Blog

There is a resonance through our conversation and David’s work that what recovery does at its heart is to transform. It does this through contagion, i.e. it spreads from one person to another, from one community to another. Importantly, the transformation is not only for those recovering from difficult experiences of alcohol...

It highlights and clarifies the links between wider social factors such as poverty, discrimination and inequality, along with traumas such as abuse and violence, and the resulting emotional distress or troubled behaviour, whether it is confusion, fear, despair or troubled or troubling behaviour. It also shows why those of us who...

When you share your story, and listen to other people’s stories, you realise that they have part of your story in theirs, and vice versa. This helps you identify with, and connect to, these other people. We kind of earn our seats at ‘the table’ with the pain and suffering we’ve been through. We connect in meetings through our suffering.

As some of you know, I had such a special time when I visited ARC Fitness last May. I fell in love with the city and the people there. As for ARC Fitness... Wow! Just an amazing recovery initiative.  And I was humbled by both the reception and kindness I received. Here are links to my two blog posts about my trip, along with a short film...

Happy people tended to be located in the centre of their local social networks and in large clusters of happy people. The happiness of an individual was associated with the happiness of people up to three degrees removed in the social network (e.g. to the friends of their friends’ friends). People who were surrounded by...

‘We all help each other out in difficult times, and it’s really nice to hear their stories and experiences and sort of try to relate to what they have been through. It’s very good to feel you’re not alone, and that you can open up to these people and not feel judged. I feel a lot more...'

Filming and editing ‘The Voyage to Recovery,’ which told the story of seven young service users of Adferaid Recovery in North Wales sailing on the Faramir off the south coast of England, has been one of Lucke’s favourite Eternal Media experiences.

The alternative path to community development, Asset-Based Community Development (ABCD), focuses on a community’s assets, capacities, and abilities. Significant community development takes places only when local community people are committed to investing in...

The alternative path to community development focuses on a community’s assets, capacities and abilities. Historic evidence indicates that significant community development takes places only when local community people are committed to investing in themselves and their resources. Communities are built bottom-up, not top-down. ABCD empowers individuals and communities.

An ongoing serialised account of my career, with an emphasis on describing my activities and the people who have inspired me since I closed down my university neuroscience laboratory in 2000 and started a community initiative (Wired In) focused on empowering people to...

‘I feel like the lessons that are learned in Recovery in Focus don't just apply to people in recovery from addiction. They apply to people in all aspects of their life when they are seeking to have a bit more agency and control in their actions.’ There are ‘therapeutic’ lessons that Lucke... has applied to his own life.

Recovery in Focus can be a new network for people who have a common interest in wanting to move on from their addiction and find long-term recovery. Each week, whether in the classroom or out on location, Jill illustrates the importance of connectivity, and building a network, by using a ball of string. This exercise has become a key...

First of three parts of the story of the therapeutic photography course developed by Jill Whittingham, Lead Therapist at Eternal Media, to facilitate connection and recovery. Looking through the lens of a camera gives a new and creative way to tell stories of addiction and recovery. The course is run by Jill and Lucke Gabriel.

My talk was primarily based on information provided in the excellent book 'What Happened To You? Conversations on Trauma, Resilience, and Healing' by renowned trauma expert Bruce D. Perry and well-known personality Oprah Winfrey. In my opinion, this book is...

I have my own new year's resolutions in this context. They are simple. They come from my internal motivation and require me to be with, and work with, others. They are quite simply (i) to support recovery communities and those within, when and wherever I can, and (ii) keep banging on about the value of such.