John F. Kelly, Ph.D. Professor of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, the founder and    Director of the Recovery Research Institute at the MGH. He has published more than 100 peer-reviewed articles, reviews, and chapters in the field of addiction. His clinical and research work has focused on addiction treatment and the recovery process which has included specific research on the effectiveness of mutual-help groups, such as Alcoholics Anonymous, as adjuncts to formal care. 

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Robert Roose, M.D.  is currently the Vice President of Behavioral Health for Mercy Medical Center and its affiliates in Springfield, Massachusetts.  Previously, Dr. Roose has served as Director of Quality Improvement and Medical Director in the Division of Substance Abuse at Albert Einstein College of Medicine in the Bronx, NY.

Board-certified in Family Medicine and Addiction Medicine, Dr. Roose was named the 2012 Addiction Medicine Physician of the Year by the New York State Department of Health’s Office of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Services.  He has presented and published on various aspects of addiction treatment, focusing primarily on patients receiving medication treatment for opioid use disorder.

Dr. Roose earned his Doctor of Medicine and Master in Public Health degrees at George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences in Washington D.C. and completed his residency training at Montefiore Medical Center/Albert Einstein College of Medicine in the Bronx, NY.

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Linda Bresnahan, MS is the executive director Federation of State Physician Health Programs and Director of Program Operations, Physician Health Services, Inc.  Mrs. Bresnahan received her bachelor’s degree in economics with a concentration in management information systems from Boston College and her master of science in health care management from Lesley College. She has worked in physician health for more than 25 years.

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John MacDougall  is the Spiritual Care Coordinator at The Retreat, a Twelve Step immersion addiction recovery program in Wayzata, Minnesota. From 1994 to 2014 he was the Director of Spiritual Guidance at Hazelden, a clinical addiction recovery program, in Center City, Minnesota.  He is a graduate of Rutgers College. He has a Master of Divinity degree from Princeton Theological Seminary and a Doctor of Ministry degree, with a focus in Family Therapy, from the Theological School of Drew University. He is the author of “Being Sober and Becoming Happy” and Co-Author of “Clinician’s Guide to Spirituality.”

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Mike Robbins, MD  is a practicing internist of no particular distinction, holder of no significant titles, and winner of no prestigious awards.

He was mistakenly forced into sobriety some years ago and then compounded that error by staying involved with recovery in general and recovering healthcare professionals in particular.

He is an active AA circuit speaker and intends someday to give "The Talk" which will be so compelling  and comprehensive that no further talks will ever need be given – to date he has been holding back so as to not make certain recovery speakers in southern California obsolete.

He lives quietly on the gulf coast of Mississippi with his first wife and together they enjoy watching it snow on the weather channel during the winter.
 

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Phillip Valentine has been an integral component in this Recovery Community Organization since January 1999. An accomplished author, trainer and presenter, Phil has gained recognition as a strong leader in the recovery community; in 2006 the Johnson Institute recognized his efforts with an America Honors Recovery award.   In 2008, Faces and Voices of Recovery honored CCAR with the first Joel Hernandez Voice of the Recovery Community Award as the outstanding recovery community organization in the country. In 2009, the Hartford Business Journal named him the Non-Profit Executive of the Year. He appears in the documentary “The Anonymous People”, a ground-breaking video that CCAR had the privilege of supporting. In 2015, Phil completed a thruhike of the Appalachian Trail, a journey of 2,189 miles, carrying the message of recovery the entire way (#AT4Recovery).

Other Recovery Community Organizations consistently seek Phil’s experience and expertise on a variety of topics – RCO development, Recovery Community Center development, peer recovery support services, recovery coaching, advocacy and others. Numerous authors have also sought his expertise including Bill White, Christopher Kennedy-Lawford, Dr. John Kelly, Bud Mikhitarian and Melissa Killeen.

Early in his career, Phil spearheaded CCAR’s effort to build a statewide network of Recovery Community Centers that feature innovative peer recovery support services like telephone recovery support, All-Recovery groups and Recovery Works! employment services. Phil was instrumental in the development of CCAR’s highly-acclaimed videos and served as CCAR’s point man for the first seven “Recovery Walks!”, annual walks held for those in support of recovery from alcohol and other drug addiction. He has designed and facilitated several trainings and currently, Phil has focused his training efforts on the CCAR Recovery Coach Academy©, Ethical Considerations for Recovery Coaches©, Spirituality for Recovery Coaches© and Recovery Coaching for Parents©.