Harm reduction is often thought of as merely the provision of risk reduction supplies and health education, but those practical strategies are sometimes called little ‘h’ little ‘r’ harm reduction because, according to almost every harm reduction expert spoken to, those intervention methodologies are only the lubricant for the real spirit of harm reduction that helps people change and creates spaces where escalation is less likely to occur.

The emotional connection service providers make with participants when they approach them with the spirit of harm reduction is what the majority of OGs spoken to believe allows participants the space to step out of their own narratives about their behavior and begin to see their drug use as a practical matter with practical solutions. The respect and attention to trauma, inherent in the spirit of harm reduction, ensure participants feel safer and more valued and respected. As a result they are also less likely to be emotionally triggered by being treated poorly, unfairly, or dismissively.