In Loving Memory of George Braucht

George Braucht, friend, colleague, and comrade in arms for client privilege passed away on May 21, 2025. Mr. Braucht embodied the values that represent the best of what therapeutic services have to offer: a belief in people’s inherent goodness and propensity for change, an unswerving commitment to diversity and social justice, and an authentic, trustworthy, compassionate partner in change. I first met George in 2006 at a workshop I was doing for a Florida alcohol and drug addiction conference. He was immediately smitten by the common factors and the Partners for Change Outcome Management System (PCOMS), especially its dedication to client privilege and collaborative involvement of clients in all decisions that affect their care. I was quickly taken with him, both his knowledge of therapy and his sincerity and warmth. Shortly thereafter, he attended the PCOMS Training of Training Conference (TOT) and then completed the requirements to become a Certified PCOMS Trainer. George did not mess around with things he thought were useful for clients. He was not complacent with the status quo and was the rare person who could say he was a lifetime learner. George attended a total of three TOTs, a simple example of his tenacious pursuit of knowledge and staying up to date with everything PCOMS. Here is George with me and Better Outcomes Now VP, Barbara Hernandez at the 2019 TOT.

George was our ambassador to recovery services. He uniquely applied PCOMS where it had never been before. While PCOMS had been used with alcohol and drug problems, George uniquely implemented PCOMS in recovery residences and with peer support specialists. George was especially proud and rightly so of his co-founded Certified Addiction Recovery Empowerment Specialist (CARES) Academy which trained peer support specialists. He trained hundreds if not thousands of peer support specialists and it would be impossible to find one that didn’t mention George’s influence as well as his humanity.

Although his accomplishments are legend, George as a person overshadows anything else you could say about him. Everyone loved George. George was a kind, compassionate friend who stood by me during a painful and contentious breakup with my former business partner. While things were in disarray and I was under attack from the powerful people with whom I had split, I needed people in my life who I could trust. George fulfilled that need in spades.

I did a brief Q and A just the week before he passed with a course he was teaching for the Georgia Council for Recovery. George was quintessentially George: Upbeat, emphasizing the importance of relationship and honoring clients’ resources and ideas about the path to recovery. Although I did cherish the moment and commented afterwards to him how it was so pleasant to interact with him and his effervescent warmth and positivity, I of course did not know it would be my last conversation with him. It has been said many times but probably forgotten just as many times: Value and cherish the times you have with the people you care about and who uplift your spirit. It can come to end without warning.

George was truly one in a million, uniquely authentic, gifted intellectually, and community driven. I and all here at Better Outcomes Now and the entire recovery movement will sorely miss him.