“Recovery is a process, not an event”

“Recovery is a process, not an event” is a popular statement with many recovery programs. The saying has been cited in print since at least 1978, when it was printed in a California newspaper.
 
It’s not known who authored the saying. Anne Wilson Schaef, an author with a doctorate in clinical psychology, has been credited with the saying since at least the early 1990s, but it’s unlikely that she popularized it in the 1970s (before she was published).
 
   
7 May 1978, San Diego (CA) Union, “Ford Problem Spotlights Local Chemical Abuse Agencies,” pg. D-11, col. 3:
“Recovery is a process, not an event. This is a lifestyle treatment program, and you do it the way you live life. The way you do it is one day at a time.”
(Dr. John Milner, medical director of the Chemical Abuse Rehabilitation Program at Cabrillo Medical Center.—ed.)
 
29 November 1984, The Daily Globe (Ironwood, MI),  “Family Wellness Program can help families of alcoholics,” pg. 7, col. 2:
‘Treatment, and so recovery,” says Rogers, “is a process, not an event.”
(Jo Rogers, Family Coordinator at LaCroix Hospital’s Family Wellness Program.—ed.)
 
Google Books
The Adult Children of Alcoholics Syndrome:
From Discovery to Recovery
By Wayne Kritsberg
New York, NY: Bantam Books
1988
Pg. 75:
It must be remembered, however, that recovery is a process, not an event. Recovery is a way of living, a quality of feeling, and a mental attitude.
 
Google News Archive
6 August 1988, Idahonian (Moscow, ID), “Dysfunctional families: When everyone suffers” by Joe Bageant, pg. 3C, col. 5:
“But remember,” Simmons cautions, “recovery is a process, not an event. Little by little you get better.”
(Norma Simmons, a clinical psychologist.—ed.)
 
Google Books
Primal Connections
By Elizabeth Noble
New York, NY: Simon & Schuster
1993
Pg. 163:
Also, as therapist Anne Wilson Schaef, Ph.D., pointed out, “recovery is a process, not an event.”
 
Google Books
Title Recovery is a Process Not an Event
Publisher High View, Incorporated, 1997
Length 81 pages
 
Twitter
Michelle Wuensch
‏@MichelleWuensch
“Recovery is a process, not an event.” ~Anne Wilson Schaef
7:25 AM - 30 Jun 2013
 
Twitter
Living Clean
‏@LivingClean07
“Recovery is a process, not an event.” - Anonymous (via spiritofrecovery) http://tmblr.co/ZRX9wwzSRF3G
11:51 PM - 3 Nov 2013