Feb 21, 2017
Dear Hossein,
The initial study comparing NA in Iran and NA in the US will involve comparison of results of a short survey of membership characteristics in the two countries. I have talked with Dr. Marc Galanter who is leading this study about the potential for follow-up studies if this first study goes well. Once this study is finished, I will make a more specific proposal along the lines that you have suggested. Like the process we went through on our initial smoking cessation study, each of these studies involves a quite elaborate process of negotiations and approvals.
I’m sure the work with the UK team will work itself out in time. They are so excited about working with you.
We both share this openness to and celebration of multiple pathways of recovery. I’ve tried to champion the slogan—recovery by any means necessary under any circumstances—to promote this idea. Your mention of people involved in both Congress 60 and NA—concurrently or sequentially—is close to what I am finding in my studies here in the U.S. While approaches to recovery are often portrayed as competing, the reality is that they are sometimes used very effectively in combination. For example, I think some countries could use the DST method to help people through recovery initiation and stabilization and then use NA as a source of longer-term recovery support, particularly in countries that have NA groups but do not have strong recovery communities like Congress 60.
I have many hopes for our future work together. My major obstacle to moving forward at present is getting my website transferred to a new operating platform and a new website manager. The person who has managed my site since its inception is no longer able to continue in this role and it has been a slow process getting a new person identified and getting the site transferred to a more easily managed operating platform such as Wordpress. I had a meeting this morning and it looks like all this will be able to finally be moving forward in the coming weeks. Once I get through this transition, I should have more time for some of our planned collaborations.
Friends and Brothers Forever,
Bill