Restorative Management Corporation Recovery Advocate Ryan Caldwell is a peer support specialist in long-term recovery and HEALing Communities Study participant. Ryan talks about breaking the many paths to recovery.
Video length: 1:19
Transcript
Ryan speaking:
I think a lot of the stigma whereas people who have been clean for 20/30 years they... And they did it their way which might be an abstinence-based way, they're quick to say you're not clean you're taking this or something like that.
And I think it's important for people to realize that there are different pathways to recovery.
And at the end of the day, like I said, we're trying to save lives. It's about saving lives at this point. I don't think it's enough to just get someone off of heroin and put them on suboxone and methadone.
I do think some education needs to take place and some sort of treatment needs to take place.
Leave him with a peer, come up with a plan just in case they can't make the methadone clinic that day or they run out of suboxone or the doctors on vacation.
You still need... You still have the behaviors.
Drugs, I think, are just a symptom of the disease of addiction.
I think that it involves much more than just using and I think when you take away the drugs you still have a person who needs some treatment.