The power of kindness treating addiction

I received a link to an article this morning from a friend – the article was written by someone who has worked in the substance rehab field for a long time in practically every capacity. The article reminded me of my journey in this field. It re-connected me to the beginning when I was full of energy to learn as much as possible about the treatment of addiction. I was taught to appreciate the power of kindness treating addiction.

I learned early on that treatment is about the future, change, health, and a form of empowerment much more than about the past, what happened in the past and how much someone used of a particular drug or what kind of drug they used. At some point recovery is the same for everyone who’s suffered from addiction.

The article is basically about the power of kindness treating addiction, but it’s also about how information is presented to the clients. Here is an excerpt:

The warmth and kindness shown by therapists, family members and others will go a long way in aiding their journey toward sobriety. Addicts want to feel accepted, not shunned and made to feel like a bad person. They also want concrete goals they can achieve in recovery so they can gain an understanding of how they’re progressing and how far they’ve come. I know from personal experience that a little kindness and straightforwardness eases a patient’s journey through rehab. The collective goal should be a full recovery and return to normal, everyday life following treatment. Negativity, indifference and secretiveness do not help anyone and only serve to make recovery more unpleasant.

I totally agree. I’ve seen many styles of counseling and many forms of treatment, but the best results have come from kindness, empathy, honesty, knowledge and clarity. When a person is in treatment, the fear of the unknown is sometimes overwhelming. When the client is fully informed what’s going to happen in treatment, what is happening and what will be recommended long term for recovery management, they begin to believe that there’s a solution.

The client gets to a point that they accept their responsibility to manage their recovery – this is empowering. While it’s true that addiction is a chronic, relapsing brain disease, it is also treatable, and recovery is possible. The paradox is that the addict has to accept they are powerless over their drug of choice (in other words, they can’t just overcome addiction and use drugs normally by willing the addiction away), the answer is finding the power to recover. Treatment is about searching for that power.