Bridging Session
HALO version

Why isn't the HALO treatment method public knowledge?

This method is public knowledge; however, there is always a lengthy delay between evidence that backs up the method and the method's application by treatment professionals. For example, the Tough Love approach is the predominant paradigm and rests on the basic assumptions of the 12-step philosophy and disease model. Therefore, new methods, such as HALO, are seen as a form of "enabling" and considered counter-therapeutic by the traditional 12-step recovery community.

AA has become an unquestioned part of the American culture over the past 75 years. Doctors are taught in medical school that an addiction to alcohol or drugs is a disease and that 12-step programs are the only effective way to help addicts control their "disease." In general, medical doctors know very little about addiction; their medical training on the subject is very limited. Few, if any, are aware of the breadth of contemporary addiction treatment options, nor do they have the time to spend with their patients. So, when a patient asks his doctor where to go for help, he is quickly told to go to AA, NA or other 12-step program.

The 12-step alcohol and drug treatment approach has become so ingrained in our society that it is often mandated by judges when they are hearing DUI cases. Charged with driving while intoxicated with alcohol or drugs, men and women are court-ordered to go to 12-step meetings or else they will go to jail. If you have been ordered by legal authorities to go to a 12-step program, find out about your legal rights to refuse.

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