This week the topic of substance abuse treatment has arrived at the doorstep of the class. I have worked in drug treatment for over 5 years, first as a tech, then as a paraprofessional and now as an administrator of sorts. It seems to me like substance abuse treatment is a whole separate entity from therapy per se. I don’t think it fits into my mind as the type of thing where a person has met a great deal of their needs and now wants to grow as a person a la Maslow, which is where I see myself as a therapist in private practice, some years down the road. I see drug treatment as a very behaviorally oriented intervention, where people are educated about the tools they need to have in order to stay clean and feel happy staying clean. If they remain in recovery for some amount of time then they may most certainly seek therapy later. What I guess I am saying is – drug treatment is not therapy.