustain a recovery culture. “Tools” are a combination of guides, prompts, and processes that provide a framework for staying on track with recovery ways of being with each other and with those you serve. Listen on Spotify Watch on YouTube This […]

Viva la Evolution

#004 Elephants In The Room

We may need to clean up some behaviors, attitudes, and rules, that get in the way of sustainable change before we add new tools to our work. We call this wrangling the “Elephants in the Room”. Elephants are both internal –the ones we hold inside, and external, those that wander around in our space. So […]

Viva la Evolution

#003 Creating a Recovery Culture Part 2

Today is part 2 of our episodes on creating cultures that support people on a recovery journey. Lori shares ways to move past resistance and to focus on building and sustaining a recovery and resilience culture. She tells us how to navigate barriers to change and cheers us on as we move into new territory. […]

Viva la Evolution

#002 Creating a Recovery Culture Part 1

Hello Friends, Today we will be covering the first in a series of sessions on shifting to a recovery culture. We hear from lots of people these days about the important role culture plays in setting the stage for recovery and resilience. It seems we are all recognizing the value of creating a safe, creative, […]

Viva la Evolution

#001 Viva la Evolution

Hello Friends, We at Recovery and Resilience Solutions (RRS) have exciting news for you. We have beenbusy creating videos, complete with downloadable narratives, that you can use to learn more about the recovery and resilience-building process. Watch our intro video here. We hope not just to be a place where you receive information, but a […]

Media

PELC Open House

Crestwood is known for our extraordinary level of commitment to our implementation of Evidence-Based Practices, from WRAP to DBT to Supported Employment. We are now being recognized as leaders in organizational education and learning. On November 9th, we were pleased to celebrate the Open House for Crestwood’s Peer Employment Learning Center (PELC) located on our […]

Media

PELC 2022 Graduation

On January 20, 2022, the first PELC Graduation took place at our Crestwood San Diego campus!! This was a “live” event at the campus and family, friends, loved ones, supporters, Crestwood staff and community partners were able to join via Zoom. There were 18 graduates from the Hummingbird Healing House and Crestwood San Diego MHRC who named […]

Recovery News

Crestwood Recovery Resilience Solutions (CRRS) Update!

We are excited to announce our new Director of Learning and Performance, Ryan Cooksey! We are very excited to have Ryan on our team. Ryan is helping us revamp our Ongoing Support process and will be engaging with our grant partners in exciting new ways. CRRS would like to thank the Chula Vista campus for […]

Recovery News

Crestwood Recovery Resilience Solutions (CRRS) Update!

June was a very productive month for Crestwood Recovery Resilience Solutions (CRRS). Here are some highlights that we are delighted to share with the Crestwood family. On June 21, CRRS was notified that we were awarded a $1,000,000 grant from the CA Department of Health Care Access and Information for Fiscal Year 2023/24 to support […]

Recovery News

Crestwood Bakersfield Peer Employment Learning Center (PELC) Graduation!

The Peer Employment Learning Center (PELC) was introduced to our Crestwood Bakersfield campus (PHF, MHRC, and the Bridge) in August 2022 when the leadership team had the opportunity to go through the 80-hour intensive training to learn about the role of peer support specialists and gain an in-depth understanding of recovery and resiliency. “It was […]