David is a graduate of the nationally acclaimed Howie T. Harp Peer Specialist Training Center and was the first Peer Counselor ever to work on an inpatient unit at Kings County Hospital. He vividly recalls being told that recovery was not possible for people like him and that his need to be treated with dignity and respect was "a symptom of his illness." David is a former trainer from the Mental Health Empowerment Project and is the Senior Consultant of the Recovery x-Change. His accomplishments include being the Assistant Director of Club Access and the Director of the Peer Advocacy Leadership Program. He has been presented the peer perspective on quality mental health services and introduced the recovery paradigm to social work students and faculty at various universities throughout New York City, including NYU, LIU, and the College of Staten Island.

David has been honored with numerous local and regional awards, including the prestigious National AAPD Paul G. Hearne Leadership Award. He is the founder of an anti-stigma website (www.mentalhealthstigma.com) and the a recovery-focused website, the Recovery x-Change (www.recoveryxchange.org). David has traveled throughout the United States and the U.K. to do trainings on a wide array of recovery-focused topics including advocacy, stigma and employment. He was recently a trainer of the first Peer Specialist Training ever to be offered in Puerto Rico to Hispanic recipients hoping to become the first Latino Peer Specialists in Puerto Rico.

• Recovery x-Change video clips
• Recovery x-Change WRAP workbook
• David Gonzalez: A Leader Against Forced Treatment
• David Gonzalez: Un Dirigente Que se Opone al Tratamiento Forzado