Why We Need to Work Together in Addiction and Recovery – Not Tear Each Other Down

I recently got a call from someone who had just left residential treatment. They were looking to set up services with me, but they’d been told at the program that I wasn’t an appropriate counselor for them to see after discharge.

This one stung. Not because I’m here to badmouth anyone, I’m not. But because I worked at that very same residential treatment center for nearly four years. I learned a ton there. I made mistakes there. I grew there. And I still refer clients to them because I know the value they can provide when someone needs that level of support.

So what are we doing?

In this field — addiction counseling, mental health, recovery support — we’re supposed to be on the same team. We all say we want what’s best for the people we serve. Yet too often, personal feelings, old grudges, or professional turf wars get in the way. Someone gets told not to see a provider who could actually help them because of biases that have nothing to do with clinical fit and everything to do with “we don’t like her” or “she’s not one of us anymore.”

That’s not professional. That’s not ethical. And most importantly, that hurts the very people we claim to serve.

I’m Not the Same Person I Was

I’ve owned my mistakes — the ones I made as an employee, as a clinician early in my career, and in my own life before and during recovery. I’ve done the work. I’ve continued reaching out since I left that program, hoping to stay connected as a resource and collaborator. Several years have passed. I’ve earned my CSAC, I’m in a Master’s program for Clinical Mental Health Counseling, and I’m running my own practice with a trauma-informed, harm-reduction, radically real approach.

Growth is real. Change is real. But some people choose to keep others frozen in the version of you they last knew. They stay stuck themselves and assume everyone else must be too. That mindset is dangerous — not just to the professionals trying to evolve, but especially to the clients who lose access to care that might be the right fit for where they are now.

Everybody has the right to refer (or not refer) to whoever they want. That’s not the issue. The issue is when personal bias gets dressed up as professional judgment and blocks someone’s path to recovery.

We Do Better When We Work Together

Recovery isn’t a zero-sum game. There’s room for residential programs, outpatient counseling, coaching, peer support, medication-assisted treatment, faith-based options, and everything in between. No single provider or program has everything a person might need at every stage of their journey.

When we collaborate instead of compete:

• Clients get better, more complete care.

• We learn from each other.

• The field actually moves forward instead of staying stuck in old power dynamics and petty divisions.

I still believe in conversations. I believe in reaching across the table and asking, “How have you grown? What’s different now?” Because we’re all human. We’re all imperfect. But we owe it to the people walking through the hardest parts of their lives to do better than letting ego or outdated opinions get in the way.

If you’re a professional in this field reading this — whether you’re at a treatment center, in private practice, or somewhere in between — I hope this lands. Let’s stop gatekeeping care. Let’s stop assuming the worst about each other’s growth. Let’s have the hard conversations, own our stuff, and actually partner for the sake of the clients who need us.

Progress isn’t about being perfect. It’s about moving forward — together.