Addiction and Recovery Models
What this domain tests
Addiction and recovery models test your grasp of the disease model, biopsychosocial framework, DSM-5-TR criteria, recovery capital, harm reduction, and multiple pathways to recovery.
Core rules
- DSM-5-TR substance use disorder uses 11 criteria across control, social impairment, risky use, and pharmacological indicators; severity is mild (2–3), moderate (4–5), severe (6+).
- The biopsychosocial model integrates biological vulnerability, psychological factors, and social context.
- Recovery capital includes social, physical, human, and cultural resources that support sustained recovery.
- Harm reduction accepts intermediate goals; medications for opioid use disorder are evidence-based treatment, not “substituting one drug for another.”
- Mutual-help options include 12-step, SMART Recovery, and other secular or culturally specific groups.
Worked example
A client says, “I can stop anytime, I just don’t want to.” The counselor explores whether use causes tolerance, withdrawal, craving, or role failure rather than arguing. Reasoning: a diagnosis depends on criteria, not willpower, and the client’s own words can be used to assess control and consequences.
Traps
Equating physical dependence with addiction; insisting on abstinence-only for every client; dismissing medication; and treating one recovery pathway as the only valid one.