Free Scholarly Articles — Online Museum of African American Addictions, Treatment and Recovery

Below you will find information and the PDF version of free scholarly articles that we highly recommend. Please enjoy!

Substance Use Treatment and Recovery for African Americans in the U.S. by Robert Scott, Tyshaun Perryman, Carolina Bonilla

This article summarizes the history of substance use in African American Communities and offers solid evidence based, trauma-informed, culturally responsive treatment recommendations. Emphasis is also placed upon multiple pathways of recovery and substance use disorders prevention in African American Communities.

Substance Use Treatment and Recovery for African americans in the u.s.

Above And Beyond: Creating A Welcoming Environment For African Americans With Substance Use Disorders by Mark Sanders, LCSW, CADC

Above and Beyond.png

This article focuses on how to create a welcoming environment for African Americans seeking recovery. I have visited hundreds of treatment centers throughout the country in my 38 years as an addictions professional. I have found that Above And Beyond in Chicago does the absolute best job of engaging African American clients into substance use disorder treatment. This article is based in an interview with Dan Hostetler, executive director of Above and Beyond. (To review the full article please click on the box below)

Above and Beyond

Case Report - Fetal Alcohol Exposure by Carl C Bell

Wikimedia Commons( Public Domain)

Case Report: Fetal Alcohol Exposure

This fascinating case report by Carl C. Bell, Professor of Psychiatry and Public Health at the University of Illinois, Chicago highlights a clinical case of a child who was exposed to alcohol as a fetus, and, who as a result, developed learning and behavioral problems. Bell goes on to explore the idea of using bio-technical strategies to ameliorate problematic behaviors that are generally attributed to children who were exposed to alcohol early on in their development. (to review the full case report and questionnaire please click on the boxes below)

Neurodevelopmental Disorder Interview Questions

Hoops and Healing: The Use of Athletics for Youth Involved in Recovery by Troy Harden, EdD., LCSW and Lloyd Walton, MA.

Troy Harden and Lloyd Walton explore the use of athletics and sports with people recovering from substance abuse disorders in "Hoops and Healing: The Use of Athletics for Youth Involved in Recovery". In this paper Harden and Walton discuss the concept of using sports to promote recovery for African American youth drawing upon addictions literature and experiences in athletics, youth programming and etc. (to review the full article please click on the box below)

Hoops and Healing

Multiple Pathways of Recovery for African American Men by Mark Sanders, LCSW, CADC & Joe Powell, LCDC, CAS

For decades, tension has existed between addictions counselors and clients based upon a widely held belief by counselors that there is only one way to recovery, leading client resistance to treatment, premature termination, and relapse, as the client's approach to recovery has been commonly ignored. In this article, authors Mark Sanders and Joe Powell outline multiple pathways of recovery among African American men and offer clinical recommendations for service providers who work with these men. (to review the full article please click on the box below)

Multiple Pathways of Recovery

Bibliotherapy and Journaling as a Recovery Tool with African Americans with Substance Use Disorders by Michael Johnson, MSW

In this article Michael Johnson describes the use of bibliotherapy and journaling as a recovery tool with African Americans with substance use disorders. (to review the full article please click on the box below)

Bibliotherapy and Journaling

The Response of African American Communities to Addiction: An Opportunity for Treatment Providers by Mark Sanders, LCSW, CADC

The closing decades of the twentieth century were marked by a rise in culturally indigenous responses to alcohol and other drug problems in the African American community and a consistent call for more culturally sensitive and competent addiction treatment services. In this article Mark Sanders provides a brief description of several indigenous recovery movements and discusses how addiction treatment agencies can collaborate with these movements to better respond to the needs of African American clients and families. (to review the full article please click on the box below)

Response of African American Communities to Addiction

"When I Get Low, I Get High": The Portrayal of Addiction and Recovery in African American Music by Tanya Sanders, Mark Sanders and William White

Important experiences in the life of people are expressed through the cultural media of language, music, literature, dance, and art. As part of a larger project focusing on the history of addiction and recovery in African American communities, the authors investigated how the experiences of addiction and recovery have been portrayed within African American music. This article summarizes the finding of that review and explores implications for the treatment of African American clients. (to review the full article please click on the box below)

"When I Get Low, I Get High"

Alternatives to Detention for African American Adolescents with Substance Use and Co-occurring Disorders by Fred Dyer, Phd, CADC

Juvenile justice services, disproportionate minority contact, and alternatives to detention for African American adolescents with substance use and co-occurring disorders continue to be areas of concern for juvenile justice, substance abuse, and mental health administrators. Additionally, salient is the quest regarding the purpose of the juvenile system. Whether its focus is "punishment or rehabilitation" impacts on outlook, serveries, approaches, and outcomes. This article will examine disproportionate minority contact and alternatives to detention for African American adolescents with substance use and co-occurring disorders along with evidence-based and community-based alternatives to detention. (to review the full article please click on the box below)

Alternatives to Detention

Devaluation, Loss and Rage: A Postscript to Urban African American Youth with Substance Abuse by Dr. Kenneth V. Hardy, PhD and Mishba Enam Qureshi, MFT

This paper explores and discusses the socio-cultural dynamics underpinning urban African American youth's use and misuse of substances and its connection to the invisible wounds of race related trauma. A racially-sensitive framework will be discussed as an intervention approach designed to address the special needs of urban African American adolescents maligned by, and suffering from, the complex interplay of substance misuse and rage. (to review the full article please click on the box below)

Devaluation, Loss, and Rage

Meditation and Healing Through Deep Breathing: An Africentric Perspective By Bill Green

This article describes the use of meditation and breath work to facilitate healing, wellness, and recovery among African Americans with chemical or process addictions. (to review the full article please click on the box below)

Meditation and Healing Through Deep Breathing: An Africentric Perspective

Identity Development's Impact on Peer Supported Recovery Among African American Women by Mary Collins-Henderson, EdD, LCPC, CSACD/GCE, MISAII

The emerging trend of peer to peer supported recovery and identity development among African American women in early and middle stage recovery has significant clinical implications. In peer supported recovery, assisting African American women in finding their voice present special challenges in the recovery oriented system of care. This article will explore the importance of identity development among African American women in early and middle stage recovery. The core principles of recovery including genders responsive treatment, empowerment and alumni support within this special population will be discussed. (to review the full article please click on the box below)

Identity Development's Impact on Peer Supported Recovery

Counseling African Americans with Substance Use Disorders by Mark Sanders, LCSW, CADC

In this article, Mark Sanders, LCSW, CADC discusses the barriers to building trust in the counseling relationship with African Americans suffering from substance use disorders. He then goes on to outline strategies for those who work with African Americans with substance use disorders, including how to build rapport and help facilitate the change in the three phases of counseling- the engagement phase, the counseling phase, and the aftercare (continuous care) phase. (to review the full article please click on the box below)

Counseling African Americans with Substance Use Disorders

Recovery Management and African Americans: A Report from the Field by Ijeoma Achara-Abrahams, PhyD & Arthur C. Ebans, PhD & et al.

The existence of numerous ethnic and racial disparities suggests that African Americans and other people of color are particularly ill served by the prevailing acute-care approaches to addiction treatment. The purpose of this article is to: explore Recovery Management as an alternative framework for providing effective addiction treatment for African Americans; (2) illustrate the implementation of this approach by presenting examples from the Amistad Village Project, a culturally competent and recovery-orientated treatment program for African American men and women that was piloted and studied in New Haven, Connecticut; and (3) articulate the service recipient's perspective on the critical elements of effective substance use disorder treatment for African American individuals. (to review the full article please click on the box below)

Recovery Managment and African Americans

Liquor Traffic in Africa by Lugard, F.W

This periodical article was written by Lugard, F.W. in 1897 and documents the liquor traffic in African during the nineteenth century. (to review the full article please click on the box below)

Liquor Traffic in Africa

Commentary on the Usefulness of Clinical Research by Carl C. Bell, M.D.

In this article Carl C. Bell focuses on evaluating the status of clinical research. (to review the full article please click on the box below)

Commentary on the Usefulness of Clinical Research

High Rates of Neurobehavioral Disorder Associated with Prenatal Exposure to Alcohol among African Americans Driven by the Plethora of Liquor Stores in the Community by Carl C. Bell, M.D.

Abstract: This short communication highlights the need to screen for an identify the new DSM-5 proposed criteria of Neurobehavioral Disorders associated with Prenatal Alcohol Exposure (ND-PAE). Emerging research has demonstrated that there are populations that at higher risk for this disorder owing to their social circumstances, i.e. the plethora of liquor stores in their community. On-point prevalence study found that one low-income African-Americans have rates of ND-PAE at 388/1,000. Over the counter nutraceuticals are proposed as a possible protective factor against some of the challenges that ND-PAE poses for the patients that are unfortunate enough to be afflicted from prenatal alcohol exposure.

Neurobehavioral Disorder and Prenatal Exposure to Alcohol

Recovery Coaching with Homeless African Americans with Substance Use Disorders by Joe Powell, LCDC, CAS

Abstract: This article outlines an approach to recovery coaching with homeless African Americans with substance use disorders developed by The Association of Persons Affected by Addictions in Dallas, Texas.

Recovery Coaching

Integrating Motivational Interviewing, Motivational Incentives, and Harm Reduction as a Group Therapy Intervention with African American Crack Cocaine Users Living with HIV by Patricia Pulliam, LCSW, CAADC

Abstract: This article describes the integration of three evidence-supported approaches: motivational interviewing, motivational incentives, and harm reduction as a group therapy intervention with African American crack cocaine users living with HIV. The group is held at Provident, Hospital, Chicago, Illinois, the first African American-owned hospital in the United States. The goals of the group are to prevent relapse, decrease the risk of homelessness, and help to improve decision-making skills.

Addiction in the African American Community: The Recovery Legacies of Frederick Douglas and Malcolm X by William L. White, Mark Sanders and Tanya Sanders

Abstract: Abstinence-based cultural and religious revitalization movements constitute vibrant responses to the rise of alcohol and other drug problems in communities of color. Such movements often inspire culturally nuanced approaches to addiction treatment and provide culturally legitimate pathways of long-term recovery. The spark that ignites such movements is often a charismatic, recovering individual who uses his or her own personal transformation as a springboard for broad social change. This article explores what the lives of two remarkable human beings—Frederick Douglass and El Hajj Malik el Shabazz (Malcolm X)—can teach us about addiction recovery within African American communities.

Recovery Legacies

Addiction and Recovery among African Americans before 1900 by William White and Mark Sanders

This article examines the many themes embedded within the early history of alcohol and other drug use among African Americans that can help today's addiction counselor.

Addiction and Recovery before 1900

Recovery Management and People of Color: Redesigning Addiction Treatment for Historically Dis-empowered Communities by William L. White, MA and Mark Sanders, LCSW, CADC

Abstract: Communities of color have been ill-served by acute care models of treating severe alcohol and other drug (AOD) problems that define the source of these problems in idiopathic (biopsychological) terms and promote their resolution via crisis-elicited episodes of brief, individual interventions. This article explores how approaches that shift the model of intervention from acute care (AC) of individuals to a sustained recovery management (RM) partnership with individuals, families, and communities may be particularly viable for historically disempowered peoples. The advantages of the RM model for communities of color include: a broadened perspective on the etiological roots of AOD problems (including historical/cultural trauma); a focus on building vibrant cultures of recovery within which individual recoveries can be anchored and nourished; a proactive, hope-based approach to recovery engagement; the inclusion of indigenous healers and institutions with the RM team; an expanded menu of recovery support services; culturally-grounded catalytic metaphors and rituals; and a culturally-nuanced approach to research and evaluation.

Redesigning Addiction

Prenatal Vitamins Deficient in Recommended Choline Intake for Pregnant Women by Carl C. Bell and Jessie Aujla

This study examines the choline content found in the top 25 prenatal multivitamins to see if they contain the daily- recommended intake of choline for a pregnant women.

Prevention of Mental and Substance Use and Abuse Disorders and Co-morbidity in African Americans by Carl C. Bell, M.D. and Dominica F. McBride, Ph.D.

In this article Carl C. Bell, M.D. and Dominica F. McBride, Ph.D. explore the prevention of co-morbid mental illness and substance use/disorders (MISA) and substance use and abuse disorders in African-Americans.