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
2024’s Top Posts #5 – Addiction & Recovery Capitalist – Hustlers Hawking Drugs, Hucksters Selling Recovery
“I know of no class of people who have been so victimized by the quack as the inebriate” – Quote from Slaying the Dragon, William White William White over the course of decades has documented some of our most noble efforts to expand recovery across America and our lowest lows in how people with substance … Continue reading 2024’s Top Posts #5 – Addiction & Recovery Capitalist – Hustlers Hawking Drugs, Hucksters Selling Recovery
Drug Use, Human – #6 – Freedom, and the Question of Harm to Society
“The right to swing my fist ends where the other man's nose begins.” ― Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. The quote above has been attributed to historical figures including Oliver Wendell Holmes and Abraham Lincoln. While its origins are uncertain, it has links to prohibition. While in a contemporary lens, prohibition is viewed as an infringement … Continue reading Drug Use, Human – #6 – Freedom, and the Question of Harm to Society
2024’s Top Posts – #7 – Bias Against Recovery in PA Cannabis Certification Program
There is a recent story that originated out of Spotlight PA by reporter Ed Mahon that keeps intruding in my thoughts as quite disturbing, Prior misconduct rarely an obstacle for doctors in Pennsylvania’s medical marijuana program. Before delving into the details and why it is one that I find so troubling, first I would note … Continue reading 2024’s Top Posts – #7 – Bias Against Recovery in PA Cannabis Certification Program
2024’s Top Posts – #8 – What is Addiction Counseling?
At this stage of my career, it seems to me that “Addiction Counseling” is one thing made from the following four essential ingredients: listening with the “third ear”; those unique competencies and skills that are particular to the professional addiction counselor; the competencies and skills particular to the recovery coach; and finally, the qualities of … Continue reading 2024’s Top Posts – #8 – What is Addiction Counseling?
2024’s Top Posts – #9 – A War on Recovery?
STAT just ran another article in its "War on Recovery" series and continues its narrative of casting recovering people in Narcotics Anonymous and non-agonist recovery pathways as the villains. There's an important story undergirding this article (and the previous article attacking recovering people in NA) -- that there are important gaps in social support for … Continue reading 2024’s Top Posts – #9 – A War on Recovery?
Recovery Review 