Goals of addiction treatment
I continue to explore new approaches to the treatment of addiction disorders. As a certified addiction counselor, I am acutely aware the success rate of addiction treatment programs, including 12-step programs, is still much lower than desirable.
Listening to weekly podcasts such as “On Being” is one piece of my commitment to exploring new approaches to a variety of treatment issues including the treatment of addiction. The October 19, 2017 On Being podcast features a conversation entitled “The Psychology of Self-Righteousness” between the host Krista Tippett and Dr. Jonathan Haidt. Dr. Haidt is “the Thomas Cooley Professor of Ethical Leadership at New York University Stern School of Business. He is the author of The Righteous Mind: Why Good People Are Divided by Politics and Religion.
I could quote and discuss his observations and the results of his studies for many pages, but I want to focus on one concept he posited because I think it says a lot about building community and, thus, about some of the factors which are going to allow more addicts to join or rejoin the larger community.
Dr. Haidt states: “But one of the clearest differences between left and right, psychologically, is that the left is generally universalist, almost to a fault, and the right is parochial, often to a fault…. As my mother said about my grandfather, who was a labor organizer, ‘He loved humanity so much that he didn’t really have much time to care for his family.’”
One of the reasons that addiction is so destructive is it forces one to be self-centered. It demands to be more important than core values, family members, jobs, and the larger community. Recovery can demand the same level of devotion. One may attend a residential treatment program for a minimum of 30 days and then be advised to attend 12 step or other meetings daily, talk to a sponsor daily, share responsibility for a home group, and help others who are seeking recovery. Many family members complain or observe the recovering addict is so busy helping the larger recovering community they do not have time for their family. They are essentially what Dr. Haidt calls universalists. Those who have adopted this approach to recovery would state that a significant part of what keeps them in recovery is helping others stay in recovery. When recovering addicts quit working their program and helping other addicts they often end up relapsing. When recovering addicts leave residential treatment programs and rejoin their families or live on their own they often relapse.
Perhaps what Dr. Haidt is suggesting in terms of liberals and conservatives (left and right) holds true for the recovery person versus the active addict. The active addict is more parochial. The recovering addict is more universalist. While it may be true that the recovering addict is a more desirable community member who is doing good deeds and not committing criminal acts, he or she may not be a much better family members or friend than the active addict.
We professionals who are designing and implementing treatment program for addicts may need to rethink some aspects of the intended and unintended results of current approaches to addiction treatment. Is it, for example, our intention to build a recovery community or to connect/reconnect those in recovery to their family, employers or others in the larger community? Are these necessarily mutually exclusive goals? Can one find a balance between the two?
I will look forward to thoughts from readers about designing and implementing addiction treatment programs.
Written October 25, 2017
I continue to explore new approaches to the treatment of addiction disorders. As a certified addiction counselor, I am acutely aware the success rate of addiction treatment programs, including 12-step programs, is still much lower than desirable.
Listening to weekly podcasts such as “On Being” is one piece of my commitment to exploring new approaches to a variety of treatment issues including the treatment of addiction. The October 19, 2017 On Being podcast features a conversation entitled “The Psychology of Self-Righteousness” between the host Krista Tippett and Dr. Jonathan Haidt. Dr. Haidt is “the Thomas Cooley Professor of Ethical Leadership at New York University Stern School of Business. He is the author of The Righteous Mind: Why Good People Are Divided by Politics and Religion.
I could quote and discuss his observations and the results of his studies for many pages, but I want to focus on one concept he posited because I think it says a lot about building community and, thus, about some of the factors which are going to allow more addicts to join or rejoin the larger community.
Dr. Haidt states: “But one of the clearest differences between left and right, psychologically, is that the left is generally universalist, almost to a fault, and the right is parochial, often to a fault…. As my mother said about my grandfather, who was a labor organizer, ‘He loved humanity so much that he didn’t really have much time to care for his family.’”
One of the reasons that addiction is so destructive is it forces one to be self-centered. It demands to be more important than core values, family members, jobs, and the larger community. Recovery can demand the same level of devotion. One may attend a residential treatment program for a minimum of 30 days and then be advised to attend 12 step or other meetings daily, talk to a sponsor daily, share responsibility for a home group, and help others who are seeking recovery. Many family members complain or observe the recovering addict is so busy helping the larger recovering community they do not have time for their family. They are essentially what Dr. Haidt calls universalists. Those who have adopted this approach to recovery would state that a significant part of what keeps them in recovery is helping others stay in recovery. When recovering addicts quit working their program and helping other addicts they often end up relapsing. When recovering addicts leave residential treatment programs and rejoin their families or live on their own they often relapse.
Perhaps what Dr. Haidt is suggesting in terms of liberals and conservatives (left and right) holds true for the recovery person versus the active addict. The active addict is more parochial. The recovering addict is more universalist. While it may be true that the recovering addict is a more desirable community member who is doing good deeds and not committing criminal acts, he or she may not be a much better family members or friend than the active addict.
We professionals who are designing and implementing treatment program for addicts may need to rethink some aspects of the intended and unintended results of current approaches to addiction treatment. Is it, for example, our intention to build a recovery community or to connect/reconnect those in recovery to their family, employers or others in the larger community? Are these necessarily mutually exclusive goals? Can one find a balance between the two?
I will look forward to thoughts from readers about designing and implementing addiction treatment programs.
Written October 25, 2017
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