All Posts

20th September 2023
Author: David Clark Posted: 20th September 2023
Categories

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.
Do you like it?
Read more
20th September 2023
Author: David Clark Posted: 20th September 2023
Categories

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...
Do you like it?
Read more
20th September 2023
Author: David Clark Posted: 20th September 2023
Categories

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.
Do you like it?
Read more
20th September 2023
Author: David Clark Posted: 20th September 2023
Categories

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.
Do you like it?
Read more
19th September 2023
Author: David Clark Posted: 19th September 2023
Categories

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...
Do you like it?
Read more
19th September 2023
Author: David Clark Posted: 19th September 2023
Categories

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...'
Do you like it?
Read more
19th September 2023
Author: David Clark Posted: 19th September 2023
Categories

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.
Do you like it?
Read more
19th September 2023
Author: David Clark Posted: 19th September 2023
Categories

Treatment & Recovery

Wulf Livingston has always paraphrased the role of treatment in the recovery journey as: 'if you listen to the experts [people who have found recovery], the staying off is harder than the getting off.' However, he points out that 90% of money is spent on helping people get off, while 10% is spent on helping people stay off.
Do you like it?
Read more
19th September 2023
Author: Wulf Livingston Posted: 19th September 2023
Categories

Introducing Marcus Fair

Marcus shares with us his decades of drug use, and a spiral into chaos and mayhem, his survival and eventual successful recovery. We then hear how influential individuals and moments alongside an introduction to broadcasting, and in particular film production, provided Marcus with a a fresh sense of purpose.
Do you like it?
Read more
19th September 2023
Author: David Clark Posted: 19th September 2023
Categories

Recovery Friendly Universities: Wendy Dossett

This Recovery Friendly University Pledge is an official commitment to welcoming and supporting people in recovery, valuing the contribution they make, reducing the barriers to university for people in recovery, and fostering a supportive environment that enables...
Do you like it?
Read more
19th September 2023
Author: David Clark Posted: 19th September 2023
Categories

Impact of a Loved One’s Substance Use Problems on Family Members

If two close family members (a conservative estimate) were affected, this meant that there were at least 4.2 million people in the UK alone living with the negative consequences of someone else’s drug and/or alcohol problem.
Do you like it?
Read more
19th September 2023
Author: David Clark Posted: 19th September 2023
Categories

What is distinctive about an ABCD Process – Four Essential Elements: Cormac Russell and John McKnight

‘The primary goal of an Asset-Based Community Development (ABCD) process is to enhance collective citizen visioning and production. This paper discusses each of four essential elements in detail in an effort to...
Do you like it?
Read more
19th September 2023
Author: David Clark Posted: 19th September 2023
Categories

Transforming Trauma Self-Care Resources: James Gordon

'The Transformation will help you discover hidden resources of physical and mental energy and hope, as well as your capacity to imagine and make use of perspectives and solutions that may have previously been unthinkable. You may also discover the treasure of...'
Do you like it?
Read more
18th September 2023
Author: David Clark Posted: 18th September 2023
Categories

Sustainable Community Development – From What’s Wrong To What’s Strong: Cormac Russell

'Sadly, that focus has caused huge harm to millions of people around the world, especially poor people and especially communities. And it has created four harms, unintended as they may be in particular.'
Do you like it?
Read more
18th September 2023
Author: David Clark Posted: 18th September 2023
Categories

Kevin and Kerry’s Recovery Story: ‘A Family’s Journey’, Part 1

As I got further involved in the world of drugs, the part of me that would say, ‘This is wrong’ was being squashed. In that environment, with everyone around you using, the drugs take over your whole life and you take more and more risks. I hated what I was, and years went by before...
Do you like it?
Read more
12345678910111213141516171819202122232425262728293031323334353637383940