Over 100 years of empirical work with human and animal subjects conducted in research laboratories, the natural/real-world, and clinical settings, has produced a body of knowledge known as the Conditioning Theories of Addictions. The body of work is remarkable in that over that time no meaningful previous findings have been wholly overturned, and new findings … Continue reading Conditioning Theories of Addictions: An introduction to theory, research, and practice
Author: Brian Coon
Podcast episode: “The Origins of NA and the Message That Survived”
This is an incredibly engaging must-listen long-form interview of Chris Budnick and Boyd Pickard on the origins of Narcotics Anonymous. The interviewer is B. Reeves. https://youtu.be/E7nKzgL7w0E?si=fcsMMnvEZm6io00G In case you didn't know, Chris and Boyd have done an extensive amount of work investigating the origins and early history of the NA fellowship. And the work they've … Continue reading Podcast episode: “The Origins of NA and the Message That Survived”
Monograph Preview: Conditioning Theories of Addictions
I’ve completed a monograph on the conditioning theories of addictions. I plan to post the monograph next week, so everyone has an opportunity to check out this introductory overview. The monograph addresses topics such as physical pain and pain sensitivity, emotions and emotion sensitivity, and the relationship between those kinds of experiences and drug use, … Continue reading Monograph Preview: Conditioning Theories of Addictions
Sentences to Ponder (John Kelly/Carl Jung)
I'm afraid medicine has nothing for you. I recommend three things. A protective wall of human community. Real religious insight. And a group of friends with whom you can be honest. John Kelly, PhD, paraphrasing Carl Jung's letter to Bill Wilson
Recovery Alliance Initiative: Proposed Principles and Stages of Care
Below is a document I've prepared at the request of the Recovery Alliance Initiative (RAI) leadership. It outlines some basic information that will be helpful for community-based leaders to better see the big picture of the RAI model, as it applies to helping the individual. Recovery Alliance Initiative: Proposed Principles and Stages of Care Principle … Continue reading Recovery Alliance Initiative: Proposed Principles and Stages of Care
Sentences to Ponder (Norman Hoffmann, PhD)
If your theory doesn't match the folklore, it's time to adjust your theory. The first time Norm said this to me I knew I was learning from someone who knew what they were talking about. Norm told me how, from an academic standpoint and from a research standpoint, the lives of large numbers of people … Continue reading Sentences to Ponder (Norman Hoffmann, PhD)
A Metapsychology of Addiction, Addiction Recovery, and Human Beings
It seems to me that addiction: is dynamic has a form consumes energy and manages affects is influenced by genes and is also developmental has substructures that are simultaneously independent and interdependent adapts to reality. Let me expound each of those points in turn. Addiction is fluid, not static. Once in place it undulates within, … Continue reading A Metapsychology of Addiction, Addiction Recovery, and Human Beings
The Concept of “Mental Relapse” Is Being Lost
During my first two and a half decades working in addiction treatment, I was surrounded by the term mental relapse. Let’s talk about that term. What is mental relapse? How is it defined? For starters, mental relapse frames relapse as a process, not an event. It’s the process that begins before using resumes. To be clear, mental … Continue reading The Concept of “Mental Relapse” Is Being Lost
Understanding Before Language
I did not grow up knowing what anything meant. I don’t mean that in a poetic or existential way. I mean it literally. I spent most of my childhood in Hong Kong in the 1970s. I was in the most densely populated place on earth, surrounded by a language that had no alphabet, no phonetic … Continue reading Understanding Before Language
You may have heard of “urge surfing”. Let’s add “recovery surfing”.
Some years ago, it dawned on me that we lacked a concept that seemed important. And that we also lacked a term for it. Or we at least lacked a concrete awareness of this idea with a shared language for it. My solution was to coin the term "recovery surfing" as the name for the … Continue reading You may have heard of “urge surfing”. Let’s add “recovery surfing”.
Recovery Review 