History
In 1937 Abraham Low was on the faculty at the University of Illinois at Chicago, and participants in Recovery were limited to those who had been hospitalized in the Psychiatric Institute at the University. The original thirty-seven founding members had recovered their mental health after receiving insulin shock treatments at the Institute. Low began the groups as part of an attempt to improve the patient's care following discharge from his hospital. In the early years of the organization he encouraged members to advocate for improvements in social policies regarding state mental health regulations. Following backlash from the medical community to these efforts, Low disbanded the group in 1941. His patients, however, asked to be trained to teach Recovery's methods to others and in 1942 Low began to teach members to lead groups in their homes.
The organization separated from the Psychiatric Institute in 1942, operating out of private offices in Chicago. New membership at this time was drawn largely from patients in Low's private psychiatry practice. During the first years following its separation Low remained in close contact with all Recovery groups and received regular reports from group leaders. As the membership and number of meetings grew, it made this level of cooperation with the groups untenable. In 1952, Low allowed expansion of Recovery outside of Illinois, giving control of local groups to former patients who had become group leaders. Following Low's death in 1954, Recovery transitioned completely from a professionally run treatment adjunct, to a peer-run self-help group.
Effective January 1, 2007 Recovery, Inc. formally changed its name to Recovery International. On January 1, 2008 Recovery International Merged with The Abraham Low Institute and provisionally renamed the new organization Recovery International / The Abraham Low Institute (RI/TALI). On January 1, 2009, Abraham Low Self-Help Systems was incorporated, completing the merger of the two organizations.
Read more about this topic: Recovery International
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