Maia Szalavitz is a former cocaine addict who has been in recovery for eight years. This fact gave her an opportunity to become a journalist and serve as a researcher for Close to Home despite having a rather severe, challenging, and horrible relationship with drugs (Moyers, 1998). She shared her recovery story in the Portrait of Addiction, and though she was successful on her way to a normal life, a systemic intervention approach would make it much easier and more comfortable for this woman to recover and feel free from cocaine.
Systemic therapy is a special method of addressing patients’ problems and understanding their needs through their relationships with their families and close ones. This approach may include systemic family therapy or couples counseling in order for a specialist to get an idea of the dynamics of the relationships and the possible reasons for the patient to become an addict (Morgen, 2016). Since Maia Szalavitz did not mention her parents or husband in her interview, it is only possible to make assumptions based on her story.
According to Szalavitz, she first tried cocaine together with her boyfriend before starting to attend Ivy League school, which probably means that her family was not poor (Moyers, 1998). In this case, a specialist should study the situation with Szalavitz’s parents and learn why she had an opportunity and desire to use drugs. Since she mentioned not being popular among her peers, maybe she also lacked her family’s attention, which is a problem that had partly led to her addiction (Moyers, 1998). If this woman came early in recovery to a specialist together with her partner or family member, it would be possible to solve some issues that prevented her from living in real life and help her get rid of her addiction sooner.
References
Morgen, K. (2016). Substance use disorders and addictions. Sage.
Moyers, B. (1998). Portrait of addiction. Films on Demand.