Making Places for People by Christie Johnson Coffin and Jenny Young

Author:Christie Johnson Coffin and Jenny Young
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781317506799
Publisher: Routledge

Figure 8.3

Transit-oriented development, Oakland, California, Christie Johnson Coffin, photographer

Milieu Therapy

The quality of human and physical environments affects health significantly. Changing places has a therapeutic side. Wanderlust and “the grass is always greener” are phenomena basic to the immigrant and American nature. History, experience, and literature are full of stories about how the journey transforms lives, though sometimes the result may be to better understand the meaning and value of home. Isabel Allende in Maya’s Book portrays a dramatic, almost magical, behavior change in a teenager who moves from drug, alcohol, and crime problems in the United States to better health on a remote island off the coast of Chile. Although it is largely true that people cannot escape their problems by moving, milieu does affect behavioral health, sometimes almost as dramatically as for Allende’s heroine.

Many with drug and chemical dependency problems move out of their home environment for several months, either into residential treatment programs or into different towns. Those who move are more likely to stay clean and sober, even if it takes them several tries to achieve this. Veterans upon their return from the Vietnam War were not expected to escape from chemical dependencies they had acquired. Instead, many succeeded, and this change has been attributed to the therapeutic benefits of home environments compared to conditions of war.

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