The Tyler M. Denis Scholarship for Addiction Recovery

We welcome applicants interested in fields such as:

• Addiction counseling and behavioral health

• Psychology and psychiatry

• Social work

• Nursing and medicine

• Public health

• Neuroscience and addiction research

• Occupational and recreational therapy

• Recovery support and peer services

• Community-based recovery

• Prevention and harm reduction

• Policy and advocacy

• Other fields dedicated to improving the lives of people affected by addiction

You do not have to have your entire future figured out.

You do not have to know exactly what your contribution will be.

We are looking for something more fundamental:

Do you care about people?

Are you willing to learn?

Are you willing to question what isn't working?

Do you believe better is possible?

A different vision for recovery

The future of addiction recovery needs more than compassion alone.

It needs people who are willing to ask better questions.

Why do some people recover while others struggle for years?

Why do some treatments work for one person but not another?

What happens after treatment ends?

What are some new practices that can be used to treat people with addiction?

How can families and communities become part of recovery?

How can we reduce the stigma that keeps people from asking for help?

And perhaps most importantly:

What could recovery look like if we were willing to think differently?

These questions matter because there is still so much we do not understand.

Federal researchers recently identified significant gaps in the science of recovery itself, including how recovery unfolds over time, which recovery-support services actually work, how recovery should be measured, how communities can support sustained recovery, and how people with lived experience can help shape research and policy.

At the same time, the treatment gap remains enormous. Research continues to identify stigma, limited access, cost, fear of punishment, comparison, and other barriers that keep people from receiving care.

There is work left to do.

And we believe the people who will do that work are already out there.

Who we are looking for

We look for students who bring more than just academic ambition.

We look for:

Compassion.
The ability to see the person before the diagnosis.

Curiosity.
The willingness to ask questions that don't have easy answers.

Resilience.
The strength to stay engaged when progress is slow or uncertain.

Creativity.
The imagination to envision approaches beyond what has always been done.

Advocacy.
The courage to challenge stigma and speak up for people who are too often misunderstood.

And above all, we look for people who believe that people can heal, grow, and thrive.

Where science meets humanity

We believe the best future addiction professionals will understand both.

They will value evidence without losing sight of the individual.

They will understand neuroscience, psychology, medicine, social systems, and research, but also understand that recovery happens in the context of relationships, families, communities, identity, purpose, and everyday life.

They will recognize that a person is more than a diagnosis.

Research increasingly supports the importance of looking beyond treatment alone. Current recovery research priorities include recovery support, long-term recovery trajectories, community and social environments, stigma, and meaningful involvement of people with lived experience in research and services.

That is the kind of thinking we want to encourage.

Not just treating addiction.

Understanding people.

Understanding recovery.

And helping build something better.

A scholarship with a purpose

An investment in one student can become an investment in hundreds—or thousands—of lives.

The counselor who helps someone believe recovery is possible.

The researcher who discovers a better treatment.

The physician who sees a patient instead of a diagnosis.

The social worker who helps a family stay connected.

The advocate who changes a policy.

The professional who simply chooses to treat someone with dignity when others have not.

We may never know all the lives touched by one person's work.

But that is how change grows.

One person.

One profession.

One life at a time.

In Tyler's memory

Tyler's life was about more than addiction.

So this scholarship should be about more than addiction, too.

It is about human potential.

It is about connection.

It is about curiosity and compassion.

It is about believing that the next generation can learn from what we know, challenge what we don't, and create new possibilities for people and families affected by substance use.

We cannot change Tyler's story.

But we can use it to help shape what comes next.

And perhaps one day, someone who is struggling will meet the person you became, and because of that encounter, their story will be different.

Better is possible.

The future of recovery depends on people willing to believe it.