Although a conceptual model of recovery from chronic M/SU illnesses is not yet fully developed (Onken et al., 2004), recovery as articulated in the Surgeon General’s report has been an accepted concept in use for over a century for individuals with alcohol-use problems and illnesses (White, 1998). More recently, recovery has become a widely accepted goal not just of mental health care (NAMI, 2005; New Freedom Commission on Mental Health, 2003), but of treatment for all individuals with M/SU problems and illnesses.

The U.S. Surgeon General, the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), the Institute of Medicine (IOM), and many others (DHHS, 1999; IOM, 1997) continue to document ongoing advances in our understanding of M/SU problems and illnesses. These advances include the development of efficacious psychotherapies, drug therapies, and psychosocial services, as well as strategies for delivering these treatments effectively. Dissemination of information on brain functioning—the interplay of genetic, environmental, biological, and psychosocial factors in brain function and M/SU illnesses; our ability throughout our lives to influence the structure and functioning of our brains through environmental and behavioral factors (our brains’ “plasticity”); and improved treatments—has helped educate consumers,⁵ the health care community, and the public at large about M/SU problems and illnesses and the effectiveness of care for these conditions. Now that NIH has made translation of bench science to clinical applications a high priority in its strategic plans for the coming years (NIMH, 2005; Zerhouni, 2003), society is poised to reap even greater returns from developments in such basic science fields as genetics, proteomics, neuro-