The Opioid Epidemic and the Therapeutic Community Model

Jonathan Avery, MD
Director of Addiction Psychiatry
Associate Professor of Clinical Psychiatry
Weill Cornell Medical College
525 East 68th Street, Box 140
New York, NY 10065

Kristopher A. Kast, MD
Chief Resident for General Adult Psychiatry
Payne Whitney Clinic of New York-Presbyterian Hospital
Weill Cornell Medical College
525 East 68th Street, Box 140
New York, NY 10065

This book aims to explore the evidence supporting the therapeutic community (TC) modality as a uniquely effective approach to care of individuals living with opioid use disorder and other addictions, and also to identify salient mediators of improved outcome, including long-term treatment and removal from the opioid-associated environment. The book includes multiple international perspectives and is designed for worldwide appeal-for countries that have established some TCs with success, those looking to improve care, and those looking to build them for the first time. 

Written by experts in addiction psychiatry and medicine, this book describes the unique role of therapeutic communities in treating substance use disorders, how the model has changed over time and adapted to diverse sociocultural contexts and systems of care, and how the TC model may serve an important population in the context of the current opioid epidemic. The chapters are written so as to be accessible for clinicians across specialties and professions.

The Opioid Epidemic and the Therapeutic Community Model is an excellent resource for all professionals interested in diverse and effective models of care to treat opioid use disorder and other addictions, including addiction medicine specialists, psychiatrists, psychologists, rehabilitation administrators, hospitalists, social workers, public health workers, students, and the interested public

An introduction to the opioid epidemic and therapeutic communities.- The Evolution of the Therapeutic Community.- The Modern Therapeutic Community Model.- The Opioid Epidemic.- The Response to the Opioid Epidemic: current treatment models in the United States.- Target Population: treatment-resistant opioid use disorder and the role of Therapeutic Communities.- Current Therapeutic Communities Around the World.- Therapeutic Communities and the Judicial System in the United States.- San Patrignano: lessons from the Italian Experience.