I've posted several times about the changing boundaries of recovery. A recovery science pioneer's thoughts on the boundaries of recovery. On typologies for recovery. On questions about the boundaries of recovery-oriented models of care. On the changing definitions. On research regarding some college students being assigned a recovery label and questioning whether it's appropriate for … Continue reading Recovery Redefined: Shifts Across Domains and Contexts
Addiction Treatment and the Multiple Echoes of History – Lessons to Heed
“If you want a new idea, read an old book” - Ivan Pavlov In respect to efforts to expand addiction recovery in America, our new challenges often have historic parallels. It is also true that some of the very best ideas we may be able to harness to move our endeavors forward have roots in … Continue reading Addiction Treatment and the Multiple Echoes of History – Lessons to Heed
A classic practice in addiction counseling
Disclaimer: Nothing in this document should be taken or held as clinical instruction, clinical supervision, or advisory concerning patient care. There's a classic practice in addiction counseling that I've seen implemented for decades but have never seen written up in the clinical-applied literature, practice guidelines, research studies, or anywhere else I can think of. Here it … Continue reading A classic practice in addiction counseling
Cannabis policy: A road not taken
I'm writing from Michigan, where cannabis has been legal for medical use since 2008 and legal for recreational use since 2018. Michigan municipalities permitting cannabis sales in their boundaries get state cannabis tax revenue; municipalities that opt-out do not. There's been very little regulation of marketing and zoning of cannabis retailers, an approach that is … Continue reading Cannabis policy: A road not taken
Language, social justice, access to care, symbolic capital, and recovery advocacy
(source: cultural iceberg from lcw) Many times over the years I've expressed frustration with the field's emphasis on language while it's not clear to me that a whole lot of progress has been made in access to recovery-oriented care of adequate quality, intensity, and duration. (See here, here, here, here, and here.) I just finished … Continue reading Language, social justice, access to care, symbolic capital, and recovery advocacy
2024’s Top Posts – #1 – 12-Step Facilitation is the eighth most frequently used therapeutic approach in treatment facilities
There are a lot of problems in addiction treatment, but 12-step hegemony is not the problem that advocates and media coverage would lead one to believe. There's a widely held belief that 12-step culture exerts a smothering pro-abstinence stranglehold on public health and policy responses to substance use. It's a strange phenomenon when one considers … Continue reading 2024’s Top Posts – #1 – 12-Step Facilitation is the eighth most frequently used therapeutic approach in treatment facilities
2024’s Top Posts – #2 – Multiple pathways as a disruptor: from what to what?
"Multiple pathways to recovery" has been popularized by the new recovery advocacy movement (NRAM) and Recovery Oriented Systems of Care (ROSC), but the concept has been around since at least 1944. The September 1944 issue of Alcoholics Anonymous' Grapevine published an article by Philip Wylie, describing his solo recovery supported by psychologists and reading. Bill … Continue reading 2024’s Top Posts – #2 – Multiple pathways as a disruptor: from what to what?
2024’s Top Posts – #3 – The allegory of the lake: The implications of an Inclusive Recovery Cities model for prevention and early intervention
Position Paper: Centre for Addiction Recovery Research (by David Best) Rationale and background: The inclusive cities model was originally conceptualised by Best and Colman (2018) based on the idea that recovery is an achievement that should be celebrated in order to: Challenge stigma and exclusion Increase visibility of recovery and access to community resources In … Continue reading 2024’s Top Posts – #3 – The allegory of the lake: The implications of an Inclusive Recovery Cities model for prevention and early intervention
Moderation or abstinence? The right endpoint for the right problem type
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vb2-R6nDzDc I've seen this segment from the PBS News Hour get some attention recently. Segment Summary The focus of the segment is the use, more specifically the lack of use, of naltrexone for alcohol problems. It rightly points out that the scale and toll of alcohol problems dwarf most other drugs. Deaths attributed to heavy … Continue reading Moderation or abstinence? The right endpoint for the right problem type
2024’s Top Posts – #4 – The war against ‘pathology porn’: How can we make recovery research strengths-based and generative
by David Best, Sharynne Hamilton, Noreen Demeria, Tom Karl The problem Assessments for drug and alcohol treatment are generally miserable affairs. For both parties. As a result of worries about governance, risk, safety, funding etc, the person seeking help is often confronted by a ‘professional’ armed with a questionnaire that is made up of standardised … Continue reading 2024’s Top Posts – #4 – The war against ‘pathology porn’: How can we make recovery research strengths-based and generative
Recovery Review 