Renaming and Rethinking Drug Treatment

Years ago I started asking counselors in training with me to buck the trend and stop using the term “drug treatment” to describe the help and services they provide to people with alcohol and other drug problems.

First, consider the meaning of "treatment". It describes the manner in which one person behaves toward another. It’s a one-way street, not an interaction. In medicine, orthopedists provide treatment for broken arms. Oncologists provide cancer treatment. As patients, we may not fully understand what they do, but we generally trust them and hope for the best possible outcomes. In day-to-day life, treatment may refer to the way a husband treats a wife, a wife treats a husband, and a parent treats a child. In close relationships such as these, people hope for the royal treatment, not the silent treatment, and certainly not abusive treatment. Treatment can also describe the way we handle other things, besides people. Interior designers prepare window treatments. Hollywood screenwriters prepare script treatments. Garbage truck drivers deliver a load for waste treatment.

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