Outcome measures for medication assisted treatment for opioid use disorder emphasis key components of reducing non-prescription opioid use, decreasing risk for overdose mortality, and assisting patients in recovery by improving their quality of life. Treatment completion is a recognized factor that reduces the risk of relapse, plays an integral role in sustaining recovery, and promotes the individual’s conceptualization of their overall health. However, each individual has a different description of what recovery means to them. This exploratory study situated the individual within Tim Rhode’s risk environment framework with the goal of identifying the features and domains that make up a cultural model of recovery. This study took place at a treatment center in Metro-Portland, Oregon among 13 emerging adults, 18-25 years of age. The emerging adults’ population are a high risk, understudied group with significantly lower rates of retention than all other age groups. This study demonstrated the constant negotiation between biomedical and cultural expectations that impacted individual management of treatment and desire for recovery. Through free listing, patient centered narratives, and thematic analysis, shaped by cognitive and biocultural theories in anthropology, this study explored how cultural themes among this sample were shared and distributed