AOD Glossary

The 12-step model is a spiritual foundation for personal recovery for people with addiction. The 12 -Step approach suggests that recovery includes a distinctly spiritual journey from a life of confusion and grief to a place of serenity and peace.​

Alcohol & Other Drugs

The complete discontinuation of substance(s).

A chronic, relapsing brain disease characterised by compulsive drug seeking and use, despite harmful consequences. Addiction refers to a wide range of harms arising from misuse of substances or from gambling.

Support and/or services provided after the conclusion of a specific alcohol and other drug treatment programme.

A common tool for assessing whether substance use problems are mild, moderate, or severe, and may indicate if more intensive treatment is required.

Buprenorphine is a medication that helps people recover from opioid addiction. It works by easing cravings and withdrawal symptoms, so you don’t feel sick or uncomfortable when stopping opioids.

Case management helps people get the right care by creating a plan, connecting you to services, and making sure everything works together smoothly.

The presence of both mental health and addiction problems. People with co-existing problems have one or more mental disorders as well as one or more substance use disorders.

The presence of one or more additional diseases or disorders co-occurring with a primary disease or disorder, in AOD this often refers to a mental health issue co-occurring with dependence.

Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) is a short-term, structured type of talking therapy that focuses on the present. It helps people understand how their thoughts and feelings influence their actions, especially when dealing with challenges like substance use. By recognising unhelpful thinking patterns and strong emotions, CBT supports individuals to develop healthier ways of coping and responding. The goal is to build insight and practical strategies that strengthen wellbeing and recovery.

Community Reinforcement Approach (CRA) is a therapy that helps people reshape their daily lives so that healthy, drug-free living feels more rewarding than alcohol or drug use. It works by reducing the rewards linked to substance use and increasing positive reinforcement for sobriety through supportive relationships, meaningful activities, and practical lifestyle changes. The aim is to make recovery both achievable and fulfilling.

Identifies an expansive view of the person's substance use issues across a bio-psycho-socio-cultural-spiritual context.

Compulsory treatment services are those set up to provide treatment under the Substance Addiction Compulsory Assessment and Treatment (SACAT) Act 2017. They are designed for people with severe substance addiction who are unable to make safe decisions about their treatment. SACAT allows compulsory care to ensure individuals receive the support they need when their health and wellbeing are at serious risk.

These drugs slow down brain functioning and make people feel relaxed. They reduce inhibitions, coordination and impair concentration and judgement. In large enough doses these can cause death.These include Alcohol, cannabis, kava, methanol, solvents, opiates & opioids, benzodiazepines, Gamma Hydroxybutyrate (GHB), Gamma Butyrolactone (GBL).

The identification of a health issue from its signs and symptoms.

DBT is a structured therapy that combines individual sessions, group skills training, and ongoing support. It helps people learn practical skills to manage emotions, improve relationships, and cope with distress. At its core, DBT balances two key ideas: accepting yourself as you are, while also working toward positive change.

Early intervention means providing support as soon as signs of distress or difficulties appear. In the context of mental health and addiction, it focuses on recognising and addressing early symptoms before they become more serious, helping people get the right care sooner and improving long-term wellbeing.

Emotional regulation is the ability to manage and guide your emotional responses, rather than being controlled by them. It involves recognising what you feel, choosing how and when to experience those emotions, and deciding how to express them in ways that support your wellbeing and relationships.

Group therapy is one of the most common approaches for substance use disorder treatment.​ In group therapy, positive peer support helps individuals abstain from substance abuse. Substance abuse treatment employs a variety of group treatment models to meet client needs during the multi-phase process of recovery.​

• Psycho-educational groups, designed to educate clients about substance abuse, and related behaviours and consequences.

• Skills development groups, which hone the skills necessary to break free of addictions.​

• Cognitive—behavioural groups, which rearrange patterns of thinking and action that lead to addiction.​

• Support groups, which comprise a forum where members can challenge each other’s thoughts and support constructive change.​

• Process groups, an opportunity to share concerns and challenges, and receive several perspectives, support, feedback, and encouragement from other peers.

Overall, group therapy combines education, skill‑building, and peer connection to strengthen recovery and promote long‑term wellbeing.

These drugs distort perceptions of reality. They can heighten sensory perceptions and provide euphoric mystical experiences. They can also make you feel paranoid, anxious, and precipitate mental health problems. Some hallucinogens such as LSD can cause death.These include Datura, Lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), Ketamine, magic mushrooms, mescaline

Approaches that aim to reduce the adverse consequences of any drug use to the individual, families, and the community (whether legal or illegal) without necessarily reducing drug consumption itself.

A route of administration of drug use that is injected into the veins via a needle.

Traditional Māori dances performed by a group standing in rows.

Kaupapa Māori programs offer a mana-enhancing and mana-protective service to all tāngata whai ora which is offered in a by-Māori-for-Māori framework (i.e., note: While they are by-Māori-for-Māori by design they welcome non-Māori tāngata whai ora). This approach represents an indigenous response tailored to effectively address the mental health and addiction needs of tāngata whai ora and their whānau.

An isolated occasion of returning to AOD use.

Methadone is a long-acting medication that helps people with opioid addiction feel better by easing withdrawal symptoms and cravings. It doesn’t cause a high like other drugs, making it a safer option for recovery. It can also be used to treat pain.

Attending to what is happening in the present moment (your thoughts, feelings, physical sensations, and environment).

A collaborative, person‑centred counselling approach that helps individuals resolve ambivalence and strengthen their own motivation for change. This supportive framework encourages people to explore their feelings and motivations, creating a clearer and more effective path toward positive change.

Non-Government Organisations (NGOs) are New Zealand health and/or disability providers that receive Vote Health funding (i.e., funding from Health New Zealand, Te Whatu Ora, or the Māori Health Authority, Te Aka Whai Ora,). Many are not-for-profit.

The opportunity to receive one‑on‑one support from a qualified professional. Individual counselling can be especially valuable for addressing significant trauma or sensitive issues that may not be safe or appropriate to process in a group setting.

Supports people who are addicted to opioids by providing them with a similar medicine (methadone or buprenorphine).

Pacific services provide a Pacific-led approach integrating Pacific values and models of care into service design and delivery. Pasifika services emphasise trusted relationships and deep connections within Pacific communities, are designed and delivered at the intersection of biopsychosocial factors and draw clearly on cultural and spiritual perspectives central to the identity of Pacific communities.

Peer support offers tāngata whaiora (people seeking wellness) the chance to walk alongside someone who has lived through their own recovery journey. Because peers understand the challenges firsthand, they can provide empathy, encouragement, and practical guidance. Peer support is now widely recognised as an effective, evidence‑based approach to preventing relapse in addiction recovery.

Pharmacotherapy refers to the use of prescribed medications to treat disorders, including substance use disorders. It involves managing health conditions with pharmaceutical products, specifically replacing the drug of dependence with a legally prescribed substitute in the case of drug dependency.

The body’s altered physiological state that develops after repeated use of a drug. Over time, the brain and body adjust to the presence of the substance, leading to dependence and withdrawal symptoms when use is reduced or stopped.

Offers community reintegration to apply treatment skills in everyday life and to re-enter society. Post-treatment support offers ongoing structure and accountability, which are crucial for long-term success. People who stay engaged with the process for an extended period tend to have better outcomes in maintaining abstinence.

Structured programmes that provide education, support, and coping strategies to help people prepare for intensive AOD treatment and establish recovery behaviours.

Psychological dependence occurs when drug use dominates a person’s thoughts, emotions, and behaviours, leading to compulsive use and negative emotional states when the substance is absent.

Describes those participating in or have completed treatment and continue to work daily on maintaining behavioural change and avoiding relapse.

A toolbox of resources and strengths an individual has to assist building a stronger, lasting recovery. When supporting someone in their recovery journey, recovery capital is a powerful lens to see the whole person.

A return to substance use after a period of abstinence or reduced use, often accompanied by reinstatement of dependence symptoms and the behaviours and patterns that go with it.

Relapse prevention is a cognitive-behavioural approach to relapse with the goals of identifying triggers (an external or internal event that initiates the desire to engage in using behaviour) and preventing high risk situations (an event that increases a conditioned response of using AOD) in which often following a 'seemingly irrelevant decision' (decisions that seem to have nothing at all to do with using alcohol or drugs, but can move people one small step at a time, closer to relapse).

Offers a short-term and supportive opportunity to re-establish or engage in recovery from addiction. Respite is intended for individuals who may have undergone treatment and require extra support to continue their recovery journey. This may include those who have experienced a relapse, are at risk of relapsing, or are particularly vulnerable.

Risk management helps make your care safer by reducing the chance of problems and making sure all parts of your treatment work together to support the best possible outcome.

SMART Recovery is a proven approach that uses practical tools from Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) to help people overcome addiction or harmful habits and build a more balanced, healthy life.

A useful way to identify whether substance use problems may or may not be present, and subsequently whether further assessment is required.

These drugs speed up the body’s functioning: increasing pulse, breathing rate and blood pressure. They make people feel aroused, alert and more confident. They also impact mood resulting in emotional dysregulation, anxiety, and depression.These include caffeine, nicotine, amphetamines, methamphetamine, cocaine, Benzylpiperazine (BZP), and Methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA).

A strengths-based approach helps you build on what you’re already good at to grow and feel better.

Patterns of symptoms caused by using a substance that an individual continues taking despite its negative effects. A disorder meeting criterion for one of the Diagnostic Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV) substance use disorders.

Tangata whai ora: Service User / Consumer / Person seeking wellness (singular)Tāngata whai ora: Service Users / Consumers / People seeking wellness (plural)Rangatahi: YouthKaimahi: StaffMātauranga Māori: Māori knowledgeTikanga: Māori customary practices or behavioursRongoā: Medication, medicineTakawaenga: Mediator Whānau: Family. It includes physical, emotional and spiritual dimensions and is based on whakapapa. Whānau can be multi-layered, flexible and dynamic. Whānau is based on a Māori and an iwi world view.Whanaungatanga: A relationship through shared experiences and working together which provides people with a sense of belonging.

A therapeutic community is an abstinence based self-help and mutual aid model created with the idea that people with similar problems can help one another to get better. This is based on the theory that self-driven lifestyle and behavioural change occurs within the context of community facilitated social learning.

A collaborative relationship between a client and worker based on empathy, respect, trust, and unconditional positive regard, with the shared goal of overcoming the client’s suffering and self-destructive behaviours.

Titration means slowly adjusting your medication dose over time to find what works best for you. This helps your doctor manage side effects and make sure the medicine is safe and effective for your recovery.

Physical adjustment in response to repeated use of a substance, so that larger or more frequent doses are needed to achieve the same effects.

Trauma‑informed approaches use a strengths‑based framework that recognises and responds to the impact of trauma, emphasising physical, psychological, and emotional safety for both providers and survivors, while creating opportunities for individuals to rebuild a sense of control and empowerment.

Provides clinical education and support for people to make positive and sustained behavioural change. Treatment enables people to develop healthy coping skills to replace the disruptive impact of substance addiction on their brain and behaviour and regain control over their lives.

The experience of physical symptoms that occur when a person stops using alcohol or other drugs (AOD). These symptoms can range from mild discomfort to more severe reactions, depending on the substance and level of dependence.