Nora Volkow on More Realistic And Pragmatic Addiction Treatment

(This post was originally published on 2/6/2022) There is and can be no ultimate solution for us to discover, but instead a permanent need for balancing contradictory claims, for careful trade-offs between conflicting values, toleration of difference, consideration of the specific factors at play when a choice is needed, not reliance on an abstract blueprint … Continue reading Nora Volkow on More Realistic And Pragmatic Addiction Treatment

Developing Broad Consensus on How We Conceptualize the Resolution of Substance Misuse  

The first major effort to define recovery in America was in 2007, when the Betty Ford Foundation, now the Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation published What is recovery? A working definition from the Betty Ford Institute. The paper noted that “recovery is a voluntarily maintained lifestyle composed characterized by sobriety, personal health, and citizenship.” Our understanding … Continue reading Developing Broad Consensus on How We Conceptualize the Resolution of Substance Misuse  

2022’s #10 post: Addiction, Stigma, and Liberation

I recently stumbled on this educational page about stigma from the National Harm Reduction Coalition. It’s well done and illuminates the assumptions and goals for their stigma reduction efforts. They frame responding to drug use as a choice between liberation and stigma, with harm reduction as the path to liberation. While it may work for … Continue reading 2022’s #10 post: Addiction, Stigma, and Liberation

Addiction professionals? Substance use professionals? Recovery professionals?

For 28 years, an important part of my professional identity has been “addiction professional.” Over that 28 years, addiction professionals have never been a very harmonious group. There have always been disagreements about things like policy, the best treatment models, credentialing, and many other controversies. Despite these disagreements, I never really questioned whether we all … Continue reading Addiction professionals? Substance use professionals? Recovery professionals?

What’s the relationship between recovery, collegiate recovery, and substance-free student housing?

As substance-free definitions of recovery are challenged, this article on Stanford’s substance-free student housing community made me wonder if some recovering students will find more safety and support, and have more in common with fellow students in these communities than in collegiate recovery programs (CRP) that include students whose definition of recovery includes ongoing substance … Continue reading What’s the relationship between recovery, collegiate recovery, and substance-free student housing?

Nora Volkow on More Realistic And Pragmatic Addiction Treatment

There is and can be no ultimate solution for us to discover, but instead a permanent need for balancing contradictory claims, for careful trade-offs between conflicting values, toleration of difference, consideration of the specific factors at play when a choice is needed, not reliance on an abstract blueprint claimed to be applicable everywhere, always, to … Continue reading Nora Volkow on More Realistic And Pragmatic Addiction Treatment