. Scotland, for all its beauty and positives, has an unwelcome first ranking in Europe in the domain of drug deaths. In 2021, the Scottish Government announced the National Mission as a response. A significant financial resource was realised to do this, spread over a variety of interventions. One of these was residential rehabilitation – … Continue reading Rehab in Scotland – what’s going on?
Sentences to Ponder: Donald Winnicott
It may be noticed that I am concerned with unconscious motivation, something that is not altogether a popular concept. The data I need are not to be culled from a form-filling questionnaire. A computer cannot be programmed to give motives that are unconscious in the individuals who are the guinea pigs of an investigation. This … Continue reading Sentences to Ponder: Donald Winnicott
Recovery Management Nestled in a Recovery Grounded System of Care – an Interview with Dr Michael Flaherty
Frontiers of Recovery Research Interview Series – William Stauffer What is this series of interviews? In April of 2024, I had the distinct honor of being asked by William White author and thought leader of the new recovery advocacy movement to present his words as the keynote to open up the first annual NIDA Consortium … Continue reading Recovery Management Nestled in a Recovery Grounded System of Care – an Interview with Dr Michael Flaherty
The Social Model of Recovery: Where the Change Happens
William Stauffer, LSW, PMAC, PECS & Enid Osborne, PhD, MPH, MSW In September, at the 2025 National Association of Recovery Residences Best Practices Summit, held in Sandusky, OH, one of the most notable presentations was that of Dr. Thomasina Borkman. While younger readers may not know her name, they should. She is a pioneering sociologist … Continue reading The Social Model of Recovery: Where the Change Happens
Gatekeeping Out the Recovering Workforce: Repeating History
A generation ago, in the early 1970s, the substance use treatment field was born. What it lacked in evidence base, which is a challenge for any emerging field, it more than made up for in vigor. People in recovery were eager to help others into recovery. Bill White noted pervasive volunteering in the field in … Continue reading Gatekeeping Out the Recovering Workforce: Repeating History
Added to the Recovery Review navigator: “Psychodynamic Perspective”
On the far right side of the Recovery Review home page are a few so-called "navigators". Yesterday we added a category to the "Special Series" navigator. The category we added is called "Psychodynamic Perspective". Here's what the Special Series navigator looks like right now. I've circled the new one we added in red so you … Continue reading Added to the Recovery Review navigator: “Psychodynamic Perspective”
Listening to Echoes of Our Own History
Authors Note: A version of this is currently in Counselor Magazine. I submitted it for consideration in May 2023 and received notice of it being used last week. My credentials have changed since then and there were substantive changes to the work. The citations here are consistent with what was submitted. I am pleased that … Continue reading Listening to Echoes of Our Own History
Recovery Housing Veto in California
California Governor Gavin Newsom recently vetoed a bill that would have allowed local governments to use up to 10% of state homelessness funds for abstinence-based recovery housing. The bill sought to adjust the state's housing-first policies, which prohibit using homelessness funds for abstinence-based recovery housing. A 2016 law adopting the “housing first” model as state policy prohibits … Continue reading Recovery Housing Veto in California
Protection, Remission, and Recovery
Thomas McLellan and Nora Volkow, two very important figures in modern addiction and treatment science, just published a new article. This strikes me as an important and potentially very consequential article. I'll share a few of the things that grabbed my attention. They describe the impetus for this article as follows: Prescribing MOUD with a … Continue reading Protection, Remission, and Recovery
We Lack a United Voice in the Recovery Movement
"With the right kind of eyes you can almost see the high-water mark—that place where the wave finally broke and rolled back” – Hunter S. Thompson" Collection of 2000s recovery advocacy ephemera. (Credit: Illinois Addiction Studies Archive) This week I am attending the annual conference of the National Alliance on Recovery Residences (NARR). NARR is … Continue reading We Lack a United Voice in the Recovery Movement
Recovery Review 