September is near and dear to our hearts here at RecoveryView.com as the harbinger of Recovery Month, a time to celebrate the good work that has already been done toward growing the recovery community and to focus on the tasks that lie ahead of us. Thousands of events around the country and the globe will highlight individuals, organizations and initiatives that represent the experience, strength and hope that drive us all to do the work we do. While many of you already participate in your local events – or even host them – we encourage the rest of you to go to www.recoverymonth.gov to learn more about its history, find events near you and learn about new ways to support the efforts of the thousands of people who dedicate their life’s work to this important cause.

We also wanted to take this time to thank our sponsor for this issue, Recovery Summit, which will be held at Loyola Marymount University on October 15, 2011. (Find more information at www.soberhousing.net/summit.)

Leading our Recovery Month issue is Dr. Judi Hollis, whose personal experience in treating Betty Ford at the U.S. Naval Center all those years ago provided her with a unique perspective on not only the First Lady’s passing, but on the impact of her legacy and the many ways in which modern-day addictions treatment has evolved – and in Hollis’ mind, not always for the best. It’s a fascinating read.

Dr. Tian Dayton gives us a healthy dose of inspiration, encouraging us to replace our negative thoughts with positive ones and be pleasantly surprised by the results. Of course, this is often easier said than done, so Dayton provides us with specific and easy-to-follow steps for incorporating affirmations into our daily lives.

Our View from the Hill returns just in time to inform us about how Washington, D.C. has already and will continue to commemorate Recovery Month. Andrew Kessler provides us with encouraging statistics that prove we’re on the right track – the Recovery Month You Tube channel has increased viewership by 1,485 percent in just two years! That kind of success speaks volumes for where we are headed in this field, and Kessler has his finger firmly on the pulse of our nation’s progress.

Sherry Gaba’s wildly successful book, The Law of Sobriety, has inspired many people since it first came out one year ago, and Gaba explains to us how she developed this principle based on the equally popular Law of Attraction. The ideas are simple yet profound and can make a positive impact on anyone’s life – not only those in recovery.

As we find ourselves at the beginning of the school year, we also focus on our children, many of whom currently struggle due to the impact of their parents’ divorce. Dr. Jack Hinman offers practical tips for parents to help minimize the negative and increase positive interactions with their children through the course of divorce-related issues.

Dr. Charlotte Reznick, an education and children’s psychologist, taps into every parent’s Achilles heel: how to effectively and lovingly discipline our children. She advocates time-outs for Mom and Dad – not just for the kids – to provide time to calm down, collect ourselves and remind us that we actually love our kids. Do yourself – and your kids – a favor: read this article.

Many people think that creativity is the exclusive realm of artists – painters, designers, writers and musicians. But Carol Teitelbaum believes each one of us have a creative well just waiting to be tapped, particularly in relation to our mental and emotional wellbeing and recovery, and she details how we can discover that creativity within ourselves.

Our book club features Sherry Gaba’s The Law of Sobriety, including a Q&A about her process of writing the book. We hope you’ll find it as interesting as we did.

We also highlight Dr. Kimberly Young’s book, Internet Addiction: A Handbook and Guide to Evaluation and Treatment, a valuable tool to help maneuver our way through this relatively new, yet fast-growing addiction.

As always, we are so very grateful to you, our readers, and every single person who contributes to RecoveryView.com. The recovery community is unique in its sincerity and personal commitment to its shared goal of helping save lives and promote hope and health – we are proud to stand alongside you all.