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We covered a good deal of ground including: how the four of us have come to be in the room together; our  individual connections with recovery; a far-reaching discussion on the nature of recovery and how it works, in particular with reference to Eternal Media and NWRC; and how recovery communities survive in the wider system...

Eternal Media is a media production social enterprise and charity, located in Wrexham, that makes high impact documentary films. Their professional, award-winning producers empower and mentor volunteer film crews, which comprise people who are rebuilding their lives and are recovering from addiction and/or an involvement in...

Whilst in North Wales, I will be spending time in two special recovery communities, North Wales Recovery Communities (Bangor) and Eternal Media (Wrexham). I'm really excited! I've learnt so much about these communities by listening to Wulf's interviews with the two community Founders, James Deakin and Marcus Fair...

Huseyin describes the Japanese art of Kintsugi that involves putting broken pieces of pottery back together again with gold dust. He shows a broken plate he keeps (fixed with brass rather than gold!) and describes how Kintsugi teaches you that your broken parts are valued—you embrace your cracks!

'The healing of trauma requires the establishment of an environment of safety, without judgement or prejudice… Cultural safety is the identification a person makes with factors that are derived from the culture, belief systems or worldviews that allow them to feel safe while being with those to whom they have gone to help... ‘… [it] requires a supportive environment with people who care.

These community stories of much to teach us about getting better at being human together. The late South African theologian Bishop Desmond Tutu popularised the term Ubuntu, which means “a person is a person through other people”, or “I am because we are.”

These Aboriginal healing practices are repetitive, rhythmic, relevant, relational, respectful, and rewarding; they are experiences known to be effective in altering neural systems involved in the stress response in both animals models and humans. The remarkable resonance of these practices with the neurobiology of trauma is not unexpected. These practices emerged because they...

We have decided to put together some events, i.e., running up Snowdon in under 2 hours (this has been postponed for a few weeks due to dangerous weather conditions). At the end of July, I will be doing 7 marathons in 7 days, and in September (Recovery Month), we are...

'Wendy has so much to offer to, and insight on, the process of recovery. She is honest and thoughtful in reflections on her own recovery journey. Rich and insightful in her understanding of the 12-Step Fellowship and particularly the role that spirituality plays in recovery. Finally, Wendy has an abundance of wisdom...' Wulf

Gary’s drinking spiralled out of control, so by the age of 30 he had a failed marriage, had lost jobs, and accumulated criminal convictions. He had broken his back and lost parts of his hand in various alcohol-related accidents. He had experienced a number of hospitalisations and clinical detoxes and been in various residential rehabilitation...

‘… Recovering people need empathy and TLC (Tender Loving Care). Rapport with the patient is key to helping them recover. In my opinion, good rapport should be a given working in this field—it is what I experienced in rehab and what helped me get better, and it is what I aim for with my clients. I chat with them about...

He emphasises that he was a very busy addict. ‘Every waking moment was about getting money, to get drugs, repeat…’When someone like him gets into recovery, they are thinking, ‘How I am going to fill those 24 hours? If you can’t remember what you used to do, or you were a kid when you got onto drugs, and you have no outside...

James Deakin described his vision to Wulf. He considered it very important that NWRC was not like a traditional rehab, ‘sealed off’ from the community in which it is embedded. He wanted the residential part of NWRC to be integrated with the surrounding community.

I'll be spending a week in North Wales in late April with my Recovery Voices colleague Wulf Livingston and his lovely wife Melanie. It'll be a full-on week for me as I will be spending a good deal of time at North Wales Recovery Communities (NWRC) in Bangor, where a number of activities are planned.  I'll also be visiting Eternal Media...

When people get into AA and NA they learn a culture of unusual self-disclosure. They become very open and honest. However, it is still not acceptable to be a recovering alcoholic or to have problems with alcohol in much of society. For example, Charles Kennedy, leader of the Lib Dems, vanished from the political scene...