The study of alcohol and other drugs (AOD) is historically marked by three stages:
1) the investigation of AOD-related social and personal pathologies,
2) the development of personal and social interventions aimed at resolving AOD problems, and
3) a focus on the prevalence and patterns of long-term recovery from AOD problems.
This essay honors this transition from addiction and treatment paradigms to a recovery paradigm by exploring the growing varieties of pathways and styles through which people are resolving serious and persistent AOD-related problems. A review of scientific and mutual aid literature is used to catalogue variations in:
• scope of recovery (primary and secondary chemical health and global health)
• depth of recovery (partial, full and enriched)
• types of recovery (abstinence-based, moderation-based, medication-assisted)
• context of recovery initiation (solo, peer-assisted, treatment-assisted)
• frameworks of recovery initiation (religious, spiritual, secular)
• temporal styles of recovery initiation (transformative change, incremental change, drift)
• recovery identity (positive, neutral, negative)
• recovery relationships (acultural, bicultural and enmeshed styles; virtual recovery)
• recovery stability/durability (At what point does present remission predict future remission?), and
• recovery termination (Is recovery ever completed?).
After exploring the wide diversity of recovery styles and experiences that exist within Twelve Step fellowships and other recovery mutual aid societies, the article explores the implications of the wide diversity in recovery experiences to the design and conduct of addiction treatment.
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