C4 Innovations

Community & Behavioral Health | Recovery | Social Change

Stigma and Recovery

Stigmas are negative social attitudes about perceived differences between people and groups. These may be based on a range of characteristics such as appearance, behavior, beliefs, social position, and background. Those of us who live with substance use and mental health challenges encounter multiple stigmas daily. Stigmas can cause debilitating shame and isolation and are one of the primary reasons people do not seek treatment and other forms of recovery support. Providers of mental health and substance use services and support may also be stigmatized by colleagues and community members.

Great effort is required to identify, address, mitigate, and reverse the impact of stigma and develop meaningful recovery plans. However, the benefits of addressing stigma are undeniable. Benefits may include increased requests to participate and remain in treatment, increased employment and productivity, improved mental health, and decreased feelings of social alienation.

What stigmas do you, the people you work with, and the communities with which you identify face? And how do you survive them? When you see someone being stigmatized, how do you and your programs respond? These are some of the many questions we can help you address in your selves, programs, agencies, and communities. We structure our training and coaching to fit your organization’s unique circumstances, including the size of your staff and where you are in your learning.

Our team includes service providers, trainers, researchers, and people who have lived experienced of recovery from substance use and mental health disorders, homelessness, trauma, incarceration, and related issues. Many of our staff are family members and allies of people in recovery as well as clinicians, practitioners, and leaders with on-the-ground experience designing and delivering services. Our work is person-centered, trauma-informed, and recovery-oriented with a deep commitment to promoting racial justice and reducing inequities.

We Can Help You

  • Train and educate you and your staff to:
    • Understand how and why stigmas are formed
    • Learn about the impact of and triggers for implicit bias and subliminal priming
    • Identify and address root causes in yourselves and the people you work with
    • Implement strategies to resist, reduce, and eliminate stigmas at individual, program, community, and systemic levels
  • Review organizational policies, procedures, and other documents to identify and address stigmas
  • Provide coaching and develop, implement, and assess a focused plan to address ongoing and challenging issues of stigma within your organization and communities
  • Conduct a peer learning community for your organization focused on de-stigmatizing strategies and policies
Learn more about partnering with us.
Send us a message

“This was the best webinar I have ever seen on stigma. The presenters were both transparent and outspoken. It was great to hear others address this issue that is the elephant in the room in treatment!” -Participant in webinar on addressing stigma and recovery

“Kevin [McCarthy] and Steven [Samra] were amazing and made everyone feel like part of the training—we weren’t just taught at, we were part of the conversations. I immediately felt comfortable discussing my experiences and how they pertain to the topics.” -Participant in virtual course on identifying and dismantling stigma in recovery services

Our Expert

Steven Samra

Steven Samra, Senior Associate

Learn More

More about our expertise and our training and technical assistance approaches and offerings.