Summary
In this paper, Bill describes the phenomena of addiction recovery being somehow primed in those who are still suffering, caught by those who are not “ready”, transmitted by those with this personal quality, and forming a critical mass of a different kind and higher potency when individuals with it gather. In doing so, he gives very practical and bottom-line concrete examples of recovery as a contagion, and outlines what the “recovery carrier” quality is.
Quotes from the paper:
Recovery carriers are people, usually in recovery, who make recovery infectious to those around them by their openness about their recovery experiences, their quality of life and character, and the compassion for and service to people still suffering from alcohol and other drug problems.
The recovery carrier is in many ways the opposing face of the addiction carrier— the person who defends his or her own drug use by spreading excessive patterns of use to all those he or she encounters. The pathology of addiction is often spread from one infected person to another; some individuals are particularly contagious.
Key themes
Recovery is contagious.
Exposure to recovery carriers is important in a number of ways for a number of reasons
Recovery:
- Is not bound to a particular tribe or pathway
- Is as much an interpersonal process as an intrapersonal process
- May be caught before it’s chosen
- May be initiated before its behaviors are enacted
Recovery carriers:
- It’s not about age, elder status, education, gender, intelligence, employment, etc.
- May be in a religious, spiritual, or secular group, or totally unaffiliated with any group
- Some people who are in recovery are not recovery carriers
- Some people who are not in recovery are recovery carriers
The community level:
- Increasing the density of recovery carriers helps build community recovery capital
Organizational implications and recommendations
- Look for ways to involve recovery carriers in the setting and service
- Look for ways to have recovery carriers come into the space
- Milieu therapies (the space, the program, the people collectively) can be improved by the presence and density of recovery carriers – in both outpatient and residential settings
- The qualities and densities of recovery carriers have a preservative and greening impact against forces that would otherwise degrade organizations and people, leading to burnout, turnover and reduced effectiveness
Relevance for today’s addiction professionals
- Clinical technologies (medications, therapies, etc.) are always being improved and developed. But in addiction treatment per se these are not of exclusive importance.
- There is another entire domain of considerations, and the reality of “recovery carriers” identifies it.
- Interdisciplinary teams can use a formal consensus development process seated in the objective and the technical while planning care.
- But an additional method that’s closer to “group conscience” also exists, that’s seated in values, ethics, compassion, and the human experience.
- Providing clinical supervision (of counseling or of clinical supervision) relies on our technical knowledge.
- But do we also let this quality emanate, rather than wall it off with proper professionalism?
- The recovery carrier as a concrete reality is empirically supported by evidence-based materials including the “here and now principle”, attachment theory, and person-centered methods.
Conclusion
I will not write a “conclusion”. Rather, I’ll conclude by strongly suggesting the reader should read the original paper titled “Recovery Carriers” (below). And Bill’s paper titled “Recovery Is Contagious”.
Related Readings
Another paper by Bill that’s related to the Recovery Carrier topic is the one titled Stigma Busting: Sharing the Good News of Recovery at a Professional Level
Here are some posts of mine connected to the topic. I provide them here in order, as I struggled forward:
Negative space. 01/15/2021. This essay identifies and describes the potency of the empty space between the counselor and patient, and the background surrounding the counselor.
Recovery: What Is It Good For? 02/20/2021. This essay describes “recovery” as a meta-topic with four different uses: a personality theory, the study of cognition, a method of therapy, and a research method.
“Throw Flour on the Invisible Man”: Toward locating recovery function and assessing recovery quality. 02/27/2021. This essay describes the agenda (of the group) in the room and its relevance for addiction counselors as a therapeutic ingredient, but also as a therapeutic target.
Recovery Review 