In the modern landscape of addiction recovery, we’ve made real progress in identifying evidence-based practices, expanding access to care, and creating recovery-oriented systems of care. But one fundamental truth remains overlooked far too often:
Recovery is not defined by treatment completion — it is defined by a life that works.
To achieve universal recovery outcomes, we need tools that measure what matters most in recovery: the strengths and supports that allow people to thrive, not just survive.
That’s where Recovery Capital — and specifically the R1 Recovery Capital Screener (RC-36) — enters the conversation.
Recovery Is a Lifestyle and a Mindset
Recovery is not a program, a phase, or a finish line. It is a lifestyle and a mindset.
It shows up in how people structure their days, the relationships they choose, how they manage stress, and the values that guide their decisions. Recovery is practiced daily, reinforced through routines, and sustained by purpose and connection.
Seeing recovery this way fundamentally changes how we define success. It shifts the focus from short-term compliance to long-term wellbeing — from “Did you complete treatment?” to “Does your life support your recovery?”
Recovery capital provides the framework to answer that question.
What Is Recovery Capital?
Recovery capital refers to the internal and external resources that support a person in initiating and maintaining recovery from substance use disorder. These include personal strengths (skills, health, coping), social supports (family, peers), and community resources (housing, employment, recovery networks).
Recovery capital recognizes that recovery is multidimensional, dynamic, and lived, not just clinically managed. It reflects the reality that recovery grows stronger when it becomes integrated into daily life and personal identity.
Rather than framing recovery around a single outcome like “remission,” recovery capital gives us a rich picture of what’s working — and what isn’t — in someone’s life.
Traditional clinical metrics — such as treatment completion, abstinence at discharge, or days of sobriety — tell us what has happened. They do not tell us whether recovery has become a sustainable lifestyle.
Recovery capital, on the other hand, is forward-looking. It measures the conditions that allow recovery to endure as a way of living. That means looking at whether someone has stable housing, meaningful work or education, supportive relationships, healthy routines, and a mindset oriented toward growth rather than survival.
These are the elements that turn recovery into a lasting lifestyle rather than a temporary state.
The RC-36 is a 36-question instrument developed by R1 Learning to help individuals assess their own recovery capital. It measures strengths, identifies gaps, and captures both supportive factors and barriers across life domains that influence recovery.
What makes the RC-36 especially powerful is that it is designed for self-use by individuals in recovery.
- Individuals complete the screener themselves
- Results generate a clear recovery capital score
- Individuals decide when and with whom to share results
- Scores can inform conversations with doctors, counselors, peers, and families
This reinforces a recovery mindset rooted in self-awareness, accountability, and choice.
Because recovery is a lifestyle, it must be maintained, adjusted, and reinforced over time. Life changes, stressors emerge, and priorities shift.
The RC-36 allows individuals to track their recovery capital longitudinally, helping them see when their lifestyle is supporting recovery — and when it may be drifting off course.
A dip in recovery capital becomes a signal, not a failure. It’s information that invites reflection and change: What needs attention right now? What part of my lifestyle needs strengthening?
Perhaps the most transformative aspect of the RC-36 is how it reinforces ownership.
Recovery stops being something prescribed by others and becomes something actively practiced. Individuals are no longer passive recipients of care; they become the master and commander of their own recovery, guided by insight rather than reaction.
The RC-36 supports this by turning recovery into something that can be seen, measured, and shaped — reinforcing a mindset of growth rather than fear of failure.
Recovery capital measurement naturally leads to Recovery Capital Planning, where lifestyle and mindset are translated into action:
- Strengths are reinforced through daily routines
- Gaps are addressed intentionally
- Goals align with personal values and long-term vision
- Progress is visible and motivating
This turns recovery planning into a living process — one that evolves as the individual evolves.
If recovery outcomes are to be universal — across pathways, populations, and systems — we need measures that honor recovery as both a way of life and a way of thinking.
Recovery capital does exactly that.
The RC-36 provides a common language that respects individuality while offering structure and clarity. It works in treatment, post-treatment, peer support, and lifelong recovery spaces because it reflects how recovery is actually lived.
Recovery capital reframes recovery as more than symptom reduction. It captures the lifestyle, mindset, relationships, and resources that make recovery sustainable.
The RC-36 is not just an assessment tool — it is a self-empowerment tool. It allows individuals to measure their recovery, reflect on their lifestyle, strengthen their mindset, and actively shape their future.
That is how recovery becomes a way of life.
That is how outcomes become universal.