The origins of the Minnesota Model of addiction treatment - A first person account

The Minnesota Model, also known as the abstinence model, of addiction treatment was created in a state mental hospital in the 1950s by two young men, one who was to become a psychologist, the other who was to become a psychiatrist, neither of whom had prior experience treating addicts or alcoholics. The model spread first to a small not-for-profit organization called the Hazelden Foundation and then throughout the country. The key element of this novel approach to addiction treatment was the blending of professional and trained nonprofessional (recovering) staff around the principles of Alcoholics Anonymous (AA). There was an individualized treatment plan with active family involvement in a 28-day inpatient setting and participation in Alcoholics Anonymous both during and after treatment. The education of patients and family about the disease of addiction made this a busy program from morning to night, seven days a week. In recent years the Minnesota Model has evolved to include outpatient care, and the 28-day inpatient stay has become more flexible, but the core ideas, developed more than 40 years ago when these were revolutionary concepts, remain at the heart of modern addiction treatment. This model is still spreading within the addiction treatment community in the United States and throughout the world, having made a more dramatic impact on the private than on the public sector. The revolution in health care was started by a small group of dedicated people with a few big ideas. It has been effective in improving the lives of hundreds of thousands of addicted people and their family members.