Naya Arbiter Spoke on The Changing Aspects of the Therapeutic Community Model (July 28th, 2021)

On July 28th, the Therapeutic Communities of America (TCA) hosted an online training for people in the industry that included over 500 participants across the globe. The keynote speakers were Dr. George de Leon, a pioneer researcher in the field of Therapeutic and Teaching Communities and Naya Arbiter, co-founder of Amity Foundation, along with an established group of expert panelists. The discussion focused on the challenges and “changing aspects of the TC model”.

As length of treatment is decreasing, there is a definitive call to action for the hundreds of campuses across the globe, but especially in the United States, where students have less time to achieve large scale changes both internally and externally.

This is further compounded with the expansion of medically assisted treatment (MAT) that many agree is in direct conflict with a “drug free” treatment model. It was discussed that MAT might also be an involuntary victim that promotes racism and sexism; most people incarcerated with substance abuse issues are of color and a disproportionate number of women compared to men are being medicated.

These issues are some of the many facing therapeutic and teaching communities in a new age and are a major focus for Amity’s mission of promoting social justice and equality for all.