Addiction counselors meet with addiction treatment patients on a regular basis. Do those interactions provide a complete understanding of addiction? Does that add up to seeing, hearing, and feeling addiction in its fullness? Or measuring addiction in its totality? One counselor’s reply might be, “Of course not. We’re not with the patient while they’re using.” … Continue reading Developing a More Complete Understanding of Addiction
Ripples of Resiliency – Fifty Years Since Operation Understanding
“What if instead of heroically bursting from the fire, a weakened and traumatized bird rises awkwardly, just barely, careening through a wall of sky on fire, entirely uncertain of what fate awaits when it finally clears the smoke? Why can't this mess be a triumph? Why can't basic survival be a kind of glory? Why … Continue reading Ripples of Resiliency – Fifty Years Since Operation Understanding
When Grassroots Runs Ahead: What Cocaine Anonymous (CA) in Scotland Tells Us About Drug Policy
'The future often arrives from the margins.' Václav Havel Throughout history, mutual aid societies have emerged to fill gaps left by formal institutions. From the Friendly Societies of the 19th century that pioneered worker welfare before the National Insurance Act of 1911, to the Temperance movements that established peer support for alcohol abstinence decades before … Continue reading When Grassroots Runs Ahead: What Cocaine Anonymous (CA) in Scotland Tells Us About Drug Policy
Recovery Flourishing as an Act of Rebellion!
This guest post was written by Mark Sanders, LCSW, CADC and is cross-posted from the Online Museum of African American Addictions, Treatment and Recovery Recovery Advocate, Senior Research Consultant and the substance use disorder profession’s number one historian William White has written another groundbreaking Monograph entitled, Post Traumatic Growth and Flourishing in Addiction Recovery. I predict this … Continue reading Recovery Flourishing as an Act of Rebellion!
What a Radical 1970s Program Got Right about Treating Addiction
I was recently invited to give a talk on recovery housing research and found myself wondering where the term “social model” came from. I found this account, which claims it was coined by a book published in 1973, Recovery from Alcoholism: A Social Treatment Model. That book’s principal author, Bob O’Briant, would go on to … Continue reading What a Radical 1970s Program Got Right about Treating Addiction
Is the California Recovery Pathway of Benefit or Bane?
“I am perfectly cured of the whisky habit, thanks to you and erthoxylon coca, but I can scarcely keep from forming a coca habit, becoming a “coquero”” – An 1889 letter from a patient to Dr W.H. Bently, Slaying the Dragon, the History of Addiction Treatment and Recovery in America - William White. Pg 146 … Continue reading Is the California Recovery Pathway of Benefit or Bane?
“Recovery pessimism is the lie that must be forever expunged from cultural consciousness”
Bill White has a new monograph out: Post Traumatic Growth and Flourishing in Addiction Recovery: A Critical Review and Commentary. Readers will know that I've long been concerned about the erosion of the boundaries of recovery. My concerns center around a few issues. Background Recovery Management introduced recovery as a disruptor to the status quo … Continue reading “Recovery pessimism is the lie that must be forever expunged from cultural consciousness”
Does Rehab Work? How It Works, For Whom, and Under What Circumstances
I am delighted to cross-post this paper by Dominic McCann, with his permission. Dominic is the CEO of Castle Health. His full bio highlights his work in Ireland, Sweden, and London, as well as his work with charities in the UK, Eastern Europe and Africa. This paper was written by Dominic McCann, CEO of Castle … Continue reading Does Rehab Work? How It Works, For Whom, and Under What Circumstances
Recovery Centered Research Requires Accepted Definitions of Recovery –
An Interview with Justin Bell, the Frontiers of Recovery Research Interview Series What is this series of interviews? In April of 2024, I had the distinct honor of being asked by author and thought leader of the new recovery advocacy movement, William White, to present his words publicly. It was the keynote to open up … Continue reading Recovery Centered Research Requires Accepted Definitions of Recovery –
Conditioning Theories of Addictions: A Story
Going over to their friend’s place, they arrive and seem to land in a different scene. The beads hanging in the doorway are parted. The lava lamp is on. And that certain album is playing. A package of taped-up cellophane holds powder, and is sitting on the avocado-colored kitchen counter. The ritual of cooking and … Continue reading Conditioning Theories of Addictions: A Story