Moving On In My Recovery (MOIMR) is a 12-session, group work programme based on an evidence-based psychological therapy called Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT). It was developed by Lee Hogan, a Consultant Clinical Psychologist and Honorary Senior Lecturer at Bangor University, and Kevin Fisher, who was CEO of the charity Helping Groups to Grow and Regional Manager for the Dyfed-Powys Drug Interventions Programme (DIP). MOIMR is also underpinned by its own unique resiliency/vulnerability model.
To aid the development of MOIMR, Kevin conducted focus groups, in seven locations across Wales during 2014. These focus groups involved primarily people in recovery from addiction, although some treatment professionals participated. The former group were asked what helped them most early on in their recovery; what topics were most important to consider, and what strategies and techniques had been most helpful to them?
Lee used the vast amount of information collected during these focus groups to create the MOIMR programme, which is underpinned by an ACT-based model that increases participants’ willingness to experience their emotional vulnerability.
James Deakin and Sarah Flynn delivered the first MOIMR session starting in May 2015 and the programme has run at Penrhyn House ever since then. Weekly three-hour long MOIMR sessions are conducted over a period of 12 weeks at Penrhyn House, and involve teaching people in a collaborative group environment. Topics considered include supporting wellbeing, dealing with anxiety and low mood, building/rebuilding relationships, planning for relapse, working with loss, self-identity, and stigma, all of which are delivered from an ACT-based perspective.
The MOIMR programme includes weekly challenges which are typically based on the topics discussed in each session, but are broadly related to encouraging participation in activities that support recovery or the enhancement of wellbeing. The challenges also encourage commitment and action towards personal values.
The sessions start with a ‘check-in’ which provides an opportunity to discuss the participants’ progress and the outcome of the challenge set in the ‘check out’ of the previous week. The check-in and check-out give group members the opportunity to share experiences and offer support to others, facilitating connection.
Sarah Flynn emphasises that the MOIMR manual is very special. The words, metaphors and graphics are carefully chosen so that they are easily understood and are engaging. Lee is an amazing facilitator, a natural storyteller who provides an example for everything. People who Sarah sees are clearly engaged in the programme from the very first session. ‘The whole MOIMR course and sessions are just so beautifully done, and that is why people keep coming back… and back. Many also want to be MOIMR facilitators.’
NWRC plays an important role in facilitating the roll out of MOIMR across North Wales. The organisation is responsible for the quarterly training of MOIMR facilitators and their ongoing development. Two deeply moving films, Moving On and Keep On Moving On, were made in 2016 and 2018, respectively, by Eternal Media. In these films, people describe their experiences in addiction, why they wanted to change, what MOIMR is about and how it is delivered, and how the programme has impacted on their lives.
The above photograph is taken from the second Eternal Media film about MOIMR and shows Marc Yates delivering a group session. Marc still works as a Duty Officer at NWRC.