A total of 14 young adults who had not abused drugs for between 2 and 16 years were interviewed for this study. The interviews were semistructured, open-ended, in-depth sessions with a therapist trained in adolescent substance abuse. The authors identified young adults who had completed a structured inpatient and/or outpatient substance abuse treatment program and whom they believed were successfully working a recovery program. The authors identified themes that correlated with successful treatment outcome and identified demographic variables that were significant pretreatment risk factors. An informal content analysis of the interviews yielded variables that seemed to be associated with successful outcomes for the subjects. No formal statistical analysis of the data was possible, given the informal nature of the data collection and the sample size. The study found that length of stay in treatment, involvement with self-help programs, psychotropic medication, family support, peer support, spirituality, and other factors were helpful for long-term recovery. The authors acknowledge that a major limitation of this inquiry is that it does not meet minimum standards for research. The authors hope, however, that this inquiry can inform directions for further research. 26 references