Editor Dan Schimmel, LCSW, CAPCreated On March 3rd, 2017 It’s a well-established fact that Alcoholics Anonymous (AA), and many other twelve-step programs based on AA, are successful. Otherwise, there wouldn’t be over 2 million AA members worldwide. Joining is free and as simple as showing up. It’s a wonderful program for recovering alcoholics, and it’s…
Recovery After the Pandemic by William L. White, M.A. Emeritus Research Consultant Chestnut Health Systemsbwhite@chestnut.org Citation: White, W. (2020). Recovery after the pandemic. Posted at www.williamwhitepapers.com The novel coronavirus pandemic will exert profound effects on the future of addiction treatment and recovery. Predicting such effects risks casting one more a fool than prophet, but those concerned…
by Lena BorrelliJuly 24, 2020DecisionData.org More than 67,300 Americans died from drug overdoses in 2018. Nearly 70% of those deaths involved addictive use of opioids. Fighting drug addiction is usually accomplished through a process of rehabilitation that involves sobriety, relearning life skills and highlighting awareness to understand what triggered the abuse and how to avoid…
by Bill White One of my favorite authors is Dr. Oliver Sacks, the famed clinical neurologist and author of such works as The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat, Awakenings, and Seeing Voices. Two of Sacks books (Hallucinations and On the Move) and a Sacks biography (And How Are You, Dr. Sacks by Lawrence Weschler) recount Sacks early…
By Scott Gleeson July 1, 2020 In our newfound world of physical distancing, the idea of six to eight people in a confined space might feel counterintuitive to the six-feet-apart mission we still find ourselves trekking in wake of the coronavirus pandemic. Yet the power of a group is exactly what could provide a profound…
By Bill White At the very heart of addiction lies the search for power, control, comfort, relief, and pleasure. At first, the drug is a secret superpower that heals, emboldens, and frees us, but as it feeds on us, it becomes stronger and we become progressively weaker. In the end, we worship the drug at…
By Matt Richtel It began as a stopgap way to get through the pandemic, but both participants and providers say virtual sessions have some clear advantages and will likely become a permanent part of recover Until the coronavirus pandemic, their meetings took place quietly, every day, discreet gatherings in the basements of churches, a…
By Bill White The problems men and women of the U.S. military experience upon re-entry to civilian life receive considerable research and media attention. Far less common is information on their resilience to and recovery from such challenges. It is in that context that a landmark study has just been published on the prevalence of…
Supporting Those Left Behind By Bill WhiteCitation: White, W. & Stauffer, B. (2020)Posted at www.williamwhitepapers.com Recent essays predicted the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the future of addiction recovery and celebrated the resilience of communities of recovery as they transitioned from face-to-face to online recovery support meetings. This brief article calls attention to those…