This date has meaning for me
It was this date, February 21st, that I called my recovery date for a decade. On February 21st, 1996 I made a decision to discontinue the use of drugs and alcohol. During the decade that followed I achieved amazing success in my life in all areas. I made a decision to return to use in the fall of 2006 and because I had that decade plus of positive forward movement I was able to find my way back to recovery and discontinued the use of drugs and alcohol on March 25th, 2007.
I am writing this to speak loudly to a few things I am passionate about.
One......and it is one of my life mantras....."there is more than one way to get to, and, stay in recovery". If anyone tells you theirs IS THE way, don't believe it. It is a myth that there is one way to get to a life in recovery. Some use abstinent based, some use moderation; either can improve someones life and trajectory forward. Some use twelve step groups, some use religion; either can help a person to maintain their recovery. Some go to inpatient treatment, some don't go to any treatment and just stop using drugs and alcohol; both can be highly successful. The MYTH that there is one path has to die. I have my path and it works great for me. I might even dislike other pathways, yet, that doesn't give me the right to say your pathway is invalid.
Two....language matters....there is a massive amount of stigma attached to the entire field of substance use disorders. This is true both, for people with an active substance use disorder and for those in recovery. I made a decision several years ago to stop using all stigmatizing language to describe myself and others in this area. This has been a conscious and deliberate effort on my part after years of leading with stigmatizing terms. I lead with this in all of conversations in this arena "My name is David and I am a person in recovery, because of access to resources I haven't had to use drugs or alcohol since March 25, 2007". I don't lead with the words alcoholic or addict. Those words, to the average person, immediately put me in a negative light. I always lead with positive words about myself and my life. I believe that we, as people in recovery, have a responsibility to teach the general public about this health condition in a positive way. For too many years the drug war has painted this health condition as a criminal justice condition. It is not. There is a lot of positive forward movement across the nation to change the language in the field and it is encouraging.
Three....we have to change how we treat people with a substance use disorder......the vast majority of treatment centers are using the 1950's model of treatment called the Minnesota Model of Treatment. While this can be good for some, it does not work for all. The Minnesota Model of Treatment is based on teaching the twelve step model of recovery and using some cognitive behavioral therapy. There are other models, but, they are far and few in between the dominating Minnesota Model. We MUST look at other models and allow for change in how we treat people. What happens now is we treat someone using this model, hope for the best, and when it doesn't work, we blame the individual. We don't allow for a different type of treatment, we just say it is their fault. Imagine this scenario in any other health condition. Many treatment centers are saying they are giving individualized treatment, but, really they aren't. It is a one size fits all method. That has to change. We MUST allow for varying treatment models.
I am writing this to speak loudly to a few things I am passionate about.
One......and it is one of my life mantras....."there is more than one way to get to, and, stay in recovery". If anyone tells you theirs IS THE way, don't believe it. It is a myth that there is one way to get to a life in recovery. Some use abstinent based, some use moderation; either can improve someones life and trajectory forward. Some use twelve step groups, some use religion; either can help a person to maintain their recovery. Some go to inpatient treatment, some don't go to any treatment and just stop using drugs and alcohol; both can be highly successful. The MYTH that there is one path has to die. I have my path and it works great for me. I might even dislike other pathways, yet, that doesn't give me the right to say your pathway is invalid.
Two....language matters....there is a massive amount of stigma attached to the entire field of substance use disorders. This is true both, for people with an active substance use disorder and for those in recovery. I made a decision several years ago to stop using all stigmatizing language to describe myself and others in this area. This has been a conscious and deliberate effort on my part after years of leading with stigmatizing terms. I lead with this in all of conversations in this arena "My name is David and I am a person in recovery, because of access to resources I haven't had to use drugs or alcohol since March 25, 2007". I don't lead with the words alcoholic or addict. Those words, to the average person, immediately put me in a negative light. I always lead with positive words about myself and my life. I believe that we, as people in recovery, have a responsibility to teach the general public about this health condition in a positive way. For too many years the drug war has painted this health condition as a criminal justice condition. It is not. There is a lot of positive forward movement across the nation to change the language in the field and it is encouraging.
Three....we have to change how we treat people with a substance use disorder......the vast majority of treatment centers are using the 1950's model of treatment called the Minnesota Model of Treatment. While this can be good for some, it does not work for all. The Minnesota Model of Treatment is based on teaching the twelve step model of recovery and using some cognitive behavioral therapy. There are other models, but, they are far and few in between the dominating Minnesota Model. We MUST look at other models and allow for change in how we treat people. What happens now is we treat someone using this model, hope for the best, and when it doesn't work, we blame the individual. We don't allow for a different type of treatment, we just say it is their fault. Imagine this scenario in any other health condition. Many treatment centers are saying they are giving individualized treatment, but, really they aren't. It is a one size fits all method. That has to change. We MUST allow for varying treatment models.
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