Mirror Neurons: A hard-wired explanation for the efficacy of support groups?

The psychodynamics of mutual-aid groups have received considerable study.  The recent discovery of mirror neurons suggests an additional explanation for the efficacy of such groups.  This paper, by Martin Nicolaus, was delivered at the 2007 LifeRing Congress in Denver and again at the annual meeting of the National Addiction Professional's Association (NAADAC) in Nashville TN.  PDF. 

"It is time that the recognition of multiple pathways and styles of recovery fully permeated the philosophies and clinical protocols of all organizations providing addiction treatment and recovery support services." 

Historian William White ("Slaying the Dragon", see review) looks at the present era through a wide lens that takes in not only the centuries of recovery experience that preceded our time, but also encompasses the enormous variety of different recovery paths that individuals are selecting here and now.  Although everyone with experience in the field "knows" that the rule is "different strokes for different folks," the number of treatment institutions and support organizations who embody recognition of this principle in their practice could stand improvement. In this article, White again teams with veteran AA historian Ernest Kurtz to argue for a new paradigm of addiction studies, one that is based on the diverse experiences of those who have made successful recoveries from chemical dependency.  "Celebrating the growing diversity of recovery pathways and a philosophy of choice permeate the philosophies of the best treatment programs.  Recent reviews of treatment effectiveness have linked this philosophy of choice to enhanced motivation and treatment outcomes."  Well said!

 Alcoholics Anonymous and the Disease Concept of Alcoholism, by Ernest Kurtz, Ph.D. [PDF]

"Contrary to common opinion, Alcoholics Anonymous neither originated nor promulgated what has come to be called the disease concept of alcoholism." 

LifeRing remains neutral on the disease theory of alcoholism; members are free to take any position they like.  Surprisingly, eminent AA historian Ernest Kurtz (Not-God) says that Alcoholics Anonymous should do likewise, because the causes of alcoholism are an "outside issue."  Kurtz's 58-p. historical review finds that the concept of alcoholism as a medical disease clearly preceded AA.  Its most vigorous advocate within AA in the 1940s and 50s was Marty Mann and her National Council on Alcoholism. The rapid rise of the treatment industry in the 1970s, with the disease theory as its financial cornerstone, brought waves of new members to AA who had learned the disease concept in their treatment programs, and so the disease concept came to be commonly and widely identified with AA.  But apart from a few articles in the AA Grapevine, Kurtz finds little support for a medical disease concept in the core AA writings, and AA co-founder Bill W. wrote "We have never called alcoholism a disease."  The AA concept of the causes of alcoholism centered around "emotional maladjustment," Kurtz says, and AA's main contribution was to give the traditional medical disease concept a pronounced spiritual twist. 

The Disease Papers by William L. White, M.A.

Everything you ever wanted to know, and then some, about the history of the disease concept of addiction from Greek antiquity to the present.  Six papers.  By the author of Slaying the Dragon.  (27 PDF files, some with Ernest Kurtz and Caroline Acker). 

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