Yesterday, we began to revisit the concept of recovery-oriented harm reduction. Why recovery-oriented harm reduction and not just recovery? 13 years ago, recovery-oriented harm reduction was thought of as a bridge between harm reduction and treatment or recovery. Today, in some circles, it might invite questions about why one would want to maintain a distinction … Continue reading Revisiting recovery-oriented harm reduction (part 2)

Recently proposed definitions of recovery could be characterized as defining it downward (or expanding the boundaries outward). I’ve expressed concern that these proposed boundaries are so broad that most people who currently self-identify as in recovery will not feel a shared identity with the people that advocates are trying to expand the boundaries to include. … Continue reading “full recovery or amplified recovery” — toward typologies of recovery?

In an open letter to NIDA, a group that enjoys great success with an abstinence based approach is concerned that their recovery path is being discounted and ignored in the attempt to build an evidence-base. (emphasis mine) The collegiate recovery movement is alive and well across the nation. We are on the cusp of a … Continue reading Most popular posts of 2015 – #8 – The collegiate recovery movement is alive and well

A member of the University of Michigan Collegiate Recovery Program contributed to the campus paper, highlighting one of her peers in the program. Last Thursday was a ground-breaking day in our country’s history when an intimate group of young people in long-term recovery from drug and alcohol addiction gathered at our nation’s most sacred building in … Continue reading Recovery advocacy on campus and beyond

In an open letter to NIDA, a group that enjoys great success with an abstinence based approach is concerned that their recovery path is being discounted and ignored in the attempt to build an evidence-base. (emphasis mine) The collegiate recovery movement is alive and well across the nation. We are on the cusp of a … Continue reading The collegiate recovery movement is alive and well

This story of a recent University of Michigan student who died while combining Adderall and alcohol touches upon a recent theme in this blog. Six weeks ago, her son collapsed after snorting ground-up Adderall and chasing it with enough alcohol to stop his heart. Adderall, if you don’t know, is a prescription drug used to combat … Continue reading Students shouldn’t have to sacrifice school for recovery, or recovery for school

Collegiate Recovery Programs: Supporting Second Chances GOAL: To provide an overview of the need, purpose, history and present development of collegiate recovery programs locally and nationally. OBJECTIVES: Participants will: Get an overview of the challenges and obstacles students in recovery face on college campuses Learn about the theory and research that are at the foundation … Continue reading Collegiate Recovery – from the Dawn Farm Education Series

I was perusing past year’s articles in Alcoholism Treatment Quarterly and came across these two: Achieving a 15% Relapse Rate: A Review of Collegiate Recovery and Physician Health Programs A Perspective from the Field: The Disconnect between Abstinence-Based Programs and the Use of Motivational Interviewing in Treating Substance Use Disorders Achieving a 15% relapse rate … Continue reading Should addiction treatment prefer abstinence?

I usually bristle at attempts to correct and manage other people’s well-meaning speech. However, this headline from the Washington Post grabbed me. It doesn’t take a warrior to beat cancer. It takes a treatment that works. How true this is for addiction, too. There is a treatment that delivers long term abstinence rates north of … Continue reading It takes a treatment that works.