So this is it, the 100th post on this Blog. Not quite my 100th, since Lucie and Kevin posted some material whilst I was on holiday, but all the same I feel chuffed.
For regular readers, you will know that my colleagues and I at Wired In are committed to radically altering the way that society helps people overcome serious substance use problems. We are strong recovery advocates. We aim to show people affected by serious substance use problems and addiction how others have found their path to recovery. We want to help create a society that is more understanding of addiction and provides a better environment for individuals and families trying to find recovery.
I would like to use three quotes in this 100th posting, quotes that have influenced the way that I think about this field. The first two quotes are from the Tom Peters book, 'Re-imagine!', a book that has nothing to do with substance use problems.
'Some people look for things that went wrong and try to fix them. I look for things that went right and try to build on them.' Bob Stone
'Find Heroes. Do Demos. Tell Stories'
The final quote is one I have used before, from 'Slaying the Dragon: The History of Addiction Treatment and Recovery in America' by William L. White.
'In the future, this locus will be shifted from the institution to the community itself. Treatment will be something that happens in indigenous networks of recovering people that exist within the broader community. The shift will be from the emotional and cognitive processes of the client to the client’s relationships in a social environment. With this shift will come an expansion of the role of clinician to encompass skills in community organization. Such a transition does not deny the importance of the reconstruction of personal identity and other cognitive and emotional processes – or of the physical; processes of healing – in addiction recovery. But it does recognize that such processes unfold within a social ecosystem and that this ecosystem, as much as the risk and resiliency factors in the individual, tips the scales toward recovery or continued self-destruction.'
3 comments:
Congratulations to you and your team David, on your 'birthday'.
I loved the quotes, especially what I consider to be a particularly significant line in Bill White's quote:
"the reconstruction of personal identity and other cognitive and emotional processesor of the physical; processes of healing –
The first five words are part of what I consider to be the grossly misunderstood and neglected, spiritual and essential dimension of the process of recovery, or what the 12 step fellowships refer to as a 'spiritual experience', which among other things includes a fundamental change in outlook and attitude towards life. A gradual change in personality if you will.
I found myself wondering if it was simple coincidence that both White, and the co-founder of AA share the same initials.
Peter,
Change in identity is so important, also discussed by McKeganey in his Beating the Dragon book, Biernarki in his seminal research on recovery without treatmnet, and others.
Thanks for congratulations! It's so nice to be appreciated.
DC
Congratulations David. Loved the Bob Stone quote. The work you are doing is a very good illustration of his statement. This site has become an essential part of our work and helps to support good practice that helps so many people
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