ABSTRACT
Recovery as I have defined it is a developmental rather than a chronological process. One addict can be abstinent for twenty years yet still remain in the first stage of recovery; another can progress to the third stage in less than ten years. This chapter focuses on long-term recovery and its relationship to the previously outlined stages of recovery, particularly second- and third-stage recovery. As defined in Chapter Four, third-stage recovery is the continued expansion of the addict's contact skills and capacities to include larger systems of interaction.
