*MEMBER ONLY VOTING*

All NHADACA members should have received an email with a link to vote on the nominees.  If you did not receive that email or have any additional questions regarding the Annual Award voting process, please contact Cat Jones at cat@nhadaca.org

Outstanding Team of the Year Award

The Outstanding Team of the Year Award celebrates exceptional contributions and achievements by recognizing an organization or team that advances substance use prevention, treatment, or recovery in New Hampshire. This creative and dedicated team motivates change and demonstrates excellence in collaboration, innovation, and commitment to supporting individuals and communities. This award is intended to honor a team that contributes toward New Hampshire’s substance use continuum of care system in inspiring, meaningful, and impactful ways. 

Counselor of the Year Award

The Counselor of the Year is employed as an addiction counseling professional for not less than 3 years. This person works with clients/patients for a sustained period with individual or group contact to foster recovery from addictive disorders. This person demonstrates to the satisfaction of their peers, full compliance and support of the NAADAC Code of Ethics. Additionally, the following areas of competence and skill should be used to identify candidates for this award. The recipient demonstrates outstanding performance in some or all of the following competence areas: assessment, treatment planning, case management, communications, administrative skills, individual/group/family counseling, referral, professional relationships and professional integrity. 

Emerging Leader in Healing & Recovery Award

This award recognizes a rising professional who demonstrates exceptional promise, leadership, and dedication in the fields of substance use and/or mental health. The Emerging Leader in Healing & Recovery Award honors individuals who are within the first 10 years of their careers yet have already made meaningful contributions to their clients, communities, or the profession at large. 

Lifetime Advocacy Award

The recipient of this award has worked a minimum of 15 years in the addiction counseling profession or administration. They possess a strong dedication to the addiction profession as demonstrated by their involvement in, and commitment to, a variety of key organizations. 

Thomas McTague Lifetime Achievement Award

Thomas McTague died in 1996 and the award was created in his honor in 1998. Dr. McTague was chosen because he approached the substance use profession as a "calling" more so than a job. He was militant about ethics and ethical practice. He strongly believed in integrity, honesty, trust, compassion, tolerance and caring. He ran the substance use program at the NH Technical Institute and some would say he was NHTI. He was a power of example, mentor, teacher and cheerleader. The role he played inspired young people to come into the profession when much of the profession was aging. The recipient of this award has a minimum of 15 years in the addiction counseling profession or administration. This person is making or has made a sustained and significant contribution to the advancement of addiction counseling. 

Peer Recovery Support Worker of the Year Award

The Peer Recovery Support Worker of the Year award, presented for the first time by NHADACA in 2026, recognizes an individual who exemplifies the power and impact of lived experience in supporting recovery. This award honors a peer who demonstrates compassion, authenticity, and a deep commitment to walking alongside others on their recovery journey. Through advocacy, connection, and person-centered support, they help reduce stigma, build hope, and strengthen pathways to recovery. Their work reflects the core values of peer support and highlights the essential role peers play in transforming lives and advancing recovery across New Hampshire.