On Becoming Oriented to Inpatient Addiction Treatment: Inducting New Patients and Professionals to the Recovery Movement

Abstract

Professionals starting on a rehabilitation unit must join the unit culture, learning to work side by side with addiction counselors who are often "in recovery." They then face the task of integrating self-help and psychological models of treatment. Patients undergo their own induction, first accepting the attribution of "addict," and then joining a subculture of recovery that provides ego support and a sense of higher purpose. Group therapy is the primary avenue of acculturation for both patients and professionals.