Serving as your president has offered me many opportunities that could never have been described in a job description. What has been most important to me this year has been the privilege of getting to know so many more of you on more than a colloquial basis and instead on a collegial and sometimes personal basis. Sharing thoughts, joys, fears and frustrations, as well as small successes, has enhanced my personal and professional values more than any one could have predicted.

It has been a year of challenge as well as opportunity. We share a common bond as members of this professional organization. That bond is a dedication and a belief in what we do on a daily basis. It is a belief that says our work has value; our clients deserve the best; the profession is truly that… a profession. It is advocacy as well as treatment and prevention. It is a part of the public health of our community, our state and the world we live in.

I have traveled a lot both to learn more about the state of the art in our country and to share the state of the art in New Hampshire for the care and treatment of alcoholics and those who are touched by them in illness and in health.

The most important part of my role as far as I am concerned is as your representative, as the advocate for you the counselor both locally and nationally. This year has afforded me two major areas for this focus.

The first is parity in insurance coverage for the care of addictions. It is not acceptable for this brain disease to be treated as a secondary illness or for its victims to be treated as less than first class citizens. Our clients and the recovering community members are contributors to the wealth and existence of this great society and therefore deserve to be treated as such. Providers of health insurance need to recognize that without our numbers the economy of us all suffers. We have earned the right to be cared for as much and with the same tools as any other disease entity.

In Washington we learned that this is a very significant year for the issue of parity. Two bills, which had the possibility of being passed, were introduced. One was in the senate and one was in the house. I accompanied our NHADACA legislative representatives to Washington and we visited the offices of the NH delegates to push the passages of the stronger of these bills. The work is not over but the foundation is laid.

The second challenge is in NH. It is the biggest challenge to us as a profession and it too is about legislation. The proposal to open up RSA # 330C is being rewritten as we meet. There has been a legislative study group, which developed out of HB 543. It has been meeting since July to discuss the rewriting of the very legislation, which governs our existence as licensed alcohol and drug counselors. I have actively participated in this study with one purpose in mind. That purpose was to be there to offer protection to those of you who are currently working in this profession.

We must be careful to ensure as we proceed to advocate for our profession that in all things we stay focused on the fact that we are the advocates for the clients we provide services to. We are their voices and we are the keepers of quality assurance that the care they receive is based on knowledge, skill and attitudes of professional practice. These are the cornerstones of addiction counseling competencies.

The three concepts which Marty Mann and Dwight Anderson based the National Council on Alcoholism remain valid today. They are:

      Alcoholism is a disease.

      The alcoholic can be helped and it worth helping.

      This is a public health issue and therefore a public responsibility.

When I assumed office I said I would like the focus this year to be on succession planning and inclusiveness. Working to enhance the workforce through legislation and education is being addressed.

The further development of the web site and the act of engaging the membership through the work of the area delegates focuses on giving every member the encouragement and opportunity to get and stay involved in the work of this organization.This year I am asking that we include leadership as a goal for the year. Great leaders take the responsibility for nurturing their skills very seriously. At a time when our very profession is going through changes we all need to rise to the occasion and have our voices heard. We need to support each other and to encourage others to do the same.

I thank you for this past year.