In 2024, Emma Shepley, Mike Jackson and Lee Hogan published a fascinating paper which provides important insights into the change processes that occur through participants’ engagement with Moving On In My Recovery (MOIMR). These authors used a qualitative analysis to generate and analyse interviews with ten people who had participated in the MOIMR programme and had been in recovery and abstinent from substances for a minimum of three months after completing MOIMR. Here is a summary of just some of the findings.
Entering a MOIMR group setting after often long periods of social isolation due to their addiction was an intimidating experience for participants. The non-judgemental and warm atmosphere of the group setting was essential in alleviating this initial discomfort.
Participants began to feel safe to share experiences, and described that hearing similar experiences from others in the group was extremely normalising and de-stigmatising. This supported an ongoing sense of connection and identification with members of the group, and led to the development of a shared purpose within the group in terms of a movement towards recovery.
Participants described beginning to develop an understanding of their substance use; the content of the programme was resonant in many regards with respect to their own personal experiences. Their motivation to change began to build through hearing the stories of others in the group who had recovered, including the peer facilitators. They began to try new things out and saw the benefits.
Motivation continued to grow throughout the group, which the authors compared to a snowballing effect. Participants described a lack of meaning in their lives prior to MOIMR, but weekly attendance at MOIMR provided a focus point in their lives. Engaging with the MOIMR weekly challenges gave participants a way of spending their time which felt productive, and helped them to begin to implement structure into their lives.
The idea of considering one’s personal values and using these to guide one’s actions was emphasised in MOIMR with the metaphor of ‘anchor points’. Participants were able to consider alternatives to their substance use which connected them with what was important to them in their lives.
MOIMR helped participants to understand the consequences of maladaptive coping styles, typically using substances to manage uncomfortable thoughts or emotions (‘moving away’) which produced problems in the long-term.
MOIMR encourages participants to move towards their difficult thoughts, emotions, and physical sensations, to make space for them, and to open up to these internal experiences without seeking to change them, using skills such as ‘leaning in’. Some participants, mainly those who had done MOIMR more than once, described learning to make space for emotions, both pleasant and unpleasant, and the idea of a valued life being one that involves the experience of some unpleasant emotions.
I can fully recommend reading of this important paper as it not only gives insights into what happens with people using the MOIMR programme, but also insights into the general process of recovery from addiction. I also recommend reading my article about research I conducted with Lucie James on the RAP treatment programme in a male and female prison. This qualitative research highlighted the importance of belonging, socialisation, learning, and support in enhancing self-esteem, confidence, and motivation to change.