What is Addiction Recovery Capital?

Addiction recovery capital refers to the personal assets (things of value) that an individual possesses – the internal strengths that help people build and sustain their recovery. We each have different types and quantities of recovery capital, but we all have some. As a counselor, it is my job to help my clients identify their recovery capital, increase it, and protect it. Three parts of recovery capital might be labeled personal, social, and community.

The term “capital” is usually associated with business. Business capital is in the form of assets (things of value). Capital is a necessary part of business ownership because businesses use assets to create products and services to sell to customers. Capital can have one of three specific meanings:

• • The amount of cash and other assets (owned by a business, including accounts receivable, equipment, inventory, and buildings of the business).
  • The accumulated wealth or net worth of a business, represented on a balance sheet by its owner’s equity (ownership) minus liabilities.
  • Stock or ownership in a company, the capital account of a stockholder.

Examples of Personal Recovery Capital

Some examples of personal capital might include things like having a home that is safe and secure; having the financial resources to provide for self and family; having a stable job that is enjoyable; having health insurance; having access to regular, nutritious meals; being in compliance with all legal requirements related to my past.

Examples of Social Capital

Examples of social capital could be having family and/or friends who are supportive of recovery; knowing people who are also in recovery; having established close affiliation with a local support group; having others who rely on me to support their own recovery.

Examples of Community Capital

Community capital could be things like continued participation in an aftercare group or alumni association of an addiction treatment program; having a professional assistance program that is monitoring and supporting my recovery; having access to recovery support groups – both in-person and online; involvement in a local church.

We Act Our Way Into Right Thinking

The Narcotics Anonymous Basic Text says that in order to recover, we must “change our playgrounds, our playmates, and our playthings.” Common wisdom from Alcoholics Anonymous is that we act our way into right thinking. The assumption is that the social aspect – doing positive things with positive people – creates the conditions for personal growth to happen.

My experience as a counselor, and in my own personal recovery, bears witness to this truth. I have found that the development of social capital is the most effective way to increase our personal and community capital – that they are dynamically linked (increases in one area of capital increases the likelihood of increases in the others).