Recovery Movie Meet-Ups: An innovation that is quickly scaling up!
By John de Miranda
Could movies with appropriate subject matter assist persons in treatment or recovery? Early in 2023 I met Ted Perkins, who had an intriguing idea. He was drawing directly from his own experience of successful recovery through an unorthodox strategy of watching 100 movies about addiction and recovery in 100 days to overcome his addiction to alcohol.
A year after the publication of his first book, Addicted in Film: Movies We Love about the Habits We Hate, Perkins began receiving emails and calls from clinicians and group facilitators who were using it in recovery meetings. They asked if he could provide study guides and discussion questions for some of the films featured in the book. He was happy to oblige and built a curriculum grounded in sound clinical principles. An advisory committee of leading experts helped guide the creation of a structured program that treatment facilities and recovery community centers could use to host what became Recovery Movie Meet-Ups.
The value proposition for therapists and peer support specialists was dynamic, evidence-informed meeting curricula designed to spark deep, compassionate conversations around life’s toughest challenges—and to inspire genuine, lasting change. By using group viewings and guided discussions of Hollywood films, facilitators could help participants gain insight, promoting meaningful shifts in perspective that occurred more informally than in traditional therapeutic settings.
Since then, the idea of incorporating this new experiential therapy into traditional programs has evolved into licensing agreements with hundreds of major treatment and recovery support organizations across the U.S., Canada, the U.K., and even in Southeast Asia. The program has since expanded its portfolio to include specialized editions designed for a wide range of audiences and treatment settings: mental health and co-occurring disorders, correctional behavioral health programs, teen and young adult centers, collegiate recovery initiatives, and the recently released Family Edition. Each version features customized workbooks, carefully curated lists of movies, and guided film discussions tailored to the unique needs of its participants.
Awareness began to spread. Perkins received the 2025 Recovery Innovations Award from Faces and Voices of Recovery, and his Recovery Movie Meet-Ups program has been showcased on ABC’s Good Morning America and CBS News. San Diego’s A New Path recently acknowledged the program as its 2025 Recovery Advocacy awardee, and the company was profiled in Psychiatric Times.
Key influencers such as Dr. Claudia Black have highlighted the importance of cinematherapy. She noted: “We need to adapt our therapy processes for the young person and that means less traditional talking therapy and more experiential work. Viewing other people’s story via a movie creates enough of a distance, offering safety to let go of defenses to share more honestly, discussing behaviors and influences that can lift someone out of their mental health problems and/or addictions, and into successful recovery.”
Cynthia Moreno-Tuohy, former Executive of NAADAC, the Association for Addiction Professionals, also supports the approach: “People need different pathways to learn and to process their emotions and influences in their lives. People of all ages relate to movies—movies tell a story in a manner that is not as confrontive as therapy or talk therapy may come across. It gives the opportunity to view, reflect, and respond. Movies can assist our patients and clients to identify and remember behaviors, feelings, survival and recovery skills. Movies can be an enhancement to recovery and add to the process of traditional therapies.”
Carlo DiClemente, Emeritus Professor of Psychology at UMBC and creator of the Transtheoretical Model of Change, adds: “Recovery Movie Meet-Ups provides an innovative way to engage and challenge patients’ thinking and promote the self-exploration and reevaluation needed for change.”
The Mental Health Edition of Recovery Movie Meet-Ups has been enthusiastically received by leaders in the behavioral health field. The Advisory Committee recently added Dr. Mark Rapaport, president of the American Psychiatric Association, and received endorsement from John C. Norcross, Ph.D., a clinical psychologist, professor, and author of 24 books on psychotherapy, behavior change, and evidence-based treatment, who stated: “Having conducted mental health groups for 40+ years, I have experienced my fair share of sterile stories and boring tales. But never when I used movies. They engage and energize the patients, getting even the typically reticent to participate meaningfully in group.”
Licensees of the Recovery Movie Meet-Ups programs receive a comprehensive package designed to support both substance use and mental health recovery. Each facility is provided with complete 24-movie AUD/SUD and/or 24-movie Mental Health Workbook PDFs, fully branded with their logo and colors, along with complete facilitator manuals, all available for a one-time license fee based on facility size and for-profit or nonprofit status. Licensees receive full certification as licensed Recovery Movie Meet-Ups facilitators, and staff gain access to free two-hour online training with two ASAM-accredited CE credits, as well as a 90-minute onboarding webinar for current and future staff. Ongoing support includes monthly best practices webinars, print-ready marketing materials, 24/7 customer support, and a complimentary e-newsletter and film series subscription—all designed to make hosting recovery-focused movie meet-ups seamless, engaging, and impactful.
The adoption of new ideas in our field is often slow—just look at how long it took for motivational interviewing and harm reduction to gain widespread acceptance. Yet the use of film as a therapeutic tool represents an important innovation. By integrating storytelling and cinema into recovery work, we’re not only engaging clients more deeply but also charting a new trajectory for connection, community, insight, and accelerated outcomes in behavioral health treatment.
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