photo credit: Bart Everson I want to add one thought to Brian's recent post about the study of a residential SUD program integrating the use of cannabis as part of their care. For me, this is representative of a steady march toward the deconstruction of addiction and recovery. If addiction is a social construction and … Continue reading A steady march toward the deconstruction of addiction and recovery
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 currently serve as the Director of Social Work and Spiritual Care for a healthcare system. I've also served as the Director of Behavioral Health at another hospital. I'm also 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.
She is still part of my support system today
I spent the first decades of my career at Dawn Farm, and I continue to stay involved. Our north star was to extend recovery support to 5 years through treatment, peer support, housing, and linkage to recovery-informed primary care. The vision was to be by the client's side through those early hours, days, weeks, and … Continue reading She is still part of my support system today
Shattering Stigma and Narcotics Anonymous
Why do professionals insist that NA change to meet the needs of their patients? Why not help create something else to meet the needs of their patients?
What is recovery, anyways?
This graphic to promote recovery month has been on my mind since September. Is recovery the foundation to a healthy and happy home? It kinda depends on how you define recovery, doesn't it? If recovery is akin to flourishing, yes. If it's "a voluntarily maintained lifestyle characterized by sobriety, personal health, and citizenship", probably. If … Continue reading What is recovery, anyways?
How important are conceptual boundaries?
Recently, a couple of interesting items about autism were posted. One was a NYT podcast, and the other was an opinion piece in STAT. Specifically, the unintended consequences of the movement from a categorical diagnostic model (Autistic Disorder and Asperger's Disorder) to a spectrum model (Autism Spectrum Disorder, aka ASD). https://youtu.be/eSwJmsHGrns?si=osfA8RHxkJ38lf2X In the NY Times … Continue reading How important are conceptual boundaries?
Nonabstinence in recovery(?) from what?
Several months ago, The Journal of Addiction Medicine published an article on the prevalence of alcohol and other drug use among adults "in recovery." It drew from the 2022 National Survey on Drug Use and Health and looked at the prevalence of alcohol and other drug use among people who answered yes to the following … Continue reading Nonabstinence in recovery(?) from what?
Recovery Housing Veto in California
California Governor Gavin Newsom recently vetoed a bill that would have allowed local governments to use up to 10% of state homelessness funds for abstinence-based recovery housing. The bill sought to adjust the state's housing-first policies, which prohibit using homelessness funds for abstinence-based recovery housing. A 2016 law adopting the “housing first” model as state policy prohibits … Continue reading Recovery Housing Veto in California
Protection, Remission, and Recovery
Thomas McLellan and Nora Volkow, two very important figures in modern addiction and treatment science, just published a new article. This strikes me as an important and potentially very consequential article. I'll share a few of the things that grabbed my attention. They describe the impetus for this article as follows: Prescribing MOUD with a … Continue reading Protection, Remission, and Recovery
7-OH and the Question of Harm Production
This guest post is by Lee Holley, LCSW, LCDC, PSS. Lee is a psychotherapist based in Texas. He specializes in therapy for people with alcohol and other drug problems through a recovery-oriented harm reduction lens, combining clinical expertise with lived experience in long-term recovery. As a psychotherapist who bases my philosophy of treating alcohol and … Continue reading 7-OH and the Question of Harm Production
Drug Innovation or Contamination?
As harm reduction has risen in prominence and influence in the addiction, treatment, and recovery spaces, one of its contributions to discussions about public policy related to drug use has been the suggestion that prohibition creates a drug supply with unpredictable potency that is vulnerable to contamination, and that these factors drive overdose. This leads … Continue reading Drug Innovation or Contamination?
Recovery Review 