HELM Recovery

Navigating Healing Together.

Founder

24 Years of Service. Combat-Tested. Recovery-Driven.

After 24 years in the U.S. Navy — including combat tours, ship deployments, and leadership roles across military medical commands — I reached a point where everything caught up to me. PTSD. Alcohol dependence. Burnout. I was a Chief who could lead everyone except myself.

The turning point came when I entered an Intensive Outpatient Program — the same level of care HELM Recovery provides today. It forced me to relearn structure, discipline, and honesty. I completed the program while still active duty, and it became the foundation for everything I built next.

Built From Experience, Not Theory

HELM Recovery was created to give veterans something I didn’t have early enough: a structured, no-nonsense system designed by someone who lived it.

This program wasn’t built in a classroom. It was built through deployments, trauma, recovery, rebuilding, and leading healthcare teams through some of the most demanding environments in the world.

HELM represents:

  • Structure

  • Routine

  • Discipline

  • Clarity

  • Accountability

  • Real recovery skills

The things veterans respond to — and the things that saved my life.

Military Background

I served across multiple commands, including:

  • Combat medical operations in Afghanistan

  • NATO trauma center operations

  • Shipboard medical leadership

  • Humanitarian missions aboard naval ships

  • Laboratory and clinical operations during COVID

  • Training and development roles supporting personnel

  • Behavioral health and substance abuse prevention leadership

These roles shaped my philosophy: every system should work the same way, every time. Veterans rely on predictable structure. HELM delivers exactly that.

Personal Commitment to Veterans

I know what it feels like to lose stability. I know what it feels like to try to carry everything alone. And I know what it takes to rebuild.

HELM Recovery reflects my own journey — a structured way forward for veterans who want their life back, one steady session at a time.

My mission is simple: Give veterans a predictable path to recovery — the same kind of structure that helped rebuild my own life.

Lawrence B. Librando, MSL
Founder & CEO, HELM Recovery
U.S. Navy Chief Hospital Corpsman (Ret.)