If this Were Any Other Industry, It would Be Shut Down
Behind the buzzwords of recovery and evidence-based care, there’s a reality we don’t talk about enough…Most addiction treatment doesn’t work – not because people aren’t trying hard enough, but because the system is built on outdated models, recycled ideas, and a misunderstanding of the problem and what healing really requires.
Here are 10 well-documented failures in the addiction treatment industry – not as a takedown, but as a wake-up call:
1. High Relapse Rates Post-Treatment
Most programs have 50–70% relapse within a year.
Kelly et al. (2020), Recovery Research Institute
2. Abstinence is Treated as the Only Success Metric
Life quality, safety, and healing are rarely measured.
Witkiewitz et al. (2021), Alcohol Research
3. Powerlessness Can Re-Traumatise People
What’s healing for some may retraumatise others.
Pagano et al. (2018), Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment
4. Trauma is Ignored or Outsourced
70%+ of clients have trauma histories, very few offer trauma-integrated care.
SAMHSA (2022)
5. Overdose Risk Spikes Post-Rehab
People leaving abstinence-only rehabs are at 3x higher risk of fatal overdose.
Binswanger (2017); Sordo et al. (2020), BMJ
6. The Industry Benefits from Repeat Clients
40%+ re-admission to treatment = the revolving door is a business model. National Center for Health Statistics (2023)
7. Coerced Treatment Has Worse Outcomes
Court-mandated rehab leads to lower engagement and long-term recovery. Werb et al. (2019), The Lancet Public Health
8. Therapy-Only Misses the Body
Without somatic integration we miss the nervous system’s role in addiction.
van der Kolk (2021); Frontiers in Psychology (2022)
9. Evidence-Based ≠ Effective
Most evidence-based treatments track symptoms, not transformation.
Deane & Kelly (2020)
10. 12-Step Doesn’t Fit Everyone
Only 25–30% stay engaged long-term in 12-step models.
Cochrane Review (2020)
Until we stop confusing compliance with healing, we’ll keep measuring success in all the wrong places.
Healing isn’t a checklist.
It’s a nervous system state
– A return to safety
– An experience of wholeness
And none of that can be mass-produced in systems that reward conformity over connection.
My hope for this industry is we can stop managing shadows and start turning on the light, it’s way more simple than it seems, if you are willing to go there, are you?
Have you seen a difference in your outcomes? even if only qualitatively, after moving away from any of the above? Can you share about your successes, the good you have been part of?