BRIEF RESEARCH REPORT article
Front. Public Health
Sec. Substance Use Disorders and Behavioral Addictions
Flourishing During Stages of Substance Use Recovery Among Members of The Phoenix: A United States Sober-Active Community
Provisionally accepted
- The Phoenix, Boston, MA, United States
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Background: Substance use recovery is increasingly understood as a holistically process of personal and social growth rather than abstinence alone. This aligns with the concept of human flourishing, which is understudied in recovery communities. This study aimed to assess self-reported changes in flourishing among members of The Phoenix, a nationwide sober-active community, and to examine whether flourishing differed by recovery stage and length of membership. Methods: Members in recovery (N=540; 22.8% in early recovery; 45.7% with <1 year of membership) completed a retrospective ("thentest") cross-sectional survey, rating their flourishing at joining and currently using the 12-item Secure Flourishing Index. Nonparametric analyses examined changes in flourishing and differences by membership length while adjusting for recovery stage. Results: Members in early recovery reported significantly lower flourishing at joining. Overall flourishing increased by 33.3% from joining to present, with significant improvements across all six subdomains. Members with 5+ years of membership reported greater perceived increases than those with <1 year (p<0.05). Both recovery stage and membership length contributed uniquely to the ANOCOVA, ƒ(4,534)=10.3, p<0.01. Discussion: Flourishing increased across recovery stages and membership length in The Phoenix community. Findings suggest that participation in recovery communities such as The Phoenix may enhance flourishing, supporting their value as community-based resources for sustained recovery and public health; however longitudinal research is needed.
Keywords: Addiction recovery, flourishing, wellbeing, Community, thentest, substance use
Received: 11 Aug 2025; Accepted: 17 Nov 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Heinrich, Collinson and Hillios. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Katie M Heinrich, kheinrich@thephoenix.org
Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.