art galleries or libraries, rather than inpatient treatment. Artists led the creation and delivery of most existing programs, which include music therapy, digital storytelling, performance art, yoga, capoeira, etc.
Finally, New Recovery starts with the assumption that the patient will collaborate, or at least be willing to engage in the process of recovery. But that is often the first roadblock during any kind of medical approach to recovery. “Clients can initially find the experience [of being in treatment] where the forthright inclination towards social inclusion can feel like a confrontation,” Winship said.
New Recovery is a modality used by clinicians to help patients who voluntarily engage in treatment. It focuses on consumer-led education; inspiring hope in relationships for peers and staff; challenging the role of the expert; patient empowerment; social inclusion; and strategies for improving life skills.
Winship noted in the research paper that New Recovery has been defined in the U.K. as a movement that has been shaping the field of mental health and that many people currently view New Recovery a fast-rising new paradigm or as opportunism built on charismatic leadership. But he emphasized how many of the key ideas of this concept actually come from philosophical or psychiatric notions from the 1940s, and that New Recovery is an idea that has been evolving since the early 1990s, being marked by a more individualistic approach of entrepreneurialism found in modern society.
In practice, it is likely that many people who go through addiction treatment will experience an overlap of the different approaches. But the value in having as much information as possible about the different kinds of treatment methods and recovery movements is similar to that of a family tree. Winship highlighted that family trees are vital roots in the present, that allows for people to also plan for the future. Similarly, the history of addiction recovery within treatment facilities allows for people to consider the present enthusiasm for New Recovery against other recovery movements.
Winship stated that “by comparing and organizing different recovery modalities, it is possible to consider the best fit between client and modality.”
Author: Livia Areas-Holmblad
Livia Holmblad is an editor at Addiction Now and covers breaking news, features and everything in between. She moved to SoCal after living in NYC for about 10 years, where she worked for VICE and SinoVision as a writer, editor, host, producer, and director. Born and raised in Rio de Janeiro. Contact Livia at liviah@addictionnow.com
