Rehabilitating Addiction Treatment: An Anti-Racist Recovery Approach

Addiction counselors increasingly work with clients who present with diverse intersectional identities. Although research documents declining life expectancy across racial groups, clinical guidelines remain silent on how to recognize and interrupt institutional racism in addiction recovery. In this presentation, participants will be introduced to tools of analysis to understand, address, and interrupt white supremacy dynamics when treating substance use in outpatient and inpatient settings. Participants will be introduced to concepts of internalized racial superiority and internalized racial oppression, as well as a framework to illuminate how institutional pressure to maintain “white innocence” leads to poor health outcomes.