I know people who have worked at rehabs; I shot a pilot at a rehab. There's a surprising number of employees that were, at one point, patients. Reading the above you can grasp why; reading the above you can appreciate their utility. It gives them a useful well of empathy from which to draw. It's a difficult dichotomy, though. Part of the 12-step mantra is that you, as an individual, are powerless. Part of the solution is that you, as an individual, need to reclaim some power. This results in a philosophy where the good things that happen to you are because of fate but the bad things that happen to you are due to your fucking up. Recovered addicts end up with a refined appreciation for addiction. They can also end up with an impressive self-loathing streak. You have never met a fat-hater quite like a formerly-fat person... and you have never met a bigot quite like a closet homosexual. "There but for the grace of God go I."