Summary In this paper, Bill describes the phenomena of addiction recovery being somehow primed in those who are still suffering, caught by those who are not “ready”, transmitted by those with this personal quality, and forming a critical mass of a different kind and higher potency when individuals with it gather. In doing so, he … Continue reading Revisiting the Work of William White: “Recovery Carriers”
Revisiting the Work of William White. “The Rhetoric of Recovery Advocacy”: An Essay On the Power of Language
Summary In another post in this series, I'll highlight Bill’s paper on the concept of the “recovery carrier”. For me, if I’m asked to single out one paper above all his others that I would have someone read first – as being most critical, brief, and easy to read – that would be the one. … Continue reading Revisiting the Work of William White. “The Rhetoric of Recovery Advocacy”: An Essay On the Power of Language
More on “The Historical Essence of Addiction Counseling”
Yesterday, Bill Stauffer revisited William White's article, The Historical Essence of Addiction Counseling. I won't re-summarize the article, but I want to focus on one particular theme If AOD problems could be solved by physically unraveling the person-drug relationship, only physicians and nurses trained in the mechanics of detoxification would be needed to address these … Continue reading More on “The Historical Essence of Addiction Counseling”
Revisiting the Work of William White: The Historical Essence of Addiction Counseling (2004)
“What the addiction counselor knows that other service professionals do not is the very soul of the addicted—their terrifying fear of insanity, the shame of their wretchedness, their guilt over drug-induced sins of omission and commission, their desperate struggle to sustain their personhood, their need to avoid the psychological and social taint of addiction, and … Continue reading Revisiting the Work of William White: The Historical Essence of Addiction Counseling (2004)
What does SAMHSA do?
What does SAMHSA do, and should I care if their staff are fired in significant numbers? It's my impression that most probationary SAMHSA employees have been fired. Terminations started there because terminating probationary employees is easy procedurally. Permanent employees require a process to justify Reductions in Force (RIF) to move ahead with termination. Some people … Continue reading What does SAMHSA do?
Abolish SAMHSA? On advocacy and criticism
I've seen this article shared several times recently. Here's the premise: The incoming Trump administration wants to improve public safety, push back on progressive cultural politics, and cut wasteful federal spending. One way to do all three? Abolish the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, the federal mental-health agency. Trump Should Abolish the Federal … Continue reading Abolish SAMHSA? On advocacy and criticism
Relapse and burnout among recovering addiction professionals
Some of us intend to do occasional reviews of some of William White's papers. Many of his most important papers are 25 years old, meaning a whole new generation of addiction professionals have entered the workforce since they were published. Further, the volume of his work makes it overwhelming to approach. We will curate and … Continue reading Relapse and burnout among recovering addiction professionals
Recovery Capitalists and the Industries of Dependency
We are at the 25th anniversary of the new recovery advocacy movement in America. A movement to elevate and expand recovery opportunities nationally. It began as a grassroot community vision that rose up across the county. It envisioned a more cohesive treatment and community-based recovery model. A system to expand beyond the acute and fragmented … Continue reading Recovery Capitalists and the Industries of Dependency
Eliminating Inequities for Black Mothers With Substance Use Disorder
Between 2010 and 2017, the U.S. saw a 131% increase in maternal opioid use disorder at delivery. There also was an 83% rise in cases of neonatal abstinence syndrome due to prenatal opioid exposure. Additionally, between 2016 and 2020, there was a 3.6% increase in prenatal substance exposure, including alcohol, with significant variation across states. The rising rates of … Continue reading Eliminating Inequities for Black Mothers With Substance Use Disorder
Proposing Two First-Rank Symptoms of Alcoholism
Jason Schwartz recently posted about the 11 DSM-5 criteria for SUD (APA, 2013). In doing so he discussed the: category of Substance Use Disorder in the DSM-5 as being too broad to be useful; ballooning of epidemiological data concerning the incidence and prevalence of addiction based on category errors in context of the DSM-5 SUD … Continue reading Proposing Two First-Rank Symptoms of Alcoholism
Recovery Review 