An Expert on Addiction and critic of 12 Step Programs: A conversation with Lance Dodes MD

Lance Dodes, M.D. is a retired assistant clinical professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. He has been the Director of the substance abuse treatment unit of Harvard’s McLean Hospital, Director of the Alcoholism Treatment Unit at Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital (now part of Massachusetts General Hospital), and Director of the Boston Center for Problem Gambling. He is the author or co-author of many journal articles and book chapters about the psychology of addiction and the author of three books: The Heart of Addiction (HarperCollins, 2002), Breaking Addiction: A 7-Step Handbook for Ending Any Addiction (HarperCollins, 2011), and The Sober Truth: Debunking the Bad Science Behind 12-Step Programs and the Rehab Industry (Beacon Press, 2014; senior author). This fascinating exchange helps to challenge the idea of a “disease” model of addiction and offers his decades of experience helping people overcome the compulsion underlying most addictions.

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