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It's time to end forced treatment: people will experience true recovery when treatment isn't forced upon them.

Article Excerpt
The concept of recovery has been around long enough now that most of us have had a chance to consider it and agree (in some cases, grudgingly) that it's a real probability. As we've shifted our perspective toward recovery, and moved our expectations beyond the mere hope for stabilization and maintenance, we've challenged ourselves to reexamine policies, procedures, and our own personal beliefs about the limitations we've placed on the human spirit to heal.

Once we've come face-to-face with this challenge, we each move to new ground in one of two ways--embracing or resisting. For some of us, the embracers, this has been a moment of validation that confirms what we've suspected all along. We embrace the opportunity to open new doors for our organizations, employees, and the people we serve. We are rewarded by seeing amazing outcomes and results that we previously thought impossible.

For others, the resisters, this shift has been difficult. They have had trouble letting go of what they assumed was absolute truth. They have resisted change by reciting numerous past experiences they have had with people who showed little evidence of recovering. As polarized as these two parties seem to be, there is one issue that continues to unite them, regardless of party affiliation (embracers or resisters): forced...