Larry Fricks, Director, Appalachian Consulting Group. Larry currently serves as the Director of the Appalachian Consulting Group, Inc. For nearly 13 years Larry was Georgia’s Director of the Office of Consumer Relations ad Recovery in the Division of Mental Health, Developmental Disabilities and Addictive Diseases. He is a founder of the Georgia Mental Health Consumer Network, Inc., that now has some 3,000 members, a founder of Georgia’s Peer Specialist Training and Certification and a founder of the Georgia Peer Support Institute. He served on the Planning Board for the Surgeon General’s Report on Mental Health, and currently serves on the Board of Directors of the Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance and the Board of Directors of the National Mental Health Association. He is also on the Advisory Board for The Carter Center Mental Health Journalism Fellowships. Larry has a journalism degree from the University of Georgia and has won journalism awards from the Associated Press, the Georgia Press Association, Gannet Newspapers, the National Mental Health Association of Georgia and the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill-Georgia. He is the 1995 recipient of the Clifford W. Beers Award given annually by the National Mental Health Association and the 2001 recipient of the American Association for World Health Award for significant contributions to improving community mental health. In 2004, he received the Recovery Award from International Association of Psychosocial Rehabilitation Services.

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