Gradualism and Addiction Treatment
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Gradualism . . .
Seeks to utilize and integrate the best of the harm reduction, traditional, and scientific treatment approaches to create an effective and compassionate model for the treatment of drug and alcohol addictions;
Embraces the states of abstinence, moderation, or non-addictive use as the ultimate, if not necessarily the immediate, goal of the treatment process;
Understands that while some patients will make rapid and dramatic changes, others will need a slow process of change and healing;
Emphasizes that many patients need to work not only on their addictive behavior, but also on their psychological and emotional pain and anguish and that these issues may need to be addressed simultaneously or even first;
Celebrates the many wonderful recoveries that have come out of traditional and science-based treatment settings, while challenging these providers to work with active users in ways that will allow them to heal and change gradually;
Affirms the incredible connections and life-saving interventions that take place in harm reduction settings, while challenging harm reduction providers to embrace the ultimate goals of abstinence, moderation, or non-addictive use;
Understands that long-term recovery is built on the creation of meaningful and rewarding identities that will conflict with and replace those that are based on the addictive use of substances.
