Recovery at work: The relationship between social identity and commitment among substance abuse counselors.

The complex makeup of the substance abuse treatment workforce poses unique challenges to the field. One interesting dynamic is the high rate of counselors who are personally recovering from addictions. Based on social identity theory, it was expected that counselors working in the field of substance abuse treatment who are in recovery themselves will identify more with their profession and report higher professional and organizational commitment. The data used in this study are part of a larger National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA)-funded research project that used the National Drug Abuse Treatment Clinical Trials Network as a research platform. Treatment organizations were recruited through formal presentations at the CTN’s External Affairs Subcommittee Meeting and the Community Treatment Program Caucus in May 2004.

Analysis of the data support the proposed relationship between personal recovery status and professional commitment, but not organizational commitment. Based on these findings, it is clear that clinician recovery status should be considered in future work in the substance abuse treatment field. Counselors who are personally in recovery are more committed to their profession than counselors who are not. Recovering from an addiction is a personal accomplishment that extends down into the core of an individual and can affect all aspects of their life, and its influence should not be overlooked.