Topic: Pathways to Recovery
Posts about programs or groups that are successfully employing diverse pathways of recovery.
MAT: Overdose Prevention or Treatment Leading to Real Recovery?
Medication-assisted treatment is America's primary offering for those who are addicted. But implicit in the word “treatment” is recovery from an illness or other condition—as in "not suffering from that condition any longer." Is medication-assisted treatment really a recovery-oriented therapy? Or is its primary role preventing a person from relapse and overdose? These are questions those involved in addiction recovery should be asking.
INTERVIEW: Dr. Richard Amerling on the Use of Evidence-Based Medicine in Addiction Recovery
Dr. Amerling was recently featured on EpochTV discussing how the medical profession has been destroyed. In that feature, he said, "The model that we have adopted now is to not reverse the disease, but to rather treat those diseases with pharmaceutical products. Evidence-based medicine…says there is only one way to treat something, based on ‘guidelines’ that authorities turned into enforceable standards. If you don’t follow these guidelines, you’re not practicing standard of care anymore and you are an outlier and you are subject to censorship, deplatforming and delicensing. That’s one size fits all. Which everyone used to agree was the antithesis of good care.” CSDAP interviewed to Dr. Amerling to get his viewpoint on the use of medication-assisted treatment (MAT) in the field of addiction medicine. Regarding this topic, he commented, "Sole reliance on MAT drugs is a fig leaf. It doesn’t really solve a problem, it just creates a different problem."
Despite critics, is AA effective?
In March 2020, Stanford Medicine News Center released a report addressing that question. A Stanford researcher and two collaborators conducted an extensive review of AA studies. Their findings stated that the AA fellowship helps more people achieve sobriety than therapy does.
SAMHSA Announces New Recovery Office Leadership and Personnel
The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) is launching an Office of Recovery, within the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Mental Health and Substance Use, to advance the agency’s commitment to, and support of, recovery for all Americans. September marks National Recovery Month, and in organizing this new office, SAMHSA will now have a dedicated team with a deep understanding of recovery to promote policies, programs and services to those in or seeking recovery.
Training people to become certified recovery peer advocates
LaShondra Jones went through years of mental illness and alcohol addiction, and in her late 40s she was living in a women’s shelter in Brooklyn. Finally stable and sober, she needed work — any type of work — for which her history wouldn’t count against her. Jones Googled “free training in NYC” and learned that several area community colleges offered training for people to become certified recovery peer advocates for those coping with alcohol or drug addiction. Her experience, in this case, would be a big plus.
International Recovery Day is September 30th!
CSDAP supports Recovery Month and International Recovery Day, September 30th. These are annual observances dedicated to globally promoting all pathways to recovery from addiction and to educate the public about the value of recovery. We commend groups like Faces & Voices of Recovery (FAVOR) that put a lot of effort into promoting and celebrating these events.
Success with another road to sobriety: SMART
Dee MacLean first tried SMART Recovery when she was in the provincial addiction treatment centre in Mount Herbert in 2018. After three years of struggling with prescription opiate addiction, MacLean was ready to go to rehab. One of the programs she took part in was Self-Management and Recovery Training (SMART), an alternative to traditional groups like Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) and Narcotics Anonymous (NA).
Is In-Person Substance Abuse Treatment Is Better Than Online?
As the world become more connected through the Internet, online support groups are revolutionizing the addiction treatment space. Especially in light of the COVID-19 Pandemic, online support groups have become a vital part of telehealth and addiction treatment. For those in recovery, online support groups may be one of the few ways to maintain connection during the pandemic. The reason for the recent popularity of these groups is clear. There is a plethora of online support groups that offer people in recovery the opportunity to reach out and connect with others who are similarly seeking stability in their lives without drugs and alcohol. But are these online support groups effective at helping people become or stay sober? Will they eclipse traditional in-person treatment? Or will online support group eventually be relegated to a supporting role in addiction treatment and recovery?