“Let us use whatever power and influence we have, working with whatever resources are already available, mobilizing the people who are with us to work for what they care about.” – Margaret Wheatley I have reposted this from time to time and in this version corrected some wording and added citations. The title of this … Continue reading Building Bridges Between Islands of Healing – Revised from Jan 2022
Tag: Recovery
Revisiting Support for Long term Recovery and the Reversed Tragedy of the Commons
"There is no greater tyranny against the minds of men that to allow the minds of their children to be destroyed by addiction disease because of our lack of courage and commitment at the time it is needed most. This is the time. If we fail now, we will have failed our future. This is … Continue reading Revisiting Support for Long term Recovery and the Reversed Tragedy of the Commons
Medications for Opioid Use Disorder: Enhancing Retention to Achieve Longterm Remission and Recovery
A newly published monograph "addresses the challenges of achieving long-term stable (OUD) remission and recovery, and, more specifically, the related challenges involved in adherence and retention within the pharmacotherapeutic treatment of OUD." This document is a critical step toward understanding what medication can and cannot achieve for which patients under what circumstances. This right-sizing of … Continue reading Medications for Opioid Use Disorder: Enhancing Retention to Achieve Longterm Remission and Recovery
Revisiting William White: A History of Contempt: Countertransference and the Dangers of Service Integration
“The look which the doctor gave me simply set me back on my heels. My hand remained untaken...Then I realized with a shock that this was not a meeting of two gentlemen on a plane of equality. In the eyes of the man before me, I was just another insane patient” - Marle Woodson 1933 … Continue reading Revisiting William White: A History of Contempt: Countertransference and the Dangers of Service Integration
SDOH and Recovery Capital: Of Course Everything Isn’t Healthcare
The Wall Street Journal recently ran a commentary arguing that "Not Everything is Healthcare." Health insurers like UnitedHealthcare, Centene and Humana have devoted billions of dollars in the past decade to building new “affordable housing.” They’re also spending heavily on nutrition programs and local community resources. No, the insurance industry hasn’t suddenly begun emphasizing philanthropy over profit. Rather, it … Continue reading SDOH and Recovery Capital: Of Course Everything Isn’t Healthcare
Revisiting the Work of William White: Sick Systems in Treatment Interview with John DuCane 1989
“I was recruited by the field to address a shadow side of the organizational life of addiction treatment programs. As I responded to these calls, it became quickly apparent that something far more universal was afoot than the aberration of organizational life of addiction programs” – William White, Recovery Rising pg. 233 In 1989, John … Continue reading Revisiting the Work of William White: Sick Systems in Treatment Interview with John DuCane 1989
Codependency A Helpful Concept Turned Toxic: A Lesson from Our Own History
A few weeks ago on February 27th, Melody Beattie died at age 76. For those who may not know the name, she was an author and wrote a best-selling book called Codependent No More: How to Stop Controlling Others and Start Caring for Yourself. It may be hard for readers in our current era to … Continue reading Codependency A Helpful Concept Turned Toxic: A Lesson from Our Own History
Follow the science . . .
I'm reposting this to supplement Monday's post on retiring the concept of "deaths of despair." Zeynep Tufecki's analysis of the damage to public trust from misleading public health messaging during the pandemic reminded me of this post. She describes problems of omission, misrepresentation of confidence levels in information, a desire to be a counterforce to … Continue reading Follow the science . . .
Recovery Languaging: Moving from Normalizing Healing to Normalizing Use & Pathology
For well over a decade, significant focus of effort within the recovery community and across our service space has focused on changing how we talk about substance use conditions and those who experience them. As noted in the 2014 paper Language, Substance Use Disorders, and Policy: The Need to Reach Consensus on an “Addiction-ary” our … Continue reading Recovery Languaging: Moving from Normalizing Healing to Normalizing Use & Pathology
Revisiting the Work of William White: A Commitment to Ethical Action 1994
“The alcoholism and drug abuse counseling profession is at a turning point, facing threats that fundamentally could alter the character of this field. While some see health care reform and financial concerns as topping the list of challenges; many others depict a spiritual crisis - a crisis in values. This crisis has emerged out of … Continue reading Revisiting the Work of William White: A Commitment to Ethical Action 1994
Recovery Review 