Rosalie Genova - A Cure For Addiction

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Reviews

Review of Liquid Handcuffs: Policing and Punishment in Methadone Clinics and the Future of Opioid Addiction Treatment

So we have an old, unprofitable medication and a newer "blockbuster drug." Can you guess who's ended up on which one?

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Reviews

Review of Trial By Treatment: Punishing Illness in an Age of Criminal Legal Reform

If you're looking for a good celebration today, here's "250 Years of Resistance," recorded last night at the National Public Housing Museum. Bring a notebook and a cup of coffee. On to today's post... Trial By Treatment: Punishing Illness in an Age

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Insurance

My Provider Experience Reviewed: Private Insurers vs. Medicaid

My earlier post on retaining accessible providers in the addiction field mentioned insurance as a primary problem. That is, dealing with insurance companies is so burdensome and unpredictable that at this point many providers only take private pay– which places their care out of reach for most patients. I wrote

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Depth Recovery and "Things I Must Earn"

Last weekend I attended a fantastic workshop introducing "Depth Recovery," an approach developed by presenter Corey Gamberg, LADC. Gamberg shared his lived experience with addiction and recovery and, like me, has been working in treatment for a long time. Unlike me, Gamberg also has credentials in Jungian psychotherapy,

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Reader Requests

The Factor of Shame

📋This topic was requested on my anonymous reader survey, which is still open. I'd love to hear from you, subscriber or not! 5-Question Survey Shame is the air we breathe in addiction treatment. It suffuses what is said, which words are used to say it, and especially

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I Have a Brain Disease. It's Very Straightforward.

Typically I do not share much about my personal life. But I have one story that feels too apropos not to tell. It's about my high-stakes but totally straightforward experience of "brain disease." The model for understanding addiction that currently dominates policy discourse is a

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Reader Requests

Mother's Day Edition: "The Molecules Are Outstripping Our Categories"+ Honoring Marlene McNeill

🙏This topic was suggested by Noel Genova, PA-C. Do you have a question or topic to suggest? Use the Contact button above. My mom is a veteran physician assistant in internal medicine. She has worked with many patients with addictions, introduced me to tarot when I was a teen,

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Reader Requests

Residential Addiction Treatment: Who, How, Why

🙏This topic was suggested by Miranda DeNovo. Do you have a question or topic to suggest? Use the Contact button above. Addiction treatment is highly segregated by socioeconomic status– perhaps more so than any other type of health care. And one aspect of treatment in which class segregation is particularly

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Working

Retention In The Addiction Treatment Workforce

This is the third and (for now) final post in an impromptu series about working in addiction treatment. The first and second posts were on what I love about this job. This week we're looking at retention: why so many front-line workers leave the field, and what

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Reader Requests

What I Love About This Job, Part II + Fraud in Kentucky

Why work in addiction treatment, with all its systemic problems? Part I of my answer was "Five And A Half Things I Love About This Job", and this is an addendum by request. I will address retention (keeping people in the field) more specifically next time. If you&

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Weight Loss Pseudoscience Takes A Page From Addiction Treatment

The weight loss industry, like the addiction treatment industry, is prone to overselling its treatments. But right now the weight loss business is seeing a major shake-up. Ozempic, Wegovy, etc.– we're talking about GLP-1 agonists or semaglutides that were initially developed for Type 2 diabetes but

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Working

Five and a Half Things I Love About This Job

Wait– three posts in three weeks? Are we back to curing addiction every Saturday? Let's say mostly, or hopefully. Thanks for rolling with it. I recognize that this newsletter, along with most of my writing and teaching content, has a critical and somtimes angry tone. One attendee of