Substance use recovery / SUR-A09-1
Harm Reduction and Safety Questions — Concept brief
Understand the idea behind harm reduction and safety questions and consider whether it fits your context.
8 minutes · Handout · Adults; supported use as appropriate
Fictional example: Jordan wants a safety conversation while still deciding on longer-term goals.
Use an ordinary or fictional example, with a clinician when appropriate. Reducing harm and seeking treatment can coexist with different recovery goals.
The idea
Reducing harm and seeking treatment can coexist with different recovery goals.
An ordinary example
Jordan wants a safety conversation while still deciding on longer-term goals.
What this can look like
Prepare questions for a clinician or harm-reduction service about overdose prevention, naloxone, and other locally appropriate supports.
Check the fit
What support can be sought now without waiting for perfect readiness? You may disagree with the framing, use fiction, or decide that this approach is not useful today.
A useful distinction
A return to use is information for reassessing care and support, not a verdict on personal worth.
Prompts for this resource
- What part of this idea makes sense to me?
- What support can be sought now without waiting for perfect readiness?
Conceptual background
Substance Use Disorders — National Institutes of Health
Background on the approach only. Original exercises and wording are by More Than Therapy with AI assistance; the source does not validate or endorse these materials.