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Meet Our Speakers
Tony Sanchez
works tirelessly to enhance and develop
recoveryǦoriented systems of care for all people. As a
person in longǦterm recovery, Mr. Sanchez is continually
amazed by the opportunities that have come his way to
use his lived experience and knowledge of recovery to
serve others. He is currently the Director of the Office of
Recovery Transformation at Georgia Department of
Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities
(DBHDD). In 2011 Mr. Sanchez was offered an
opportunity to be in the first cohort of Georgia's Certified
Addiction Recovery Empowerment Specialist (CARES). As
a peer recovery coach, he used not only his talents as a
community organizer but also his lived experience to
develop a Peer Recovery Program in Athens GA that is
still going on today. Mr. Sanchez firmly believes that
creating opportunities in the community for individuals seeking recovery and a life of
wellness is everyone’s responsibility.
Tony Sanchez, CADC, CARES (CPSǦAD)
Director, Office of Recovery Transformation; Division of Behavioral Health
Georgia Department of Behavioral Health & Developmental Disabilities (DBHDD)
Contact: 404.463.7361
Email:
tony.sanchez@dbhdd.ga.govDavid Stayner, Ph.D.
is a clinical and community
psychologist who has worked for almost 20 years to assist
underserved individuals and communities as a clinician
and clinical supervisor; as a recovery/resilience focused
program innovator; and as a consultant and teacher. In
all of these capacities, his work emphasizes the creative
power of facilitating authentic dialogue between people
who receive health assistance and professionals who
provide services to help reǦfocus communityǦbased health
systems on resilience and recovering.
Currently, he is a lead consultant in the Georgia DBHDD
“RecoveryǦFocused Transformation Initiative.” In this
and other consultations over the past 10 years, he assists
community (and hospital) based behavioral health
providers to transition from a narrow focus on deficit, disability and disorder toward a
broader emphasis on recovering, resilience building and community inclusion. These
consultations have reached from the states of Georgia, Texas and Connecticut to the
Province of New Brunswick, Canada, to the cities of Philadelphia and Oakland, CA, and
the VA’s in greater New York City, northeast New Jersey and Salt Lake City. In all cases,
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