12 step meetings?
- By Misc Author
- Published 06/1/2009
By Raymond Smith
Been reading this the last few nights:
Assessment and Treatment of Patients With Coexisting Mental Illness and Alcohol and Other Drug Abuse (Treatment Improvement Protocol Serire, Vol 9) (Paperback) by Richard Ries
I wrote a review for Amazon, it's awaiting approval:
12 step meetings?, May 28, 2009
By Raymond Smith (Asheville, NC United States) - See all my reviews
"There are few situations that are as safe, supportive, and predictable and less demanding than the average 12-step group meeting." (page 50)
I stopped when I hit page 50. This is quite possibly the worst and most misleading statement I have read in any book on mental health.
Anyone who works with people who have co-existing disorders SHOULD know that 12 step groups are NOT safe for people with mental illnesses.
People with mental illnesses are often shunned when their illness become known through disclosure or when they become symptomatic. There is a large and vocal anti-medication, anti-therapy faction that exists within the rooms, one that tells members they are not "really sober" if they take medications.
AA has the highest mortality rate of any of the accepted alcoholism treatment approaches, at least in part due to people throwing away their medication on the advice of the senior members' advice.
While there are good people in the rooms, there are also predators and people with mental illnesses are often easy marks. I worked for a dual diagnosis program where every client had unsuccessfully attended 12 step treatment and meetings, every one of them had their own AA horror stories.
Sending someone to 12 step meetings are easier than working with them on their substance abuse issues; easy is not good practice.
Professionals who promote 12 step groups need to stop believing the PR about 12 step meetings and actually attend a few, anonymously. The downtown or clubhouse meetings that their clients would end up attending.
Been reading this the last few nights:
Assessment and Treatment of Patients With Coexisting Mental Illness and Alcohol and Other Drug Abuse (Treatment Improvement Protocol Serire, Vol 9) (Paperback) by Richard Ries
I wrote a review for Amazon, it's awaiting approval:
12 step meetings?, May 28, 2009
By Raymond Smith (Asheville, NC United States) - See all my reviews
"There are few situations that are as safe, supportive, and predictable and less demanding than the average 12-step group meeting." (page 50)
I stopped when I hit page 50. This is quite possibly the worst and most misleading statement I have read in any book on mental health.
Anyone who works with people who have co-existing disorders SHOULD know that 12 step groups are NOT safe for people with mental illnesses.
People with mental illnesses are often shunned when their illness become known through disclosure or when they become symptomatic. There is a large and vocal anti-medication, anti-therapy faction that exists within the rooms, one that tells members they are not "really sober" if they take medications.
AA has the highest mortality rate of any of the accepted alcoholism treatment approaches, at least in part due to people throwing away their medication on the advice of the senior members' advice.
While there are good people in the rooms, there are also predators and people with mental illnesses are often easy marks. I worked for a dual diagnosis program where every client had unsuccessfully attended 12 step treatment and meetings, every one of them had their own AA horror stories.
Sending someone to 12 step meetings are easier than working with them on their substance abuse issues; easy is not good practice.
Professionals who promote 12 step groups need to stop believing the PR about 12 step meetings and actually attend a few, anonymously. The downtown or clubhouse meetings that their clients would end up attending.
