Back in 1944, Alcoholics Anonymous co-founder Bill Wilson observed that “the roads to recovery are many.” Today, that holds true more than ever, which is good news if you’re looking to stay clean and sober.

You can now find self-help groups that cater to all backgrounds and walks of life – Native Americans, Hispanics, black men, gay and lesbians – and beliefs – non-secular, Christian, Jewish, Muslim.

“There are not just 12 Step programs anymore,” says Pat Taylor, executive director of Faces & Voices of Recovery. “Part of what we’re all about is getting people to speak out about all the various pathways to recovery. If one doesn’t work, another is available. People need to understand there are new opportunities. Recovery needs to be tailored to each person’s particular circumstance.”

Among the widening options:

Peer-to-peer counseling at recovery community centers, such as the ones established by the Connecticut Community for Addiction Recovery (CCAR). CCAR turns recovery veterans into teachers. Former alcoholics and addicts are required to attend 6 ½ hours of classes that cover everything from conflict resolution and confidentiality to ethics and referral services. A newcomer to CCAR’s service gets a recovery check-up call from a coach once a week for 12 weeks.

Medications are increasingly being prescribed in recovery, especially for severe alcohol and drug dependence. While new drugs keep popping up on the market – Naltrexone and Acamprosate for alcohol dependence and Clonidine and Buprenorphine for opiate dependence – medication-assisted recovery has its critics. Of the estimated 900,000 narcotic addicts in the United States, nearly 179,000 of them are enrolled in methadone maintenance treatment. Despite evidence that the treatments curb addiction and reduce instances of HIV and criminal activity, the social stigma of using one drug to beat another leaves many in methadone-assisted recovery hiding their treatment.

Non-religious groups are emerging for those who want to recover without invoking a higher power. LifeRing Secular Recovery, a California-based nonprofit, bills itself as the anti-12 Step approach. The group’s meetings encourage give-and-take dialogue with no religious overtones, as opposed to the Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) practice of uninterrupted monologue.

Sober dorms and free substance abuse counseling for young adults, an increasingly common sight on college campuses. Texas Tech University in Lubbock, Tex., even has a Center for the Study of Addiction Recovery, which provides tutoring, peer mentoring and financial assistance to former addicts who maintain sobriety and a certain grade-point average. The center not only offers on-campus 12-Step meetings, but a substance abuse studies minor and a scholarship program to pursue a master’s degree or doctorate in chemical dependency counseling.

Recovery houses that provide safe havens to maintain sobriety. Oxford House, a network of group homes founded in 1975 in Maryland, currently has more than 10,000 people living in 1,123 houses across the country, Canada and Australia. Unlike halfway houses that have onsite counselors who enforce strict rules, Oxford residents govern themselves and help cover the bills. On average, the length of stay is about a year. Researchers from DePaul University reported last year that Oxford House residents have lower relapse rates. “It’s common sense,” says Paul Molloy, Oxford House’s founder and a recovering alcoholic. “If you’re living in a protected environment, you’re more apt to stay clean and sober. Residents have to vote in any new people, so you don’t drink because you don’t want to disappoint the person you just voted in.”

Natural or self-initiated change. Despite all the choices, the majority of those overcoming alcohol addictions — people with shorter-term and less severe addictions, higher incomes and stable families and jobs — never go through any type of treatment or recovery support program. For example, in a given year, only 12 percent of people with alcohol dependency will seek any kind of care and most will go to AA, even if it’s just for a short time. “The vast majority of AA members only go for a few months,” says Mark Willenbring, director of the Treatment and Recovery Research Division on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism in Bethesda, Md. “That’s not necessarily a bad thing. It turns out in studies that have looked at this that people will continue to use things they’ve learned in those months or years later. … They learn a lot, come to terms with the fact they are alcohol dependent and can’t drink again. They figure out how to make it work in their life and they make adjustments.”

Access to Recovery. For the first time, the federal government is giving recovering addicts who receive financial assistance a choice in seeking help with this unusual voucher system. Now in its second year, the $100 million, three-year grant program serves nearly 50,000 people in 14 states and one tribal organization, awarding vouchers based on need, whether it’s 30 days of residential treatment, three months in a halfway house, finding a job, going back to school or just getting a ride. “When you ask someone struggling with addiction what is important to them, they don’t say, ‘I need treatment,’ or ‘this program,’” says Charles Curie, administrator of the Substance Abuse & Mental Health Services Administration, which oversees the program. “They immediately begin talking about what they want in life: a job, a home, a date on the weekend – it’s those things in life that people need to sustain recovery. When people stop using and begin realizing these goals in their life, recovery is sustained.”

(Jodi Mailander Farrell is a reporter for the Miami Herald.)
 

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