The amount of human suffering, individual and familial, associated with alcohol use disorders and other drug-related use disorders is enormous. The extent of the suffering associated with addiction is sadly confirmed in recent reports that indicate a significant increase in mortality among middle-age White women, primarily attributed to death resulting from alcohol use, liver disease, and suicide. The challenge of addressing treatment, recovery, and research issues associated with substance use disorders is ongoing. There is hope in the midst of many challenges, a hope that is captured in the articles in this issue of the Alcoholism Treatment Quarterly.
Post and his colleagues examine the importance of humility as an essential component of the recovery process and provide deeper understanding of the virtue of humility and relating it to its broader theological dimensions. Parkman and Lloyd analyze the importance of balance in structured day treatment for substance use disorders in the United Kingdom. They attribute attendance as an important factor in substantial improvement. They also show that overintensive nonresidential programs can be lessened in their effectiveness by being overstructured and micromanaged. Recovery capital is important in a sustained recovery process, and Callahan and her colleagues see the need to reduce economic disparities, through an appropriate wage structure for female offenders experiencing substance use disorders. An appreciation of the value of Alcoholics Anonymous and other 12-Step programs in an important tool for counselors in the addiction field. Best and his coauthors, in an Australian study, show the effectiveness of training and improving counselor referrals to AA and other 12-Step programs. Stone and her colleagues examine the role of ego networks from studies of recovery from substance use disorders. In a Swedish study, Wenneberg and coauthors seek to predict the effect of risk-taking behavior on the process of recovery in patients who are socially stable and alcohol dependent. The role of peer support specialists in treatment, transitioning, and recovery management is examined by Pantridge and her colleagues as these specialists provide emotional, institutional, instrumental, and affiliational support for the treatment and recovery processes.
The Perspectives section, in a study by Carroll and his colleagues in the Veterans Administration system, discusses the qualities of treatment which promote recovery in that system. Bill White remembers his colleague and friend Ernie Kurtz in a touching remembrance of the contributions that Ernie has made to our field.
This editorial began with an emphasis on the ongoing challenges associated with treatment and recovery in our field. The articles in this issue provide a realistic sense of hope as we address the suffering of individuals and families experiencing substance use disorders. As always, I am grateful to the authors who contributed to this issue and to you, the readers, who support the work of the journal.