What Is Non-Abstinence-Based Recovery?

Rethinking what it means to heal.

Non-abstinence-based recovery challenges one of the most deeply held assumptions in the recovery world: that healing only “counts” if you quit completely. That if you’re still using—at all, in any amount—you’re still sick, still in denial, still failing.

But what if that’s not true?

What if the binary of “sober” vs. “not sober” doesn’t reflect the full reality of human experience, especially for those navigating complex trauma, mental health conditions, or survival systems shaped by oppression and disconnection?

Non-abstinence-based recovery is an approach that meets people where they are—not where we think they should be. It prioritizes reducing harm, building self-trust, and restoring systemic balance over demanding immediate or permanent abstinence. Instead of declaring war on behavior, it asks deeper questions: What function is this serving? What else might help? What does healing look like for you?

In this model, any step toward less harm, more self-awareness, more coherence, more life—is valid. Progress isn’t defined by perfection, but by alignment. Maybe someone drinks less. Maybe they switch from a riskier substance to a safer one. Maybe they don’t stop at all—but they start building the scaffolding of care, safety, and support that might make stopping feel possible later.

For some people, abstinence will eventually feel like the right path. But in the Suma Method, that decision is emergent, not enforced. It comes from system stability, not external pressure. We trust that as people heal the internal fragmentation that drives compulsion, their behavior will shift—organically, sustainably, and in ways that are right for them.

Non-abstinence-based recovery is not about giving up on healing. It’s about expanding our definition of it. It’s about making room for the complexity of being human, and about offering tools—not ultimatums—for change.

Because the goal isn’t to be clean.
The goal is to be whole.