This post will consist of an overview of one particular research report, and some of my thoughts about it.  Here is the citation of the paper I’ll be discussing: Yovell, Y., Bar, G., Mashiah, M., Baruch, Y., Briskman, I., Asherov, J., Lotan, A., Rigbi, A. & Panksepp, J.  (2016).  Ultra-Low-Dose Buprenorphine as a Time-Limited Treatment … Continue reading Research Article Review: Buprenorphine for Severe Suicidal Ideation

Can the presence of recovery, or the level of recovery function, be somehow detectable when it is unspoken and not overtly displayed? Can recovery be intuitively recognized or somehow felt in another person? Can recovery be intuitively recognized within an interpersonal space? Can recovery be present and sensed in the atmosphere? Sixth-sense, Spidey-sense, Radar When you walk into a room, do you ever pick up on any … Continue reading “Throw Flour On the Invisible Man”: Toward locating recovery function and assessing recovery quality

Beyond one’s personal recovery, what could the general idea of recovery be good for? To explore what the idea of recovery could be good for, I would like to separate the word “recovery” from its normal use (about people making personal changes in the face of addiction illness), and highlight some other benefits that could be found in the idea of … Continue reading Recovery: What Is It Good For?

You might not be aware of a podcast called myRecoveryCast. The episode titled, "NA in Iran Part 1: Visitors" is one of the most amazing things I've ever heard. It tells the story of the unprecedented growth of the NA fellowship there, and includes fascinating information and insights. The same audio can be found here. … Continue reading Narcotics Anonymous in Iran

Here is an audio/video upload of a presentation called "Narcotics Anonymous: The Early Story." I've listened to it time and again. This fascinating talk has been given at NA World, and on various continents and regions of the globe. My other favorite is this bit of writing titled "Narcotics Anonymous: Its History and Culture."   … Continue reading My favorite resources on the history of Narcotics Anonymous

Earlier today Jason Schwartz posted on the notion that the word “relapse” is stigmatizing, that the preferred term is “recurrence of use”, and the lack of empirical evidence addressing this topic. I will add a little more. "Relapse" is currently my preferred term rather than “recurrence of use". Why? In clinical work focused on relapse … Continue reading Stigma, humanizing terms, and taking on hostility: A little more

Negative Space and Art In visual art, the area outside or around the main object is called “negative space”. For example, if one draws a deer and places the deer on an abstract background, the abstract background is termed “negative space”. In art, negative space is important. What should the negative space be made of? … Continue reading Negative space

In this essay I make two claims. My two claims will take the form of slightly changed versions of two borrowed sentences. (I will present the original versions of the two borrowed sentences later in the essay).  I simply took the borrowed sentences and changed a few key words.  In my changed version of each … Continue reading “Recovery”: let’s do the math

Opioid maintenance therapy (OMT), also called medication-assisted treatment (MAT), is known as a Gold Standard addiction treatment. That’s one Gold Standard if you are keeping count. The model of care used by Physician Health Programs (PHP’s) is known as a Gold Standard addiction treatment. That’s two Gold Standards if you are keeping count. But what … Continue reading One, Two, or None?