As a society we should be embarrassed by how many of our citizens are in prison due to problems associated with untreated addiction. We have the highest incarceration rate of any country in the world with approximately 2.3 million people behind bars. If we add those on probation and parole the number jumps to almost… [Continue Reading]
Addiction Treatment System 14 Years Later
This past week The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University released a scathing report of our addiction treatment system: Addiction Medicine: Closing the Gap between Science and Practice. While the report says nothing new, it does a nice job of summarizing the fact that we have made little progress since the… [Continue Reading]
The Sanctuary Model
Dr. Sandra Bloom is a psychiatrist largely responsible for the creation of the Sanctuary Model, which is both a framework for treating trauma, as well as an organizational change model that integrates evidence-based trauma interventions with the benefits of therapeutic communities. The brilliance of this model is that it optimizes the safety and healing of all parties… [Continue Reading]
Sins and Needles Creativity Transforms Addiction
Ray Materson was a straight “A” student, President of his 6th grade class, and a youthful child looking ahead to a bright future. Then a combination of risk factors both in his family and school peer group, led Ray down a dangerous path where alcohol and drugs became his best friends. Before long, his drug-seeking behavior resulted in a twenty-five… [Continue Reading]