Recovery capital is the strength of internal and external resouRecovery Capitales that can be drawn upon to initiate and sustain recovery from severe alcohol or drug problems

• Hope in recovery
• Supportive relationships
• Secure and stable housing
• Learning and personal growth
• Connections to a community
• Making a contribution to the community

Research in the US shows that having greater recovery capital does increase the chances of successfully overcoming problems. Some of the most important findings are very relevant in Scotland.
Most clients with severely depleted family and community Recovery Capital gain little from individually-focused addiction treatment that fails to mobilize family and community resources. Long term recovery has more to do with community and family resources than any particular approach to treatment.
We know in Scotland that in some areas, problem drug and alcohol use is being transmitted generationally – parents and children have problems, and in some cases grandparents too.  So a focus on building recovery capital requires is to think seriously about how people build positive, supportive relationships, and how they find a community that provides a place this can happen.

Research evidence

• Recovery Capital, both its quantity and quality, plays a major role in determining the success or failure of natural and assisted recovery (e.g., recovery from Alcohol or Drug problems without or with participation in professional treatment or a recovery mutual aid society) (Granfield & Cloud, 1996, 1999; Moos & Moos, 2007; Kaskutas, Bond, & Humphreys, 2002).
• Increases in Recovery Capital can spark turning points that end addiction careers; trigger recovery initiation; elevate coping abilities; and enhance quality of life in long-term recovery (Cloud & Granfield, 2004b; Laudet, Morgan, & White, 2006).
• Such turning points, both as climactic transformations and incremental change processes, may require the accumulation of Recovery Capital across several years and multiple episodes of professional treatments (Dennis, Foss, & Scott, 2007).
• Elements of Recovery Capital vary in importance within particular stages of long-term recovery (Laudet & White, in press).
• Recovery Capital is not equally distributed across individuals and social groups.  Members of historically disempowered groups often seek recovery from addiction lacking assets that are taken for granted by those seeking recovery from a position of privilege (Cloud & Granfield, 2001).
• Post-treatment recovery check-ups, and, when needed, early re-
• intervention can help preserve the Recovery Capital developed through addiction treatment (Dennis, Scott, & Funk, 2003).
• Most clients with severely depleted family and community Recovery Capital gain little from individually-focused addiction treatment that fails to mobilize family and community resources (Moos & Moos, 2007).
• Long-term recovery outcomes for those with the most severe AOD problems may have more to do with family and community Recovery Capital than the attributes of individuals or a particular treatment protocol (Bromet & Moos, 1977; Humphreys, Moos, & Cohen, 1997; Mankowski, Humphreys, & Moos, 2001).