Addicted? Don’t Go to Rehab
Addiction treatment in America must undergo a revolution
Ian McLoone’s experience seeking treatment for his heroin addiction was so horrific that it inspired him to become a therapist himself, with the hope of changing an expensive, ineffective, and wildly outdated field from the inside.
In 2010, when he was 28 years old, McLoone sought treatment at a rehab in downtown Minneapolis. The program specialized in providing care for people whose addiction landed them in the criminal justice system. McLoone was on probation for possession of heroin and cocaine.
“I was doing whatever they told me,” he says. “I finally hit a wall, and I had to do something other than continue to lie to my wife, get kicked out of the house, and act like a fool in front of my kids.”
While out on a pass — an outing permitted by the treatment center’s staff — to attend his son’s first birthday party, McLoone received a phone call. It was the treatment center telling him to come back to the facility immediately. “What happened?” McLoone asked. “You have to come back now,” was all they said. McLoone put down his slice of birthday cake and promptly left his son’s party.
“I got back that night, and they put me on ‘the bench.’”
