Session Presenter - Shelly Marshall

Shelly Marshall has dedicated over 30 years to working with people in recovery from alcoholism and other drug addictions. Her books Day By Day (approximately two million sold) and Young, Sober, & Free (approximately 250,000 sold and now in its second edition) are classics in the recovery field. Shelly has seen the problem of addiction from every conceivable angle. Not only did she crawl out of the depths of addiction at age 21, but her mother, father, brothers, and even her daughter suffer from the same disease. Her degrees and published research may lend credence to her expertise, but it is her personal life that allows her to touch the heart and soul of others with her writing and speaking.

Shelly has co-founded several recovery centers, both the Hand of Hope (a halfway house for drug addicts in Denver) and the Cortez Community Mission (a detox center for Native Americans in the four corners area of Colorado). She worked on developing one of the country’s first young people's treatment programs for St. Lukes Hospital in Denver. Shelly has even extended her reach into law enforcement when she became a deputy sheriff in Bonner County, Idaho. She has served on several boards from recovery centers to the Council on Youth in Charles City County, Virginia.

In 1991 she began working in Russia for the NAN (No to Alcoholism and Drug Addiction) Foundation and earned a position as the NGO representative to the United Nations. She now has four books published in Russian and continues to travel to Moscow on a yearly basis leading workshops for professionals as well as addressing community organizations and Twelve Step groups.

Her television and radio appearances in the United States and numerous other countries are always lively because Shelly is not afraid to share both poignant and amusing anecdotes from her personal life and travels. Currently she hosts several websites on recovery and is involved in chats and other Internet forums popular in the recovery community as she continues to offer support to the parents of drug abusing children.

Her research has been published in five peer-reviewed, refereed professional/scholarly journals, making Shelly world-recognized as an advocate and activist for young people in recovery from addiction. From Russia to New Zealand, Shelly gives workshops and does consulting internationally. Her contributions have been and continue to be significant in the addictions field as a writer and columnist, as a trainer and keynote speaker, and as a continuing researcher into treatment and recovery.

Back to Top