COALITION FOR ADDICTION RECOVERY CHOICES

What is “recovery” from addiction? It affects millions of people in the UK, but most cannot answer the question.

“People in recovery and those who have power over their lives have a right to be consulted about how recovery is perceived,” urged Addiction Recovery Foundation CEO Deirdre Boyd, who is also editor of Addiction Today journal.

“This is not as simplistic as whether they are alcohol- and drug-free but also whether the underlying reasons have been addressed adequately so that they stay healthy, rebuild healthy family and other relationships – for example, how can an employer or potential employer assess if they can be trusted with sensitive jobs? When is an impaired lawyer ‘recovered enough’ to get their licence back? – right through to gaining the right to fill in a mortgage-application form truthfully without being penalised, to get health and life insurance cover without being penalised, to be accepted by their GP, to be reinstated at university.  All the people involved have different views on what recovery is – and they are not all accurate or helpful.”

“For people affected by addiction to receive better treatment, ongoing support and assistance with reintegration into society, it is vital that the recovering community, treatment providers, healthcare and insurance services, educational bodies, commercial organisations and government work together in order to improve the lives of both addicts and their families,” confirmed The Recovery Network CEO Dan Butcher. “Improvements can be achieved only with continued dialogue and input between these key organisations and groups.”

The unanswered questions are why representatives from a range of stakeholders – including the Addiction Recovery Foundation, The Recovery Network and the Unity Group – have called for a consensus-driven, open dialogue to evolve common language about the continuum of recovery, and what recovery means to those whose work decisions, family members or lives are connected to it.

These stakeholders – too long neglected in this crucial issue – range from people in recovery themselves to insurance actuaries to business HR departments to the DVLA to university admissions departments to treatment providers and commissioners as well as healthcare professionals. Just as their needs are different, so is their understanding and application of “ recovery”. No one definition can fill the needs of all; but a common language could enable flexible, efficient practices to better address the needs of all stakeholders.

“It is high time that drug- and alcohol-treatment providers started communicating more with each other – and educating non-professionals – to benefit the client,” commented Brian Dudley, chair of the Unity group of multi-approach treatment organisations, and CEO of Broadway Lodge, the UK’s longest-established abstinence-based addiction-treatment centre. “Within this specialist treatment field, addictive illness is understood, even if we do not always agree on the different types of treatment. But outside the field, preconceived ideas dominate: education is needed.”

All stakeholders must be involved in creating a new lexicon. The Foundation has long campaigned for this. Now, as part of the Coalition for Addiction Choices group, it and others will start at the UKESAD symposium 8-10 May, to reach out to as more stakeholders for thoughts and feedback on how best to effect this process.

If you have an interest in participating, please click here.

Click here for the Addiction Recovery Foundation’s details.

Click here for The Recovery Network’s details.   

Click here for Unity Group details (to be updated).    

Click here for UKESAD details.     

Click here for Advocacy with Anonymity.

Comments

[Norman G Hoffmann PhD]

“This is not as simplistic as whether they are alcohol- and drug-free but also whether the underlying reasons have been addressed adequately so that they stay healthy, rebuild healthy family and other relationships.

I think we need to be careful of wording. The above suggests that addictions are caused by "underlying reasons" rather than being considered as primary conditions.

In my opinion, a better wording would be "...also whether additional factors have been addressed that might interfere with becoming truly healthy, rebuilding healthy family and other relationships."

Perhaps I am overly sensitive to this issue, but my experience on government accreditation panels was a repeated struggle with professionals who felt that addictions were simply the product of learned behaviors and could be "unlearned" or addressed with programs that did not acknowledge the biological aspects of the conditions or the primary nature of alcohol or other drug dependence.

Mark Twain was reported to have said that the difference between the right word and the wrong word is the difference between lightning and lightning bug. Words matter if we are to both enlighten and convince.

Norman G. Hoffmann, Ph.D.
Adjunct Professor, Western Carolina University &
President, Evince Clinical Assessments

[Dr Bob Lynn]

This is a slippery slope , no doubt. The major stumbling block in moving forward is that providers of treatment often define recovery based on their internal program goals. It may be somewhat simplistic to say that recovery is an individual issue driven by diagnosis. The question, I believe, is recovery from what? Recovery from drug dependence will mean something very different than from abuse , misuse , substance-induced diagnosis, family dysfunction, self medication of a psychiatric issue , co-occurring disorders or more likely a combination of the above.We always find ourselves in trouble when trying to paint all users with one broad brush either from a treatment perspective or recovery one. It may not be so much a severity continuum but rather discrete diagnosis that we need to examine each possibly having a discrete severity continuum.

With this said, I believe that it is also important that we sort out recovery from abstinence as we know they don't always go together. The apparent need for comprehensive assessment based on common clinical language is needed more than ever . I am calling for a level playing field where we can discuss these issues from the perspective of client need and clear outcome based treatment. Is not recovery an outcome based on individual client mix? If we don't know the diagnosis based on the particular issues that a client presents with can we speak of recovery for that individual?

Just some thoughts for your consideration

Dr Bob Lynn
Director of Addictions - Center for Family Community and Social Justice
Professor of Clinical Counseling at Fairleigh Dickinson University
Lecturer for Rutgers School of Alcohol Studies
Clinical Supervisor for the Camden Family Intervention and Empowerment Program
Clinical Supervisor for the Counseling Group and Family Institute

[drug rehabs]

There are many people who are indulged in drug addiction. Many of these addicted people try hard to leave taking drugs but it becomes impossible for them to leave the drugs of their own. Drug rehab centers provide many treatment methodologies for addiction treatment. Intervention programs is one of the most successful treatment methodologies.
http://www.drugrehabscenters.com/