There Is Still a Solution
Step Two, ninety years later: Joe Van Wie reflects on shared recovery, thoughts and emotions, social class, and the ocean-liner metaphor in Alcoholics Anonymous.
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Essays on recovery, culture, and being human. Explore the ideas, questions, and stories behind the work.
What If Pain Doesn’t Have To Be The Fuel
A reflection on intelligence, progress, and whether meaningful change has to begin with suffering. Joe considers another source of motivation: curiosity, connection, and the possibility of a better life.
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Ernest Hemingway: A Postmortem Clinical Review
After watching the Hemingway documentary, Joe reflects on the experiences behind the literary legend, including family history, trauma, alcohol, and emotional distress. This is an interpretive essay about a historical figure.
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Recovery Capital: Wealth That Actually Matters
Recovery involves more than willpower. Joe explores the value of relationships, resources, stability, and opportunities that people can draw on as they build a life in recovery.
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Psychosis Lite
An essay connecting questions about perception and shared reality with substance use and modern culture. Joe begins with the complex range of experiences described as psychosis.
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The Algorithm Ate Act II
What happens when attention is constantly interrupted? Joe considers digital environments, the stories people follow, and the place of sustained attention in recovery.
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‘From Amsterdam to Artificial Intelligence’ Published In Columbia University’s Social Work Review
Joe reflects on his interest in artificial intelligence and the relationship between technology, human vulnerability, and social work. The essay introduces his published work and his concerns about responsible deployment.
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Sacred Ground, Shared Reality
Shared meaning can make a place feel sacred without requiring a particular religion. Joe explores the boundaries, relationships, and agreements that give recovery spaces their significance.
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Why We Feel What Others Feel: A Deep Look at Empathy, Sympathy, and Compassion
Joe examines the differences between sharing another person’s feelings, recognizing their distress, and responding with care. The discussion connects empathy with emotional regulation and relationships.
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Shame & Guilt
Joe distinguishes concern about an action from a painful judgment about the self. The essay explores what that distinction can mean for accountability, belonging, and recovery.
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Christmas, Agency, and the King Who Refused Power: A Non-Christian Reflection after Forty Seven Years
A personal reflection on the Christmas story from outside Christian belief. Joe revisits the ideas of sacrifice, power, and agency that shaped his upbringing.
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Thanksgiving, The Artifice of Gratitude and The Practice That Saves Us
Gratitude can feel difficult when it is expected on cue. Drawing on memories of recovery meetings, Joe explores the difference between performing thankfulness and practicing it.
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The Truth in the Whole: A Holistic Definition of Recovery at Fellowship House
Using a philosophical starting point, Joe considers why a person’s recovery needs to be understood in the context of their whole life, including relationships and experience.
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Sisyphus, the Boot Camp, and the Absurd Mercy of Recovery
Memories of a teenage boot camp meet the story of Sisyphus in this personal essay. Joe reflects on punishment, repetition, and the search for meaning in recovery.
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New OS for an Old Mind
Joe describes the ongoing practice of self-examination in Step Ten. The essay explores how noticing thoughts and reactions can become part of daily life.
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Coffee & Cigarettes: The Original Recovery Communion
An essay about the familiar rituals around early recovery meetings and the connection people found in them. Joe reflects on belonging through the ordinary details of shared experience.
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One Day at a Time – The Physics and Humor of Now
Joe revisits a familiar recovery phrase through reflections on time, attention, and the present moment, with a sense of humor about the difficulty of staying here.
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Consent Is Sacred — and We Didn’t Sign Up for This Experiment
Beginning with the role of consent in treatment, Joe explores trust, personal agency, and the responsibilities that come with technological change.
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Writing Family Addictus: Why Addiction Is a Family Story
Joe explains the questions and conversations that led him to write Family Addictus, including the ways addiction and recovery affect the people around an individual.
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God As We Don’t Understand Him: Recovery for the Non-Religious
An exploration of recovery for people who do not identify with religious belief. Joe considers how spiritual language can create barriers and how people find connection and meaning.
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The Evolving Self: Story, Memory & Recovery
The stories people tell about themselves can change as recovery continues. Joe explores memory, protective narratives, and the insights that emerge through relationships and reflection.
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Hope: A Dangerous Gift Or A Necessary Beginning
Hope can offer direction while also feeling painful or distant. Joe considers that tension and what a future-oriented idea means to someone navigating early recovery.
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Social Mobility: From Reptilian Alarm To Civic Recovery
Joe connects modern pressures around status and opportunity with older patterns of threat and survival. The essay explores how social conditions shape a person’s experience of recovery.
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Epigenetics and Addiction: A Mirror of Environment, Not Destiny
An essay about the relationship between genes, environment, and experience. Joe challenges fatalistic stories about addiction and considers the importance of a person’s surroundings.
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Backrooms
The internet’s unsettling Backrooms myth becomes a metaphor for isolation and disconnection. Joe connects it with his own memories of addiction and the feeling of being lost.
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Honesty: The Recovery Superpower That Connects Us to Reality
Honesty involves more than stating facts. Joe explores disclosure, shared reality, and the difficult work of letting other people see an internal story that has been hidden.
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The Evolution of Christmas and the Illusions of Recovery: A Cultural Reflection
Joe explores the cultural stories and seasonal traditions associated with Christmas, then reflects on their themes of transformation, meaning, and personal change.
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Navigating Grief and Maintaining Recovery: Finding Meaning Amidst Loss
Drawing on collective mourning and a deeply personal family loss, Joe reflects on grief, meaning, and the importance of connection while navigating recovery.
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The Impact of Television Series on Understanding Culture, Human Behavior and Recovery
Television can let viewers see a family from several perspectives at once. Joe uses The Sopranos to explore emotional complexity, culture, and the stories people tell about themselves.
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Addiction vs. Free Will: A Neuroscientific Perspective
Joe explores the tension between conscious intention and automatic processes in addiction. The essay brings together philosophical perspectives and questions about agency and decision-making.
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Bill Wilson: A Case Study in Recovery and the Evolving Understanding of Addiction
A reflection on the life and experiences of Alcoholics Anonymous co-founder Bill Wilson. Joe considers the relationship between personal struggle and the development of a recovery community.
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Possibilities vs. Probabilities: A Path to Real Change In Recovery
Joe distinguishes imagining a different future from taking actions that make change more likely. The essay focuses on intention, practical steps, and participation in recovery.
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