The Helper Therapy Principle: Using the Power of Service to Save Addicts

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to increase awareness of a free, proven method for improving addiction recovery outcomes that courts and treatment professionals can access with minimal implementation costs. The method is grounded in the Helper Therapy Principle (“HTP”), and we hope that wider dissemination of the ideas contained herein will spur courts, legislatures, regulatory agencies, law enforcement officers, community activists, healthcare professionals, and any others concerned to incorporate HTP more broadly. More specifically, effective application of HTP could positively impact all of the following: addiction treatment facility practice, health insurance coverage and access to care, community-based solutions and social institutions, problem-solving courts, and addiction treatment in prison.

Keywords: Addiction, Rehabilitation

JEL Classification: I00, I10, I18