Month: February 2015

Most of us have become familiar with the concept of modern technology as a “double-edged sword”. Although we find many wonderful benefits in possessing a smart phone, tablet, computers of various forms, or gaming devices, we also have come to recognize there are drawbacks, limitations, and even concerns of various forms of “addiction” lurking in the shadows for those who may find themselves “over-indulging”.

William White’s 2006 work The Rhetoric of Recovery Advocacy: An Essay on the Power of Language is a powerful paper that suggests an essential focus for our recovery community work. He analyses the impact of the language that we apply to ourselves and that has been assigned to us by others.

Language helps to define us to ourselves, and shapes how others define us. Social policies and laws that are influenced by public perception are a result.