CHANGING CAREERS - BECOMING CLEAN AND SOBER IN A THERAPEUTIC-COMMUNITY

Substance abuse remains a major threat to public health. Recovery is c omplex and variable, occurring with and without intervention. Therapeu tic communities (TC) offer a unique long-term approach to recovery. Th e purpose of this study was to describe the experience of individuals in a TC. Grounded theory provides the methodological basis for the stu dy. Interviews were conducted with 13 individuals in 3 settings. The f indings indicate that recovery is analogous to changing careers and su ggest a theory that explicates incremental stages in the redirection o f the self to achieve a more productive lifestyle. Whereas TCs often p urport to bring about character change, the findings of this study emp hasize the importance of residual strengths of the previous self-stren gths that must be valued to achieve success.