Ten years ago, I had the opportunity to interview Robert DuPont, MD for the Recovery Alliance Initiative. He was aware of RAI and dropped by one of our national gatherings. The interview was posted on YouTube shortly after it was completed. That's now ten years ago. The interview was conducted for the purpose of showing … Continue reading Interview with Robert DuPont, MD
Author: Brian Coon
Recovery Alliance Initiative: Structural Flow Model
The model shown below for the Recovery Alliance Initiative (RAI) is already happening in part, and other parts are aspirational. I thought I would share this for everyone's consideration and ease of access. The diagram is immediately below. At the bottom of this post I've placed the one-page PDF. The front side contains this diagram. … Continue reading Recovery Alliance Initiative: Structural Flow Model
Episode 2: Protecting the Soul of Peer Support – Lessons in History with Bill Stauffer
This is a fantastic episode of The Peer Support Professional's Guide podcast. Click here to listen to this conversation. I just got done listening to this episode and had to share it. Here's the episode description: Recovery advocate and policy leader Bill Stauffer joins me to trace the evolution of peer support from its grassroots … Continue reading Episode 2: Protecting the Soul of Peer Support – Lessons in History with Bill Stauffer
Addiction and Alcoholism: The Form of the Disorder
Below you will find the PDF of my latest monograph. First, a brief excerpt: "...here, my main focus is the syndrome we all know as alcoholism (when present for alcohol) or addiction (when present for other drug classes). And what I address about addiction illness in this work is the form of the disorder." Anagha … Continue reading Addiction and Alcoholism: The Form of the Disorder
A wish list for the Recovery Alliance Initiative
Overview If you're not familiar with the Recovery Alliance Initiative (RAI), you could have a look at this post on its history, methods and purpose. It's an effort that has been underway from 2013 to the present. Here's the RAI website. What we try to do in RAI is build awareness, collaboration, advocacy (both between/among … Continue reading A wish list for the Recovery Alliance Initiative
Sentences to Ponder (Susan Holman, MD)
Consequences don't stop our using. They promote it." When I first heard Dr. Holman say this (around 2009) or so, it really struck me. Why? It had an entire feel about it. Not how she said it, but the words themselves. And the message was pretty specific, too. For decades I had of course heard … Continue reading Sentences to Ponder (Susan Holman, MD)
A classic practice in addiction counseling: the group or house checking the “we”
Disclaimer: Nothing in this document should be taken or held as clinical instruction, clinical supervision, or advisory concerning patient care. There’s a classic practice in addiction counseling I first saw in the late 1980’s. But I’ve never seen it written up. Not in the clinical-applied literature, practice guidelines, research studies, or anywhere else I can think … Continue reading A classic practice in addiction counseling: the group or house checking the “we”
SUD Typologies: considering reality testing, defense mechanisms, and identity integration
Disclaimer: Nothing in this document should be taken or held as clinical instruction, clinical supervision, or advisory concerning patient care. It contains the current condition of my thinking related to typologies of SUDs and sorting among them. Three Levels of Organization Traditional psychodynamic approaches to abnormal psychology examine three levels of general organization/disorganization of any person … Continue reading SUD Typologies: considering reality testing, defense mechanisms, and identity integration
Research Article Review: “Spirituality and Harmful or Hazardous Alcohol and Other Drug use: A Meta-Analysis of Longitudinal Studies”.
I love this paper for a lot of reasons. It's the first meta-analysis on this topic, by the way. Here's the link and citation for this open access paper: Koh HK, Frederick DE, Balboni TA, et al. Spirituality and Harmful or Hazardous Alcohol and Other Drug Use: A Meta-Analysis of Longitudinal Studies. JAMA Psychiatry. 2026;83(4):363–378. doi:10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2025.4816 Below, I'll present a … Continue reading Research Article Review: “Spirituality and Harmful or Hazardous Alcohol and Other Drug use: A Meta-Analysis of Longitudinal Studies”.
Sentences to Ponder (Jeff Berlin)
Mistakes are the location of learning. And we give them no regard. The first time I heard the world-class electric bass player Jeff Berlin say this in an interview, I was really struck. What Jeff was describing was the emotional part of the process of any player at any level improving their craft. He pointed … Continue reading Sentences to Ponder (Jeff Berlin)