Helping Women Recover

2026 Open Enrollment Virtual Training Opportunity

Dr. Covington’s innovative, evidence-based 20-session program integrates theories of women’s psychological development, trauma, and addiction to meet the needs of women with addictive disorders. By popular demand, we are again opening this virtual training to the general public. Space will be limited for this interactive virtual event.

Over the past forty years, our knowledge of women’s lives has increased dramatically, and we have added significantly to our understanding of the treatment needs of women with addictive disorders.

Based on Dr. Covington’s curriculum, Helping Women Recover: A Program for Treating Addiction, this interactive training offers a comprehensive treatment model that integrates theories of addiction, women’s psychological development, and trauma. Designed to give counselors, clinicians, and program administrators a basic understanding of the essential elements needed for the development of women’s programs, the training focuses primarily on women’s recovery. The emphasis is on the key issues of self, relationships, sexuality, spirituality, and the trauma-informed therapeutic techniques for dealing with these issues. Trauma-sensitive yoga exercises, updated gender information, and new brain research as it relates to addiction and trauma will be addressed.

Presenters

This training is conducted by our Certified Trainer, Carol Ackley, LADC, retired Executive Director of River Ridge Treatment Center (2000-2015) who developed and implemented gender-responsive, trauma-informed, co-occurring treatment services in the Twin Cities Metropolitan area. Dr. Covington will also offer a Q&A session during the training.

Throughout this interactive training, your trainer also discusses how the treatment program materials can be used with women in the criminal justice system.

April 1-2 and 8-9 (4-day training, 4.5 hours per day)

Download Agenda

  • 12 pm - 4:30 pm Eastern Time
  • 11 am - 3:30 pm Central Time
  • 10 am - 2:30 pm Mountain Time
  •   9 am - 1:30 pm Pacific Time

Register

  • I really loved this training and I felt that it was extremely helpful and will be a great foundation for running a group in a correctional setting. I enjoyed the connections my colleagues and I made as well as the way I personally learned more about myself through this training. This training also taught me that in order to be able to help and serve others, I first need to take care of myself and that is something I will strive to do more of. 

    - Erica A

  • Since its first publication in 1998, Stephanie Covington’s Helping Women Recover has been an invaluable resource in the treatment of women recovering from addiction and trauma. The 2019 update will find appreciative audiences across a broad spectrum of addiction treatment and recovery support arenas. There exists no other resource combining historical insight, rigorous scientific research, clinical treatment, and the lived experiences of women in recovery. This revised edition is filled with step-by-step facilitator instructions, scripts, materials, and delivery tips. Helping Women Recover is a landmark work that will leave a lasting legacy of transformed lives. 

    - William L. White
    Author, Slaying the Dragon: The History of Addiction Treatment and Recovery in America

  • Overall great training, I have been running this group for about a year and now i have some added pieces to use when doing this group in the future.

    - Sara M

  • Completing the activites as we went through the sessions was really helpful. I think this will help me so much when I ask the clients to do these exercises.  This training was awesome. I am about to start facilitating HWR and this training made me feel so much more comfortable and confident in myself. I am so grateful for the opportunity.

    - Taylor C

  • Helping Women Recover, 3rd edition, integrates updated statistics and current evidence about the impact of relevant programming for women, making this curriculum both an excellent primer and tool.  The well-organized and comprehensive overview of factors that contribute to women's substance misuse provides historic context and insight about the evolution of understanding the multiplicity of issues that must be explored and addressed to effectively and respectfully support women in their recovery journeys.  Helping Women Recover is an ideal curriculum for facilitators, who will appreciate the comprehensive approach, the clear explanation of goals and elements of each module and session, and the specific direction and guidance for supporting individual women in each group.  Importantly, Helping Women Recover acknowledges and offers direction for coping with the environmental and management factors that are specific to correctional settings.  Dr. Covington has further developed an ideal tool for educating and supporting women. 

    - Georgia Lerner
    Executive Director, Women’s Prison Association

  • Stephanie Covington understands women: who they are and what they've experienced. She combines a thorough, practical approach to treatment with comprehensive and sophisticated theories about women who have experienced all kinds of trauma. This integrated, accessible treatment guide will be invaluable to therapists and the women they treat. It is a wonderful curriculum, Stephanie is a master teacher. 

    - Stephanie Brown, Ph.D.
    Director, The Addictions Institute, Menlo Park, California
    Author: A Place Called Self: Women, Sobriety and Radical Transformation

  • I believe for me completing some of the exercises on my own / on groups were very helpful.  Hands on is always the better form of learning for me.  I really enjoyed the training and believe I have a new sense of confidence in teaching the class to our women in our county jail.

    – Sandy T

  • Helping Women Recover by Dr. Stephanie Covington is another major contribution to the field of women’s addiction treatment. The first part of the book contains vital knowledge for any clinician who works with women. She puts the history of women’s treatment into perspective and then provides information that clearly differentiates the differences between substance abuse treatment of women and of men. I was particularly moved by her definition of addiction in women’s lives as representing the “chronic neglect of self in favor of something or someone else”. The rest of the book provides practical, trauma-informed, and well-grounded activities to benefit the recovery of women in treatment. The experience and wisdom embedded in this text is long overdue. 

    - Sandra L. Bloom, M.D.
    Associate Professor, Dornsife School of Public Health, Drexel University
    Author of Creating Sanctuary

    Materials

    All handouts and information required for this training are included in the registration fee. Obtaining the program materials for this training is not required.  After you register, you will be sent a link for the training as well as a printable PDF of the PowerPoint and any handouts that are used during the training. 

    However, we suggest that each person attending the training obtain a copy of the Participant's Workbook to view during the training to enhance your learning experience. Those leading groups after the training will also want a copy of the Facilitator's Guide (includes a workbook). You can obtain materials from either Covington Books the publisher.

    Community Version: Table of Contents

    Criminal Justice Version: Table of Contents

    The facilitator’s manual is a step-by-step guide containing the theory, structure, and content needed for running groups. A Woman’s Journal, the participant’s workbook, allows women to process and record the therapeutic experience. The materials are designed to be user-friendly and self-instructive. This allows the HWR program to be implemented by a staff with a wide range of training and experience.

    Next Steps

    • View our Zoom Participant Guide for helpful suggestions to prepare for the training, as well as our Training FAQ page.
    • $490 per person.  Deadline to register:  March 31, 2026
    • We do provide continuing education credits (CE's).  Please see below for additional information.
    • Purchase Orders:  If organizations want to register multiple people using a Purchase Order, please email your request to training@stephaniecovington.com for more information.
    • For additional information, such as cancellation policies, CE certificates, etc., please visit our Training FAQ page.

    Topics

    • Historical overview
    • Theoretical integration
    • Gender differences
    • Implications of treatment
    • Treatment strategies for the following:
      Sense of self/self-esteem
      Building healthy relationships
      Exploring sexual issues
      Healing trauma
      Developing a spiritual life

    Objectives

    • Discuss the history of women’s treatment
    • Integrate current theoretical perspectives
    • Examine the multiple issues in women’s recovery
    • Demonstrate specific treatment strategies
    • Integrate trauma and addiction treatment

    NAADAC continuing education credits (CE’s)

    Dr. Stephanie S. Covington is a NAADAC Approved Education provider, provider number 250526.  For more information, please visit http://www.naadac.org/providers.

    Attendees of this training will receive 16 NAADAC continuing education credits (CEs).  Attendees must attend all 4 days, 4.5 hours per day plus complete the evaluation form at the end of the training to receive credit.  The following organizations and boards approve NAADAC CEs: http://www.naadac.org/naadac-ce-approvals

    Social Workers (ASWB) Credit Designation

    Stephanie S. Covington, LLC dba Center for Gender & Justice, provider number 2033, is approved as an ACE provider to offer social work continuing education by the Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB) Approved Continuing Education (ACE) program. Regulatory boards are the final authority on courses accepted for continuing education credit. ACE provider approval period: 9/25/25 - 9/25/28. Social workers completing this course receive 16 continuing education credits. 

    The following jurisdictions approve ASWB Approved Continuing Education (ACE) program CEs:  https://www.aswb.org/licenses/ace-approved-continuing-education/

    This virtual training is open to the general public, but space is limited for this interactive training so register now.

    We have a wide variety of people attend our trainings from licensed professionals (Masters and Doctorial Level) as well as paraprofessionals and peer-facilitators.  Because professionals tend to work in interdisciplinary teams, this course is created for social workers, counselors, therapists, clinical supervisors, correctional professionals, and program administrators.

    Register Now!

    NAADAC and ASWB do not allow for partial CE credit; therefore, we cannot issue partial CE certificates.

    Training, consulting, and programming for public agencies, organizations, and institutions.

    1201 Camino Del Mar, Suite 204, Del Mar, CA 92014  •  858.454.8528  
    The Covington Training Institute is proud to be a women-owned organization dedicated to advancing healing-centered, equity-driven systems of care.

    © Stephanie S. Covington, PhD, LCSW