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Strengthening Behavioral Health Through Peer Services: Advancing Recovery Across the Continuum of Care
Recovery from addiction is often strengthened through connection with others who have lived experience. Across New York State, peer professionals - individuals with lived recovery experience - are playing an increasingly important role in behavioral health services. Through strategic policy...
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Substance Use Disorders: Supporting Individuals in Early Recovery Through Peer-Led Services
The first days and weeks of recovery from a substance use disorder are among the most precarious in any individual’s health journey. Detoxification has been completed, the immediate crisis has passed, and now the real work begins: rebuilding a life without substances. Yet this is precisely when...
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The Power of Peer Support: Walking Alongside Someone Towards Recovery
I remember the nights I’d cry, looking in the mirror, not recognizing the girl I was looking at. I wanted and needed a way out. With so much shame and stigma around substance use and mental health, I did not know how to ask for help. The process of calling detoxes and getting certain documents...
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NIH Researchers Discover Pain-Relieving Drug with Minimal Addictive Properties
Positive safety profile of novel drug compound is surprise for class of synthetic opioids shelved years ago. Researchers at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) have identified a novel, highly potent opioid that shows potential as a therapy for both pain and opioid use disorder. In a study...
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Recovery Works When Coverage Does: The Lifesaving Impact of Medicare’s IOP Expansion
Closing a Critical Coverage Gap in Medicare In 2024, following stalwart efforts by Congress, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, providers, advocacy organizations, and directly-impacted communities alike, Medicare closed a gap in its addiction treatment coverage by adding a benefit...
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The Hidden Face of Methamphetamine Addiction: Why We Need to Talk About America’s Silent Crisis
Methamphetamine addiction doesn’t discriminate. It reaches into suburban homes and rural communities with equal devastation, yet it remains one of the least understood and most stigmatized forms of substance use disorder in America today. While opioids have dominated national headlines and...
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Addiction, Treatment, and the Evolution of Therapeutic Communities: The Legacy of Dr. David A. Deitch
David A. Deitch, PhD, is one of the most influential figures in the modern history of addiction treatment. A clinical and social psychologist, he currently holds the title of Emeritus Professor of Clinical Psychiatry at the University of California, San Diego, where he founded the Center for...
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Relapse Is Part of Recovery, Shame Shouldn’t Be: What I Wish More Families Understood
When someone returns to treatment after a relapse, it’s often with a heavy heart. They walk through our doors carrying the weight of shame, disappointment, and fear of judgment, not just from others, but from themselves. Families often ask, “what went wrong,” and wonder why their loved one...
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The Connection Between Tobacco, Depression, and Anxiety
Despite decades of public health efforts, tobacco use remains a persistent public health issue, especially for individuals experiencing depression and anxiety. These two common mental health conditions are closely linked to tobacco use, both in terms of higher smoking prevalence and the emotional...
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Reframing Residential Treatment: Preventing Family Separation and Supporting Women with Substance Use Disorders
According to the 2023 National Survey on Drug Use and Health, 70.5 million people used illicit drugs in the past year, and 48.5 million of them met the criteria for a substance use disorder (SUD). In 2022, 32.6 million women reported illicit drug use, and while men have historically shown higher...
