Who are you? My name is David McCartney and I am a Scot. I live in the southern uplands of Scotland, but I work in the Central Lowlands, which is the middle part of the country. What do you do professionally? I'm a doctor who specializes in addictions, and I work for the National Health … Continue reading Addiction Professionals in the Pandemic – David McCartney
Author: Jason Schwartz
I have been an addiction professional and social worker since 1994. I started blogging in 2005 as the Clinical Director at Dawn Farm. I no longer work at Dawn Farm and am now the Director of Behavioral Medicine at a community hospital, and a lecturer at Eastern Michigan University’s School of Social Work.
Views expressed here are my own.
Keep in mind that the field, the contexts in which the field operates, and my views have changed over time.
Recovery MAINTENANCE
This post was originally published in 2014. There's a lot of commentary out there on Philip Seymour Hoffman's death. Some of it's good, some is bad and there's a lot in between. Much of it has focused overdose prevention and some of it has focused on a need for evidence-based treatments. Anna David puts her … Continue reading Recovery MAINTENANCE
Notes on the future of the field
I was recently on a panel about the future of the field for an APNC event and thought a couple of questions and the notes I prepared might be worth sharing in a post. What and how has the COVID-19 pandemic shown us about the importance of a multi-year perspective with individuals and inclusion of … Continue reading Notes on the future of the field
Addiction Professionals in the Pandemic – Kristal Reyes
Who are you? That is a loaded question! My name is Kristal Reyes, and I am a person in long-term recovery. I am also a wife, I'm a mother, I'm the Director of Crisis Services for Neighborhood Services Organization [NSO] in Detroit. I'm also the Clinical Director for First Step Referral Services, and I'm a … Continue reading Addiction Professionals in the Pandemic – Kristal Reyes
Care that never quits
[This post was originally published in 2013.] I spent a little more time with Jim Contopulos' video memorial for his son and an interview he did will Bill White. There's a lot to all of this, but a couple of things stuck with me. In the interview, he discussed being a scared parent and seeking … Continue reading Care that never quits
Sentences to ponder
photo credit: hobvias sudoneighm From Reconsidering the Usefulness of Adding Naloxone to Buprenorphine: If information circulating in the recreational drug-using community is in reality more accurate than the information coming from the medical community, it can only be a matter of time before that hard-won trust is eroded.Blazes, C.K., & Morrow, J. (2020). Reconsidering the … Continue reading Sentences to ponder
Addiction Professionals in the Pandemic – Andre Johnson
Who are you? My name is Andre Johnson. I'm a person in long-term recovery. And what that means is, I have not used drugs or alcohol in over 32 years. My sobriety date is July 13th, 1988. I am a tax-paying citizen and very intentional about my recovery and helping others. If it was not … Continue reading Addiction Professionals in the Pandemic – Andre Johnson
Many [blank] treatment programs don’t offer [blank], at a deadly cost
This article, Many Residential Addiction Tx Centers Don’t Offer MAT, at a Deadly Cost, has some serious flaws but it addresses an important and common gap in systems of care. What it gets wrong The flaws relate to it being a mish mash of criticism of non-agonist treatments. First, the article seems to be muddying … Continue reading Many [blank] treatment programs don’t offer [blank], at a deadly cost
Addiction Professionals in the Pandemic – Sam Price
Who are you? My name is Sam Price, I am the President/CEO for the Ten16 Recovery Network. Tell me a little bit about Ten16 and your role there. Alright, Ten16 is celebrating its 40th anniversary this year. I have been here since 2003, so about 17 of that has been on my watch. It started … Continue reading Addiction Professionals in the Pandemic – Sam Price
Substance Use Disorders as a category
(This post was originally published March, 2016) There's been a big change in the way professionals and advocates talk and think about drug and alcohol problems over the last several years. On one end, we have professionals changing the classifications and mental models for substance use problems. On the other end, we have recovery advocates … Continue reading Substance Use Disorders as a category
