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21st September 2023
Author: David Clark Posted: 21st September 2023
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Eternal Media

Eternal Media is an innovative and inspiring recovery community, which was created by Marcus Fair for the 'Now What?' People in long-term addiction who are wanting to stop using and change their lives, particularly those who have become isolated from mainstream society, are faced with this key question: 'Now What?'
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21st September 2023
Author: David Clark Posted: 21st September 2023
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Safety and Reciprocity in Mental Health: Bessel van der Kolk

'Social support is not the same as merely being in the presence of others. The critical issue is reciprocity: being truly heard and seen by the people around us, feeling that we are held in someone else’s mind and heart. For our physiology to to calm down, heal and...'
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20th September 2023
Author: David Clark Posted: 20th September 2023
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Aboriginal healing practices for loss and trauma: Bruce Perry

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.
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20th September 2023
Author: David Clark Posted: 20th September 2023
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Asset-Based Community Development (ABCD), Part 1

'Everyone has a gift (they are born with), a skill (they have learned and practiced, and could potentially share/teach), and a passion (that they act on) that they can contribute to the wellbeing of their community. Social movements grow stronger...'
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20th September 2023
Author: David Clark Posted: 20th September 2023
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Kevan’s Recovery Story: ‘He’s a Loser and Will Never Be Any Good’

So, I started a support group for people with alcohol problems in my own home. I often used to meet people that I had been in treatment with out and about, and eventually I started to say, ‘Come down to my place Tuesday night.’ Within a month, I had six people...
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20th September 2023
Author: David Clark Posted: 20th September 2023
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Wulf Livingston, Part 2

Wulf Livingston initially describes the national addiction recovery movement which grew up in the UK between 2008-12, and then how this initiative faded at a national level over later years. What we see today in terms of recovery is very different to what occurred at this earlier time. Wulf goes on to talk about North Wales Recovery...
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20th September 2023
Author: David Clark Posted: 20th September 2023
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Addicted to Heroin & Crack Cocaine: Marcus Fair

‘Oh shit, I’ve got to do everything that I did yesterday again today, and that’s the horrible thing about addiction. It’s the same thing, the same crime, the same people, doing the same desperate things living the way you do.’ Marcus points out that when you’re ‘asleep’ after taking...
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20th September 2023
Author: David Clark Posted: 20th September 2023
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Reflections on People in Recovery: Alexandre Laudet

'I have enormous respect and even awe for people who’ve managed to conquer addiction. Interestingly, many usually don’t stop there. They go on to do extraordinary things, professionally and otherwise, that mere ‘normies’, as those of us not in recovery are called, rarely...
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20th September 2023
Author: David Clark Posted: 20th September 2023
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Introducing Wulf Livingston

Wulf describes coming into the addiction treatment field as someone who was not conventional. He wasn’t recognised as a professional, even though he had a Social Work qualification and a Masters in alcohol studies. He initially failed to get a job after seven or eight interviews until he was appointed at Lifeline by Ian Wardle.
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20th September 2023
Author: David Clark Posted: 20th September 2023
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Mutual Aid, Part 1

Wendy Dossett points out that at mutual aid group meetings, no-one is better than anyone else. 'Everyone has done the same shit.' At the end of the clip, she says, ‘But for navigating a path to recovery from addiction, the central kind of emotional journey that that is, you’re so much better off with somebody who’s trod that path...
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20th September 2023
Author: David Clark Posted: 20th September 2023
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Cocaine: The Experience of Using and Quitting

The researchers were ‘pleasantly surprised’ by the relative ease with which so many cocaine users managed to quit. Their strategies were in general fairly commonsensical social avoidance strategies designed simply to put distance between themselves and the drug.
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20th September 2023
Author: David Clark Posted: 20th September 2023
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Fulfilling Trauma’s Hidden Promise: James Gordon

Dr Gordon briefly refers to several topics, but the main focus of his talk is on the Center’s work in Gaza. He starts by describing how he is sitting in Shigeo, a Gaza suburb bombed out during the war with Israel, with a group of eight children who have lost their fathers. He’s working with the children in a healing circle group.
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19th September 2023
Author: David Clark Posted: 19th September 2023
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Adam’s Recovery Story: ‘A Moment of Clarity’

I really began to feel hope, hope that I could and would have a new life. I had been unable to relate to people for a long time, but I now started to interact with people and make new friends. I felt that I belonged. People cared about me and wanted to help me. I shared experiences...
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19th September 2023
Author: David Clark Posted: 19th September 2023
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Key Steps in Healing: Judy Atkinson

‘The study found that the most essential step in healing is to establish a culturally safe environment to do the deeper work, which enables people to change their lives. The next step is to find and explore, both individually and collectively, the stories that make people who they are...'
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19th September 2023
Author: David Clark Posted: 19th September 2023
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James Deakin, Part 2

In our first interview, James describes working as a chef, then as a mental health worker and Drug Interventions Programme (DIP) worker. Once he started working in the recovery field, James realised he could make a significant contribution. He talks about North Wales Recovery Communities (NWRC) and what he tells its members.
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