Spiritual Self-Schema Therapy

Spiritual self-schema therapy, also called 3-S Therapy, is a therapy for addicted individuals who have contracted or are at risk of contracting HIV, developed at Yale University School of Medicine by S. Kelly Avants and Arthur Margolin. It aims to reduce illicit drug use as well as drug- and sex-related risk behaviors, generally by promoting a spiritual way of living that aids recovery. The therapy has a non-theistic foundation based on Buddhist practices that closely resemble contemporary cognitive-behavioral techniques, and it incorporates a client's own spiritual beliefs, which need not be conventionally or specifically religious; it does not seek to convert clients to Buddhism or any other spiritual or religious belief system, instead working within each client's pre-existing set of beliefs.