People in Recovery as an Oppressed Population
People in recovery are an oppressed population who are stigmatized, denied access to quality services, and objectified. Furthermore, this population contains microcosmic elements of privilege and dominance. As a person who has recovered from a substance use disorder and who now provides services to others in recovery, I have witnessed our oppression firsthand. In the
Release the Hostage
I was listening to a client the other day, and his story went something like this: “I was in The Program for a year, then I stopped going to meetings for two years; so I havent’ used for three years, but I only have a year of recovery”. Here is a person who was able
I Want to Be a Harm Reduction Counselor
Once again, The Fix has published one of my articles; this one in the Pro Voices section, which is very flattering and humbling. My work appeared alongside distinguished authors and clinicians, all of whom I look to for inspiration. Even more flattering, the same piece was picked up by the National Association of Alcohol and Drug
The Times They Are A-Changing
I was talking this evening with my distinguished friend and former Delaware News Journal reporter, Adam Taylor. I work as a counselor in an abstinence-based outpatient treatment facility; Adam now works in PR for a company that uses medication-assisted treatment modalities. We were discussing the state of substance use treatment in light of the new opiate/heroin epidemic.
A Disease by Any Other Name (Keep it Simple, Stupid)
Neuroscientist Marc Lewis has written a new book, “The Biology of Desire: Why Addiction is Not a Disease.” In it, he asserts that addiction is better explained by learning/developmental changes to the brain. This almost seemed timed to counter Nora Volkow’s renewed attempt at wonksplaining the disease theory for the layperson in the Huffington Post,
I Drive an Automatic Now
For years, I insisted on driving a stick shift. I loved the control, the driving experience; the very idea of driving a stick was cool. I called automatics “golf carts”. If you had asked me, in those days, I would have told you that I would always drive stick; that I would never buy an
Recovery In Vivo
As we push the boundaries of the recovery bubble further and further outward, encompassing increasing swaths of our natural habitat; as recovery space expands, engulfing businesses and service structures and public spaces; as recovery thought penetrates and impregnates our paradigms, sowing the hybrid seed of recovery daywalkers…where will the dividing line between “recovery space” and the
Stanton Peele: 12 Concepts of Recovery That Have Stood the Test of Time | The Fix
This one goes into the “I Wish I Had Written This” file. Stanton Peele, who has been promoting self-directed recovery for longer than most of us have been in recovery, has compiled a list of universal components of recovery that apply across the board, regardless of which “program” one chooses. This (sort of) parallels the
Recovery Innovation
In the last few years, there have been several new voices in the chorus calling for new and innovative treatment and recovery modalities. Lawrence Dodes, David Sheff and Anne Fletcher, among others, brought forth new research and asked some very pointed questions about the dominant model. Last year, William White and Ernie Kurtz wrote an article