Bud Mikhitarian - Many Faces, One Voice: Secrets from The Anonymous People

Praise for

MANY FACES, ONE VOICE

Greg Williamss powerful documentary, The Anonymous People, helped change the publics view of the world of people in recovery and those who love them, opening the doors to a new understanding of the usually hidden process of recovering from addiction. The new book, Many Faces, One Voice, takes the messages of that film to the next level, with even more powerful testimony and insight from an incredible group of brave, open souls. A moving, challenging, and revealing portrait of the world of recovery todayand tomorrow.

PATRICK KENNEDY

Former Congressman

Primary sponsor of the Mental Health Parity and Addictions Equity Act

Founder, The Kennedy Forum

Many Faces, One Voice is a collection of inspirational stories of remarkable people who not only prove that recovery from addiction is possible, but with recovery comes a life people once thought was impossibleone characterized by love, accomplishment, and joy. In America, we often talk about the millions of people suffering the devastating illness of addiction but too often forget that its treatable. There are twenty-three million reminders in America: People in recovery who, until recently, stayed hidden because of shame, guilt, and prejudice that accompany this disease. People are tired of hiding in the shadows. The documentary The Anonymous People celebrated the profoundness of recovery. The celebration continues in the moving stories collected in Many Faces, One Voice.

DAVID SHEFF

Author of Beautiful Boy and Clean

Once in a while, a game-changing documentary revolutionizes the way people think about a subject, launching a movement in its wake. Greg Williamss The Anonymous People did just that, cracking open the world of recovery for thousands of viewers. Many Faces, One Voice takes us deep inside that world once again. Profoundly real and moving, its a must-read for anyone interested in the world of recovery from addiction.

ANN DOWSETT JOHNSTON

Author of Drink: The Intimate Relationship Between Women and Alcohol

Many Faces, One Voice is a paradigm shifter! Like the film, The Anonymous People, the book changes the conversation from the sensationalized problems of addiction to the real solutions of recovery. It shows how important it is for people in recovery, with their wisdom and strength, to stand up and be public about the transformative and productive lives they livenot just to help others deal with this illness, but to help the world out of some of the other messes its gotten itself into! Many Faces, One Voice points to a truly revolutionary idea: a World of Recovery.

CHRISTOPHER KENNEDY LAWFORD

Author, Actor, Advocate

Several years ago I began to advocate for a young woman inmate who was addicted to crack cocaine in her early teens. She would shoplift, get arrested, get released, shoplift, get arrested, and get released. All during those many years there was no treatment available to her. It is clearly obvious, a lot of heartache could have been avoided for her and her young children if there were services in place to address her addiction and stop that all-too-common cycle of human destruction. There must be!

Bud Mikhitarian has written an important book. There are lessons described here that are crucial to follow... if we want to see ourselves as a civilized country.

CHARLES GRODIN

CBS News Commentator

Winner of the William Kunstler Award for Racial Justice

CENTRAL RECOVERY PRESS (CRP) is committed to publishing exceptional materials addressing addiction treatment, recovery, and behavioral healthcare topics, including original and quality books, audio/visual communications, and web-based new media. Through a diverse selection of titles, we seek to contribute a broad range of unique resources for professionals, recovering individuals and their families, and the general public.

For more information, visit www.centralrecoverypress.com.

2015 by Albert J. Mikhitarian

All rights reserved. Published 2015.

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the written permission of the publisher.

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ISBN: 978-1-937612-94-8 (e-book)

PUBLISHERS NOTE: Our books represent the experiences and opinions of their authors only. Every effort has been made to ensure that events, institutions, and statistics presented in our books as facts are accurate and up-to-date.

This book contains general information about addiction and addiction treatment and recovery. The information is not medical advice, and should not be treated as such.

Central Recovery Press makes no representations or warranties in relation to the medical information in this book; this book is not an alternative to medical advice from your doctor or other professional healthcare provider. If you have any specific questions about any medical matter related to the disease of addiction and/or treatment modalities for addiction, you should consult your doctor or other professional healthcare provider.

If you think you or someone close to you may be suffering from addiction or any other medical condition, you should seek immediate medical attention. You should never delay seeking medical advice, disregard medical advice, or discontinue medical treatment because of information in this or any book.

Cover design and interior by Marisa Jackson

TABLE OF CONTENTS

by Greg Williams

My name is Greg Williams and I am person in long-term recovery from addiction to alcohol and other drugs since age seventeen. My recovery was established in 2001. As a result of my personal freedom from addiction, not only have I stayed alive in the face of the most deadly health problem facing young people in America today, but I have thrived. I have been blessed with incredible opportunities to learn, chase dreams, and live a life full of purpose.

The Anonymous People became one of my dreams fulfilled and it continues to live on with purpose, thanks to the support and collaboration of many talented and resourceful people. One of those was Bud Mikhitarian. As the man behind the sound recording for every interview we conducted across the country, and as a person not in long-term recovery, Bud is the only person on the planet who could write a book about the making of the film with such depth and perspective.

Words cannot adequately express my deep gratitude to Bud, not only for his initiative and hard work putting together this book, but also for his incredible talent as a storyteller. I hope that when people see The Anonymous People and read this book, they will connect with the powerful stories we have captured and share these stories with others.

We must keep shining a light on what recovery gives back to our communities. We must keep pushing the agenda of the new recovery advocacy movement forward.

Sadly, more than four decades after the groundbreaking United States Senate hearings of 1969 hosted by Senator Harold Hughes, where Academy Award-winning actress Mercedes McCambridge and cofounder of Alcoholics Anonymous, Bill Wilsonboth in long-term recoveryspoke candidly to our national elected representatives about the public stigmatization of alcoholics, discrimination still persists. People with addiction are still blamed and shamed by their so-called moral weaknesses.