Mutual Aid, Part 1 [4 films, 8’24”]
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, who knows that terrain.’
At his first meeting of the British Doctors and Dentists Group, David McCartney heard his own story. ‘Another doctor had almost exactly the same story as me, shared it with the rest of the group members… it really, really touched me in a way… that medication couldn’t and clinical appointments couldn’t.’
Wendy and Wulf discuss the variety of different mutual aid groups that can be accessed; there are obviously a lot more options in cities than in the country.
After leaving a residential rehab, David describes asked his addiction psychiatrist why he never recommended mutual aid groups. The latter said there was no evidence they worked. There was evidence at the time. And David told the psychiatrist that, ‘I am your evidence!’ He points out in the film clip that there are many practitioners who do not know the value of mutual aid.