Addiction Treatment Professionals Are Not the Gatekeepers of Recovery

Abstract

Addiction treatment is beneficial to many individuals who have substance use disorders. However, only a minority of individuals who recover from addiction receive it. Despite this, addiction treatment is sometimes granted the status of the “gatekeeper of recovery.” The myth that treatment is necessary for recovery has no empirical support. It also undermines the confidence of individuals in their ability to change on their own and is unduly dismissive of the efforts of nonprofessional helpers.

Keywords:

• addiction treatment
• professionalism
• mutual-help groups
• natural recovery
• pastoral counselling

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Keith Humphreys

Keith Humphreys, Ph.D., United States, is a Career Research Scientist in the US Veterans Health Administration and a Professor of Psychiatry and Director of Mental Health Policy at Stanford University. His research, clinical and public policy work focuses on substance misuse and its concomitants. He has been extensively involved in the formation of public policy in the United States and the United Kingdom, and was a volunteer in the international humanitarian effort to rebuild the mental health system of Iraq.