ABSTRACT
This chapter presents a new model of addiction and recovery, the self-modulation model, contrasting this approach with the disease model, which is currently the most commonly used model in the treatment of addiction. It also presents the Gestalt approach to addiction and recovery employed throughout this book, which emphasizes the process of self-modulation from addiction through recovery. The patterns an individual develops before and during addiction change in recovery, being replaced by new patterns of behavior, new means of self-modulation. If we are to fully appreciate an addict's struggles during recovery, it is essential to frame the addict's changes in the context of previously developed patterns.
