The space to heal heroin addiction

The psychoanalytic case for harm reduction

Bibliographic Data

ID21748050
AuthorsIra Brenner (0000-0002-8338-215X, Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey, corresponding author), Matthew Mongiello (McDaniel College)
Year2022
Volume19
Issue1
Pages123-134
Publication date2022-03-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueInternational Journal of Applied Psychoanalytic Studies (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1556-9187 • E-ISSN: 1742-3341
PublisherWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1002/aps.1693
OpenAlexW3133135721
LanguageEN
References cited40

Harm reduction approaches to heroin addiction treatment are safe and effective, particularly those using medication‐assisted therapy, yet they remain underutilized in the drug treatment field. This paper posits the need for a psychoanalytic formulation of harm reduction. It draws on object relations theory, to illustrate the ways in which harm reduction, as a philosophy and as a practice, maps onto the particular developmental and attachment themes of addiction. It explores heroin addiction and harm reduction at the intersection of the psyche and the social and calls upon psychoanalysis to challenge oppressive systems in the lives of heroin users

Addiction · Criminology · Drug · Harm · Harm reduction · Heroin · Heroin addiction · Psyche · Psychiatry · Psychoanalysis · Psychoanalytic theory · Psychotherapist · Public health · Sociology · HIV, Drug Use, Sexual Risk · Medicine · Nursing · Psychology · Psychotherapy Techniques and Applications · Social Psychology · Substance Abuse Treatment and Outcomes