Another tribe of the recovering community: When Grace McClellan attends two music festivals — Governors Ball in New York and Bonnaroo in Tennessee — this month, she will be among friends who feel more like family. Their shared bond, along with a love of live music: They’re all sober. Ms. McClellan, 31, first stopped using … Continue reading Soberoo
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.
We accept you for who you are and who you can become
Most clients entering a treatment environment/ relationship do so with fear and ambivalence. The fear is fear of an alien environment, the feeling of vulnerability and lack of control, and the suspicion that they are in a place where they will not be understood and accepted… The earliest moments in the initiation of the treatment … Continue reading We accept you for who you are and who you can become
Person first
It is far more important to know what person the disease has, than what disease the person has. —Hippocrates
Do I see myself as a fixer?
“Many times when we help we do not really serve. . . . Serving is also different from fixing. One of the pioneers of the Human Potential Movement, Abraham Maslow, said, "If all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail.' Seeing yourself as a fixer may cause you to see brokenness everywhere, … Continue reading Do I see myself as a fixer?
raising hope up and living our mission
From Victoria Safford via Maria Popova (emphasis mine): I have a friend who traffics in words. She is not a minister, but a psychiatrist in the health clinic at a prestigious women’s college. We were sitting once not long after a student she had known, and counseled, committed suicide in the dormitory there. My friend, … Continue reading raising hope up and living our mission
treat them with hope
“If you want to treat an illness that has no easy cure, first of all, treat them with hope.”—George Vaillant
Privileged access
Peg O'Connor offers an interesting perspective on self-trust in addiction. Complicating the matter is the belief that each person knows herself better than others can know her. In philosophy we call this “privileged access.” On this view, each person has an access to her beliefs, desires, thoughts, emotions that no one else can have. Each of us can … Continue reading Privileged access
Faith is given in sufficient quantities to communities
I recently listened to an interview with Nadia Bolz-Weber. There were a lot of keepers in the interview (even for a non-believer). She's described as a recovering drug addict. Her recovery shines through in this, "fake it till you make it" discussion: Ms. Tippett: So a sermon of yours I wish I could have heard is … Continue reading Faith is given in sufficient quantities to communities
Hope
I'm reading a book that has nothing to do with addiction but is a father's search for reasons for being hopeful about the future, so that he can share them with his son. We talk a lot about the role of hope in initiating recovery at Dawn Farm, so I thought a few snippets from … Continue reading Hope
Standing in awe, rather than judgment
. . . the measure of our compassion lies not in our service of those on the margins but in our willingness to see ourselves in kinship. And so that means the decided movement towards awe and giant steps away from judgment. So how can we seek really a compassion that can stand in awe at … Continue reading Standing in awe, rather than judgment
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