Drug and Alcohol Findings reviews research on the impact of counseling for methadone patients. While across the board there was significant improvement, being assigned to standard/enhanced versus interim (no counseling) programmes did not further improve retention, illicit drug use and related problems, or make much difference to criminal activity. There was no evidence that interim … Continue reading Methadone with and without counseling
Category: Treatment
Hazelden and Betty Ford have merged
From USA Today: The Betty Ford Center and the Hazelden Foundation have formally merged to become the nation's largest nonprofit addiction treatment provider. ... Officials have openly discussed their struggle to compete with a boom in boutique centers, whose spa-like programs also treat gambling and sex addictions. Instead of a waiting list at the Betty Ford Center, … Continue reading Hazelden and Betty Ford have merged
NIMH acknowledges that antipsychotics worsen prospects for long term recovery
Thomas Insel, the Director of the National Institute on Mental Health comments on a recent study of the long term effects of antipsychotic maintenance for schizophrenics. The study looked at patients who discontinued antipsychotics compared to those who were maintained on antipsychotics. ...by seven years, the discontinuation group had achieved twice the functional recovery rate: … Continue reading NIMH acknowledges that antipsychotics worsen prospects for long term recovery
6 sessions of chronic care management for addiction is not effective
JAMA published a study of a primary-care based chronic care management model (CCM) for addiction. The test group did no better than the control group. The headline is a big bummer for any of us who want to see chronic disease models developed and implemented for addiction. What should we make of it? Many headlines … Continue reading 6 sessions of chronic care management for addiction is not effective
Recover from ==> Recovery to
Commenter Web Servant responded to the a recent "Sentence to Ponder" from Bill White about the need to expand the scope of treatment and recovery services that create pathways to natural community supports and adopt a wellness model. His comments seem worthy of a post of their own. The place of treatment in recovery is … Continue reading Recover from ==> Recovery to
Inside the Shady World of Sober Homes
Pacific Standard has a horrifying article about a sober home in NYC. It sounds like a perfect storm of greed, corruption and incompetence. Its not quite that bad here, but there are a lot of really bad sober housing programs and I really don't know how a client could sort out the decent programs from … Continue reading Inside the Shady World of Sober Homes
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
Care that never quits
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 to buy recovery: Yes. At the age of … Continue reading Care that never quits
3 fold preference for talk-therapy
I swear I don't go looking for this stuff. This post from the British Psychological Society just popped up in my feed reader: A line was crossed in 2005 as anti-depressant medication became the most widely prescribed class of drug in the USA. ... "It is unclear why the shift toward pharmacologic and away from … Continue reading 3 fold preference for talk-therapy
Why is talk therapy going out of favor?
A special issue of Clinical Psychology Review examines the decline of talk therapies: Psychotherapy has issues. Evidence shows that some psychosocial treatments work well for common mental health problems such as anxiety and depression and that consumers often prefer them to medication. Yet the use of psychotherapy is on a clear decline in the United States. In a set of research review … Continue reading Why is talk therapy going out of favor?
Recovery Review 