By Nikki Russell
July 2, 2024
Harm reduction involves guiding individuals toward recovery and giving them a second chance at life. The United States' integrated recovery system claims responsibility for the healing process. The disease model suggests that addiction is a natural allergy, and having the condition for life means that people are encouraged to participate in a 12-step healing process, which offers a legitimate path to recovery. This involves regularly attending meetings, working through the 12 steps, and helping other individuals with alcoholism to keep their addiction in check. On the other hand, the harm reduction model takes a different approach to treating individuals struggling with addiction. Harm reduction is a public health model in which the goal may be abstinence. Still, there are smaller steps that one could take to approach the intersection of addiction and recovery. Embracing harm reduction enables peer support specialists to connect with their peers.
A peer support specialist creates an environment for the healing process. There are many valid perspectives on the healing journey. Religion leans on prayer, sacrament, exorcism, and anointing with oil to heal the mind, body, and spirit. Energy Healers transfer energy into the body as the vitality that accumulates negative energy, opening up blockages through the emotional, mental, physical, and spiritual outpour that can cause illness. The unblocking or healing of the energy system happens through different modalities such as acupuncture, Healing Touch, Reiki, and Therapeutic Touch. Peer Support Specialists rely on lived experience, creating mutuality that leads to trust. Modern perspectives require many new perspectives, like the recovery model, to support those suffering and recognize the great need to meet people where they are to achieve wellness.
Harm reduction aims to minimize negative social and physical consequences and provide hope to individuals. The disease model emphasizes abstinence as the primary component of a successful recovery program. A relapse is a significant obstacle in a recovery plan and often occurs with emotional, mental, and lifestyle factors or triggers. The inability to maintain abstinence can lead to feelings of hopelessness and activate harmful consequences. Harm reduction demonstrates that many individuals are living in an environment of adverse effects, functioning in survival mode without realizing it; this is where harm reduction excels; by allowing a person to enter less traumatic moments could help them gain clarity. If abstinence is a requirement for a large community of people, recovery may never reach them. The central harm reduction principles are to keep the client alive, sustain their health, and help them achieve their life goals. The main objective of harm reduction works because we see the peer and their needs as essential rather than fitting them into a societal box. Harm reduction combines a spiritual solution of accepting people where they are and a scientific evidence-based practice incorporating health into a recovery plan one day at a time.
Beginning the journey of the healing process in harm reduction is about accepting people where they are and recognizing not everybody fits into the disease model box. Recovery is a healing process of restoration to mind-body wholeness; recovery may not begin after or because of treatment but may be a part of the consistent recovery process; just as the Alcoholic goes to meetings for treatment, a daily reprieve, a pregnant woman may need to accept medically assisted treatment (MAT) for her long-term recovery to help manage cravings, withdrawal symptoms, and keep her baby healthy.
Adopting a harm reduction mindset creates a healing atmosphere outside the box. When peer support specialists meet their peers halfway, they offer them a more holistic approach, reduce stigma, and help them initiate healing. Religion, energy healers, and Peer Support Specialists contribute to harm reduction by blending evidence-based practices and spirituality to create the best outcome. Bringing compassionate solutions to people allows them to take responsibility for their lives on their own terms. Considering peers is critical when determining if they need harm reduction versus the disease model of addiction. Recovery has many pathways that deserve a Peer Support Specialist's attention to achieve a broad spectrum of healing modalities that can help people achieve a long-term recovery on their terms.
For further research, check out these websites:
National Harm Reduction Coalition
Pregnancy and Substance Use: A Harm Reduction Toolkit - National Harm Reduction Coalition