This week's Throwback Sunday is a post about a study on the Transtheoretical Stages of Change (TSOC). It's relevant due to the ongoing and recent media love for Motivational Interviewing (MI), which is fairly closely tied to the TSOC. (This is disputed, but the motivational interviewing website as 12 pages of search results for "stages of … Continue reading Readiness for change and drug use outcomes after treatment
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.
Stanton, you have deep unresolved pain
I'm not a fan of either of these high profile addiction experts, but Stanton Peele's recounting of his meeting with Gabor Maté illuminates a lot about both men and their approach to addiction. It also helps in understanding the conceptual boundaries of harm reduction, at least as Peele sees them. The boundaries are more rigid than … Continue reading Stanton, you have deep unresolved pain
Characteristics of the best treatment programs
In that Points interview, Bill White is asked about the treatment provider that he would choose for a loved one. I receive calls every day from people asking variations of these questions. There isn’t a universally “best program.” What we are looking for is the best match between the characteristics of a particular person at a … Continue reading Characteristics of the best treatment programs
Mom loved us and hated the alcoholic also living in her body
From Humans of New York: "She was filled with regret before she died. She felt like she'd failed us as a mother tremendously." "Did she say something to you about it?" "She never said anything, so I don't have any tangible proof that she had regrets. But she had a very bad substance abuse problem. … Continue reading Mom loved us and hated the alcoholic also living in her body
the revolving door
Points has an interview with Bill White. He makes several points that his followers will be very familiar with, but I don't remember him putting it together so concisely. I've also heard him discuss recovery capital and acute care models, but never heard him frame the acute care model as working well for low to … Continue reading the revolving door
A sentence to ponder
“If they overdose and kill themselves, it just removes them from the gene pool.” State Senator Rob Schaaf, a family physician who argues that allowing the government to keep prescription records violates personal privacy. (Source: NYT; hat tip: @DavidJuurlink)
“not all marijuana users are of equal concern to us”
Keith Humphreys imagines the reactions of various stakeholders to this graph showing marijuana consumption Colorado. He imagines public health workers expressing concern about the bottom two bars and trying to promote policies that will reduce the amount these heavy users consume. Next, he imagines a corporate board room voicing interest in attracting users in the bottom two … Continue reading “not all marijuana users are of equal concern to us”
1 in 8 deaths among Ontario young adults were attributable to opioids
A study of opioid-related deaths in Ontario was recently published. There were some really stunning findings. First, over 20 years, the opioid-related death rate increased by 242%. During the 20-year study period, we identified 5935 people whose deaths were opioid-related in Ontario. The median age at death was 42 years (interquartile range 34–50 years), 64.4% … Continue reading 1 in 8 deaths among Ontario young adults were attributable to opioids
Radical Recovery
This week's Throwback Sunday is Bill White's description of radical recovery. ================== For MLK day, here's an article by Bill White on "radical recovery." He describes a convergence of social activism and addiction recovery. The article offers a model that goes well beyond the the interests of recovering people themselves and encourages advocacy in larger … Continue reading Radical Recovery
I don’t get it
Yesterday, I read this, "we still don't get addiction" article and was a little bemused. The article presents an argument that addiction is a learning disorder and presents this as a controversial theory. It's not. She also presents it as a theory that undercuts the ideas that addiction is a brain disease and that it's a … Continue reading I don’t get it
Recovery Review 