Journal of Behavioral Health and Psychology. 2021;
10(4):(313-344)
Public Health, Population Health and the Self-Help Movement in Recovery
Pascal Scoles
Abstract
The healing process for substance use disorders begins with a serious evaluation of an
individual's use of alcohol or drugs. All Change appears to follow a series of stages, which is
more spiral or circular than linear. Most people in early recovery progress from sobriety to
relapse and back to sobriety. Most growth begins with recognizing guilt, embarrassment,
and shame regarding regression (relapses) to previous stages of alcohol and drug use.
Therapeutic healing can be accomplished by addressing the social determinants of health
that influence many lifestyle choices and keeping our focus on the public health concerns
of the community. From a behavioral health perspective, combined population health and
public health focus would best be defined by the clinician’s attention to both the biomedical
issues and advocacy efforts to intervene and influence these complex social, behavioral,
and environmental factors that affect individual members of diverse populations within the
communities that one lives and works.
