About Us

History of UNT RTP

The Rehabilitation and Health Services Department began the Recovery to Practice (RTP) Initiative. RTP promotes recovery for everyone and is designed to increase awareness, acceptance, and the adoption of recovery-based practices.

ENVIRONMENTAL SCAN

Using the national initiative as a model, UNT RTP spent the first year of the initiative consulting with Cynthia Moreno Tuohy, NAADAC Executive Director, to create and disseminate an environmental scan. The national scan focused on all the United States. UNT RTP narrowed the focus to Texas.

90% of respondents to the environmental scan in Texas indicated having utilized recovery-oriented practices in his or her professional addiction counseling practice. While the majority indicated they were knowledgeable and utilized recovery-oriented practices, over 34% reported having received no training in the area. It appeared RTP training had a natural place in Texas. 

DISSEMINATION OF ENVIRONMENTAL SCAN RESULTS

To conclude the first year, UNT RTP formed a team, established an advisory board of professionals and allies, and presented the findings from the environmental scan at the state addiction conference.

TRAIN THE TRAINER and RECOVERY CHAMPIONS

The UNT RTP team developed a Train the Trainer training to train individuals on the components of RTP. This training drew participants from all the regions of Texas. Those trained were designated as “Recovery Champions”. Recovery Champions then provided RTP trainings in the region of the state they live.

SOCIAL MEDIA

UNT RTP introduced public social media pages through Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube.

RTP for Educators

In 2016, UNT RTP created a curriculum for people in recovery, professionals, educators, students, and allies. In the following years, a curriculum designed for higher education was added. This curriculum is available to any instructor teaching addiction, recovery, and related areas. The goal is to provide robust universal resources to augment the courses taught to students studying to become future addiction and recovery professionals.

Modules included in the curriculum are Defining Recovery, History of Addiction and Recovery, Stigma, Treatment, Recovery & Community, Many Pathways to Recovery, Diverse Populations in Recovery, Culturally Based Influences on Recovery, Professional Ethics, Medication Assisted Treatment & Recovery, and Recovery Planning.

CONTINUITNG EDUCATION and WEBINARS

In response to COVID-19, UNT RTP launched a summer webinar series in 2019. Due to the high participation and positive feedback, we have continued doing this each summer since.

In 2020, UNT RTP became a Continuing Education provider, which allows us to grant free CE’s for our webinars or in person workshops and seminars/trainings.

NEWSLETTERS

In 2020, we added an informational newsletter available to anyone who expressed interest in receiving.

COMMUNITY INTERVIEWS

Using UNT RTP social media platforms, interviews with a wide variety of community members were released to provide insight, information, and resources to followers.

RECOVERY SYMPOSIUM

In 2023, UNT RTP added a multi-hour educational event to our schedule. The symposium was held on campus and his inaugural event was also offered virtually. Two community professionals made presentations. Topics included an overview of working with women in residential addiction treatment and the supervised use of therapeutic psychedelics. Free Continuing Education was offered for this event. Annual events are planned.

VIRTUAL COMMUNITY OF PRACTICE

One of the most significant contributions made by this initiative is the Virtual Community of Practice. This private page is located on Facebook and is monitored daily to ensure the safety of its members. In 2024 1700 members were active in this community.

A Virtual Community of Practice is identified as a group of individuals who use a common online platform to share professional expertise and experiences.

UNT RTP also offers a tutorial for people interested in creating their own community of practice.

The UNT community of practice exists to bring principles of holistic recovery into the daily practice of addiction professionals, peer providers, educators, and anyone who is passionate about enhancing the outcomes of substance use and mental health treatment across the state of Texas... and beyond!