Recovery International Celebrates 90 years!
Community, Connection & Caring: The 2027 Conference
For 90 years, Recovery International has helped people build emotional resilience, strength, and peace through peer-led mental health support groups grounded in the cognitive-behavioral method of neuropsychiatrist Dr. Abraham Low. In April 2027, group leaders, members, mental health professionals, family supporters, friends and members of the public will gather in Chicagoland — the city where it all began — to learn, connect, and celebrate nine decades of help and healing. We invite you to join us.
Friday, April 30, 2027
Chicago Marriott Oak Brook
1401 W. 22nd Street, Oak Brook, IL 60523
A full day of keynotes, workshops, and a resource fair open to the public
9 a.m. – 5 p.m.
Our conference hotel is the Chicago Marriott Oak Brook, about 18 miles from downtown Chicago. Rooms will be available for $155 per night plus taxes and fees. The hotel has a Starbucks inside and is conveniently located across the street from the Oakbrook Center, one of the largest shopping centers in the Midwest. Reservations may now be made at the conference rate through the link at right.
The conference on Friday will include a continental breakfast and a buffet lunch. Dinner will be on your own. There are many restaurants nearby. An RI meeting will be held before and after the conference. The cost of the one-day conference will be $100 for RI members and their guests and will include the Thursday reception.
Thursday, April 29th
(included with registration fee)
A special welcome reception for RI members (and their traveling companions) will be held from 4 – 7 p.m. on Thursday, April 29 at the hotel. Hors d’oeuvres, desserts and beverages will be served. There will also be RI meetings held before and after the reception so you can process any travel trivialities that worked you up.
RI Office & Memoribilia
The conference hotel is literally across the parking lot from our RI Oak Brook office. We will have designated times when you can visit the office and see where all your phone calls and book orders are received. We will also have an additional room set up with some items from RI’s archives, including Dr. Low’s desk, typewriter, and pipe. Yes, you will be able to have a photo taken of you sitting at Dr. Low’s desk!
Featured Speakers
Friday Morning Keynote:
Doug Bolton, Ph.D.
Going from the End of Your Rope to Hope
Doug Bolton is a Licensed Clinical Psychologist and Director of School Consultation for Formative Psychological Services. He spent over 20 years as a psychologist and principal at North Shore Academy, a K-12 therapeutic school in Highland Park, Illinois. Dr. Bolton provides consultation, supervision and professional development to parents, educators, and clinicians throughout the US to create communities that help foster student and staff resilience. He is the author of Untethered: Creating Connected Families, Schools, and Communities to Raise a Resilient Generation.
Featured Afternoon Speaker:
Robin M. Warner, M.D.
Neurodivergence:
Moving Forward with Clarity, Compassion and Hope
Robin Warner is a board-certified adult psychiatrist who has practiced for over twenty years. She has worked at Kaiser Permanente in San Diego, CA since 2010. She graduated from Cornell University before going onto medical school. She became an associate clinical professor at SUNY Buffalo, then returned home to San Diego. She has a book on neurodivergence which will be published soon, and she is on the Recovery International Board of Directors.
Saturday Bus Trip: May 1
(Optional and Additional Fee)
We will be chartering a bus (with a rest room) to take an historic tour in downtown Chicago. The bus will leave the hotel Saturday morning and return late afternoon. We will be visiting the Special Collections and University Archives at the Library of the Health Sciences-Chicago, University of Illinois Chicago (UIC), on Saturday morning. This is where Dr. Low’s papers are housed, and where they hold early RI historical documents. The librarian will have select documents on display. We then head to The Berghoff, Dr. Low’s favorite restaurant, for lunch. A variety of dining options will be available. We will drive past the last downtown location of RI’s offices, then on to Memorial Park Cemetery in Skokie, IL, where Abraham and Mae Low are buried. The cost of the bus trip will be $125 for RI members (and traveling companions) and $150 for non-members which includes lunch and tips.
Register by April 1, 2027
We hope you join us to celebrate 90 years of better mental health!
Register with the link at right, print and mail the form, or call the Oak Brook office and register over the phone at 312-337-5661.
NOTE: Hotel reservations need to be made separately and directly with the Marriott Hotel HERE.
Sponsors & Exhibitors
Connect with attendees from the Recovery International community and mental health professionals from the Chicagoland area and showcase your organization, programs, books and services.