The 12-step program aims to help people attain abstinence from substance use disorders or make a behavioral change through peer support. This intervention provides a supportive social network and ...

For people struggling with opioid use, one recovery tool that’s been available for decades is Narcotics Anonymous (NA). This free program provides support in the form of regular group meetings and ...

In 2002, Dimitri M. was ready to die. He’d been addicted to heroin for over 20 years, and his once-promising artistic life had collapsed into a series of banal pit stops: from the methadone clinic, to ...

Hi readers! I'm back after a 2-month absence. I've been busy doing other things and taking some time off, but now I want to get back into this blog, starting pretty much where I left off. My last two ...

I found the 12 steps of addiction recovery in a way many addicts do: lost, desperate, broken, and looking for change. However, I wasn't drinking daily, using drugs, gambling or overeating. To most, I ...

“This is not an either/or dynamic—it’s both/and.” —Jamie Marich, Ph.D. Over the last two decades, it has become clear that a significant percentage of people who struggle with addiction to alcohol and ...

Twelve-step programs—with their clichéd language, frequent meetings and religious mien—are cults. So say many critics. But in fact, the traditions of AA, NA and the other As are intentionally ...

Jessica Gregg is medical director for substance use disorders at Central City Concern in Portland, Ore., and an associate professor of medicine at Oregon Health and Science University. Addiction has ...