Alastair Mordey - Addiction & Recovery

Alastair Mordey - Addiction & Recovery 25 years in addiction treatment. Thai rehab operator since 2010. Addiction, recovery & mental health.

Is addiction best understood as a dopamine deficiency disorder?In this discussion, I examine the dopamine model of addic...
14/03/2026

Is addiction best understood as a dopamine deficiency disorder?

In this discussion, I examine the dopamine model of addiction, its relationship to the ASAM “brain disease” framework, and what neuroscience does — and does not — clearly support.

Does the model illuminate lived experience in recovery, or does it oversimplify a more complex psychological reality?

Full discussion here:

This video examines the dopamine deficiency model of addiction and its relationship to the ASAM definition of addiction as a primary, chronic, progressive br...

Trauma theory did not emerge in a vacuum.In this discussion, I examine the intellectual and historical roots of contempo...
07/03/2026

Trauma theory did not emerge in a vacuum.

In this discussion, I examine the intellectual and historical roots of contemporary trauma models — from their development within psychoanalysis to their later convergence with critical-theory frameworks.

How did trauma move from a clinical concept to a broader moral and explanatory framework within modern mental health culture?

Full discussion here:

This video discusses trauma, childhood adversity, and abuse in a historical, theoretical, and analytical context. References are non-graphic and are made for...

Has “complex trauma” become a catch-all diagnosis in addiction treatment?In this discussion, I examine why trauma is so ...
28/02/2026

Has “complex trauma” become a catch-all diagnosis in addiction treatment?

In this discussion, I examine why trauma is so often positioned as the primary explanatory framework — and whether this has led us to overextend the model beyond its clinical precision.

Is trauma-informed care always helpful, or has it become an orthodoxy that deserves closer scrutiny?

Full discussion here:

In recent years, “complex trauma” and trauma-informed care have become dominant frameworks within mental health and addiction treatment. In this talk I exami...

Over the past decade, “trauma-informed care” has become the dominant language of addiction treatment.Questioning it is o...
25/02/2026

Over the past decade, “trauma-informed care” has become the dominant language of addiction treatment.

Questioning it is often treated as heresy.

In this discussion, I examine whether the rise of trauma culture has weakened addiction treatment outcomes — by over-pathologising normal distress, reinforcing identity around damage, and diluting personal responsibility.

Addiction treatment is measured by outcomes — not ideology.

If certain narratives reduce resilience, increase fragility, or lower expectations, they should be examined — not protected.

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Full discussions and lectures on addiction, trauma, and recovery philosophy:

https://www.youtube.com/

Over the last decade, “trauma-informed care” has become the dominant language of addiction treatment.Questioning it is almost taboo.In this dialogue with Dav...

Addiction is often framed purely as pathology.But what if recovery also reveals something valuable about human behaviour...
21/02/2026

Addiction is often framed purely as pathology.

But what if recovery also reveals something valuable about human behaviour, discipline, and self-awareness?

In this discussion, I explore the idea that people who have struggled with addiction — and worked through recovery — often develop insights that are relevant far beyond treatment settings.

What can the wider culture learn from recovery communities?

Full discussion here:

Much of modern therapy — especially trauma-informed and victim-centred models — encourages people to understand addiction primarily through what happened to ...

There’s a growing problem in modern mental health — and it’s not a lack of compassion.It’s the rise of fragilising narra...
25/01/2026

There’s a growing problem in modern mental health — and it’s not a lack of compassion.

It’s the rise of fragilising narratives that treat people as permanently damaged, endlessly “processing”, and defined by trauma rather than capacity.

In this lecture and dialogue, I’ll be exploring how trauma-centred models — when overextended and poorly applied — can actually undermine recovery, agency, and treatment effectiveness, particularly in addiction and mental health settings.

We’ll be asking uncomfortable questions:

When does trauma language help — and when does it hinder?

Are we building resilience, or rehearsing vulnerability?

What happens when meaning, responsibility, and discipline are replaced by diagnosis alone?

This isn’t about denying real PTSD.
It’s about resisting an ideology that quietly lowers expectations — and often outcomes.

If you’re interested in recovery, mental health, or the future direction of treatment, this conversation matters.

🗓️ February 22
🕖 7pm (MST)

Attendance link: https://courses.ruzuku.com/courses/lecture-and-dialog-series--2a1a0177-ad3f-409e-82e3-790cda4c4a38/salespage

The most affordable drug and alcohol rehab in Thailand with a pioneering treatment program combining fitness, nutrition and behavioral therapies

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