From Kas Thomas, on the limits and overselling of CBT: CBT has been criticized (appropriately, I believe) on theoretical grounds for its slavishly rationalist bent and its insistence that mentally ill people can fix their problems with what amounts to exercises in clearer thinking. M.B. Shapiro Award winner Chris Brewin (University College London) questions the … Continue reading “slavishly rationalist” and “mere logic”
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.
A great loss for the field
From Jim Balmer, Dawn Farm's President: We lost the great Ernest Kurtz last night - and many of us have lost a wonderful friend. Ernie was a brilliant and inquisitive man who helped countless people understand both AA and spirituality in new ways. What a privilege to have known him. I did not realize that … Continue reading A great loss for the field
Legal marijuana=exploding homes?
Interesting. I assume that this will lead to regulation that will benefit big marijuana. When Colorado legalized marijuana two years ago, nobody was quite ready for the problem of exploding houses. But that is exactly what firefighters, courts and lawmakers across the state are confronting these days: amateur marijuana alchemists who are turning their kitchens and … Continue reading Legal marijuana=exploding homes?
Ernest Kurtz archives (and on space for atheism in AA)
Bill White just created an Ernie Kurtz archive section in his website. It's well worth your time. From Ernie and Bill's foreward to Don't Tell: Essays from Alcoholics Agnostica . . . carrying its message to other alcoholics regardless of their race, gender, sexuality, religion or lack thereof, or any other accidental quality, A.A. has in living its … Continue reading Ernest Kurtz archives (and on space for atheism in AA)
Overdose deaths linked to heroin jumped 39 percent in 2013
Bad news from the CDC: According to the latest data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), many more people are dying from heroin overdoses than in past years. What is particularly disturbing is the rapid jump from 2012, when 5,927 people died from a heroin overdose, to 2013, when the numbers rose … Continue reading Overdose deaths linked to heroin jumped 39 percent in 2013
Reducing overdoses
A new leader in the Open Society Institute shares a sensible perspective on reducing overdoses: Looking ahead, reducing drug overdoses will require major shifts in how we approach substance use. First, and possibly most importantly, Maryland needs to connect individuals struggling with addiction to high-quality addiction treatment that is integrated with their primary care. Primary care providers … Continue reading Reducing overdoses
Overdose rate to get worse before it gets better
It's gonna get worse for another year or two before it gets better: Background: Unintentional drug overdose has increased markedly in the past two decades and surpassed motor vehicle crashes as the leading cause of injury mortality in many states. The purpose of this study was to understand the trajectory of the drug overdose epidemic in … Continue reading Overdose rate to get worse before it gets better
Tragedy on top of tragedy
A tragic end to an already tragic story: A few days before Christmas, in a Portland suburb, Audrey Conn committed suicide in her mother’s house. Her death, like her life, was immediately seen as something larger in a vituperative debate over whether all problem drinkers need to entirely abstain. Conn, 56, was a founder of … Continue reading Tragedy on top of tragedy
Not good enough
This is good: The opiate-blocker naloxone is one of the year's most celebrated drugs, breaking into the mainstream as a magic-bullet antidote that yanks overdose victims from the brink of death with a shot of nasal spray or an intravenous injection. Police take it on patrols. Emergency medical technicians keep it in their ambulances. Ordinary … Continue reading Not good enough
Sentences to Ponder
From Parker Palmer, on effectiveness [emphasis mine]: We are in a society that is obsessed with effectiveness, with outcomes, with results. And efficiency is very much attached to that, which Courtney [Martin] wisely pointed to. I want to be clear that I'm not against effectiveness and getting results. I work hard on writing books, or … Continue reading Sentences to Ponder
Recovery Review 