I have now finished the book I have been writing since last year, Transforming Pain Into Power: The Story of North Wales Recovery Communities. The book will be published by New Generation Publishing in the near future. Writing the book, which is over 500 pages long, has been quite a journey!
Here is a summary of the book on its back cover. I have broken the one paragraph into shorter ones:
In this inspirational book, a series of personal stories are interwoven into chapters focusing on how the exciting initiative North Wales Recovery Communities (NWRC), which is based in Bangor, is helping people recover from serious substance use problems and related issues. The impressive success of NWRC rests on the foundation of people in recovery helping others overcome their addiction.
The book highlights the importance of a variety of factors in facilitating recovery, in particular the role of connection and relationships. It shows how NWRC members have impacted positively on their wider local community, including feeding local residents in need of help during the Covid epidemic when government bodies were unable to do so.
The author covers a wide range of topics, including factors that facilitate recovery, the role of trauma and disconnection in the development of addiction, and brain mechanisms underlying the healing process. He emphasises that society can learn a great deal from recovery communities like NWRC, and from people who have transformed their Pain Into Power.
Here are three endorsements which appear in the book, written by leaders in their respective fields:
‘David Clark has produced an original and innovative anthology of inspiring recovery stories that are woven around the emergence of North Wales Recovery Communities (NWRC). David provides a wonderful narrative that blends the growth of this peer-led recovery initiative with the stories of people in recovery and friends of recovery, distilling essential lessons for any area or group that aspires to create a vibrant recovery community. The key lessons around connection, hope and meaning are told in a passionate and compassionate way that is accessible, but above all inspiring and engaging. Congratulations on a fabulous achievement.’ David Best, Professor of Addiction Recovery, is a founding member of the College of Lived Experience Recovery Organisations (LEROs) in the UK and of the Inclusive Recovery Cities movement.
‘This book is an extraordinary work of social history, alive with the voices and experiences that have shaped a remarkable recovery community. Through careful and compassionate research, David Clark traces how ordinary yet inspiring people, a location of rare natural beauty, grassroots empowerment, a commitment to community, and deep, diverse wells of recovery wisdom have converged to form the fertile seedbed of recovery contagion that is NWRC. Its alchemy cannot be replicated. It belongs to this place and these people. However, communities around the world with similar aspirations will find in these pages both guidance and hope, and a powerful reminder of what becomes possible when recovery is allowed to take root and grow.’ Emeritus Professor Wendy Dossett is Principal Investigator of the Higher Power Project, based at the University of Chester, UK, and a person in long-term recovery.
‘Transforming Pain into Power by David Clark is a transformative guide that combines ground-breaking, community-centred principles and practices with heartfelt insights into recovery. With compassion and rigorous research, David emphasises strength, resilience, and the vital role of community in the recovery journey. An inspiring, must-read resource for individuals, families, practitioners, and policymakers alike.’ Cormac Russell is author of Rekindling Democracy: A Professional’s Guide to Working in Citizen Space and co-author with John McKnight of The Connected Community: Discovering the Health, Wealth, and Power of Neighborhoods.
I’d like to thank all those who have been involved in one way or other with the book. In addition to letting you know when the book is available, I’ll be including excerpts from it on this website.