Insights & Resources
On our obsession with abstinence
Why do we fixate on sobriety or abstinence regarding addiction and alcohol or drug problems?For so long, the only socially and clinically acceptable outcome was the complete cessation of use for the rest of one’s life."Get on the wagon," they say, "you’re an alcoholic now and forever."Fall off the wagon, you’re a failure.
Read More →By David
9/28/22
Reflecting on independence
On this Independence holiday, please indulge a few personal reflections.17 years ago on this day (3 JUL 2005), I had my last alcoholic drinks.I don't typically write about or regularly celebrate this sober anniversary. That exercise lost its purpose long ago. But I feel compelled to offer some thoughts given some of the trends around wellbeing, stress, and alcohol consumption.
Read More →By David
7/3/22
ANNOUNCEMENT: Indiana to map state’s recovery capital
The Indiana Family and Social Services Administration’s Division of Mental Health and Addiction today announced the launch of the Recovery Capital Index, designed to measure the sum of resources necessary for an individual to initiate and sustain recovery from addiction and to help track the overall recovery capital of the state and communities.
Read More →By David
6/17/22
Commonly Well is growing
A healthcare innovation and behavioral health integration specialist joins Commonly Well to grow the Recovery Capital Index.Commonly Well is thrilled to announce its first hire. Patrick McGowan has joined Commonly Well as Head of Growth. Patrick will lead our efforts to grow the adoption of the Recovery Capital Index (RCI) in the behavioral health, addiction care, mental health, and recovery field.
Read More →By David
5/19/22
Unveiling our new Recovery Capital Index Reporting Tool
With the new RCI aggregate reporting tool, you can immediately see the collective recovery capital for your organization. Filter, focus, and export the data as you need to directly inform recovery and care plans.
Read More →By David
4/20/22
Don’t pick the outcome, pick the outcomes framework
When an organization picks a specific outcome, it will do whatever it needs to get that outcome.In the world according to Simon Sinek, this is a finite mindset. A finite mindset can ruin a business. In healthcare — and especially addiction care — it can destroy lives.Addiction treatment would be better if it adopted an infinite mindset.
Read More →By David
3/31/22
Forgoing struggle
There are some struggles or suffering we do not have to endure. Addiction is one of them. There is enough suffering in the human experience, why invite more?
Read More →By David
3/24/22
What The West Wing Teaches Us about Recovery Capital
Recovery Capital is a proxy for Resilience.The more recovery capital we have, the better a person experiencing addiction will absorb and bounce back from a negative event.
Read More →By David
3/23/22
Wrong Side of the Road Remarks
The following remarks were prepared to be delivered on Tuesday, November 2, 2021 at the National Press Club for the launch of Wrong Side of the Road, a new national anti-driving impaired initiative from Responsibility.org.
Read More →By David
11/2/21
Safety as a conduit for solving addiction
In life and in business, errors disrupt potential and productivity. Errors can be the enemy of efficiency, especially if we do not learn from and eliminate them. Errors in life and the workplace can also result in injury and death. Humans are fallible and error prone. But, we can be very efficient and safe when we understand and apply good habit creation.Addiction is essentially a deeply trained habit. It’s a compulsive act that continues despite negative feedback.
Read More →By David
10/25/21
The unity of all substance
Marcus Aurelius wrote that we should often meditate on the “interconnectedness and mutual interdependence of all things in the universe.”Here was a guy — a stoic philosopher and Roman emperor — writing and living in the second century and fully understanding that everything is connected.Push on one element of society or nature and another element of society and nature reacts.Aurelius says, “[A]ll things are mutually woven together and therefore have an affinity for each other — for one thing follows after another according to their tension of movement, their sympathetic stirrings, and the unity of all substance.”
Read More →By David
10/7/21
Everything is figureoutable
It has been a little while since I last wrote in this space. The reason is not for a lack of things to write about. The reason is that I have been sorting out the work of Commonly Well and the direction of the Recovery Capital Index. Starting a business and getting it out there is tough, even for seasoned veterans. Doing so in the middle of a global pandemic is doubling challenging. But, we are figuring it out.
Read More →By David
9/24/21