In the fourth of our Recovery Voices series, Wulf Livingston interviews his good friend Dr. Wendy Dossett. Wendy describes how she reached out for help 18 years ago at a time when she was in absolute agony due to her drinking problem. She has not had a drink of alcohol since that time. In their fascinating discussion, Wendy and Wulf cover a wide range of topics, including the nature of addiction, a wide variety of aspects related to AA, foundations of recovery, grassroots community, recovery advocacy and the system, and recovery friendly universities. [16 films, 85 mins 55 secs]
Resources
A variety of resources for people in recovery, people still affected by addiction, trauma and/or mental problems, family members, practitioners, policy makers and members of the general public.
Recovery Voices: James Deakin of North Wales Recovery Communities (NWRC)
May 11, 2023
Wulf Livingston interviews James Deakin, Founder of North Wales Recovery Communities (NWRC). James describes his drug-dealing days in Manchester and cocaine addiction. He begins his recovery journey after moving to Bangor, and spends ten years working as a chef before becoming a Drug Interventions Programme (DIP) worker. He becomes disillusioned by the treatment system, but inspired by recovery advocate Mark Gilman. He receives funding from outside the system to set up the peer-led NWRC, which has a residential facility (Penrhyn House), Growing for Change food project, and a community cafe, Bwyd Da Bangor. James describes NWRC activities. [13 films, totalling 79mins 42secs]
Recovery Voices: Dr. David McCartney of LEAP
April 17, 2023
Dr. David McCartney of Lothians and Edinburgh Abstinence Programme (LEAP) talks to David Clark about the development of his drinking problem whilst working as a GP in an inner-city practice in Scotland. He describes an unsuccessful attempt at sobriety, which involved a medical approach focused on prescribing. In crisis, he later called the Sick Doctors Trust Helpline and was told a doctor’s personal recovery story. That telephone call gave him hope and the opportunity to take his own journey to recovery. David talks about setting up LEAP and about facilitating recovery in the community. (15 films, 76 mins 11 secs)
Bill White’s Talk in London, 2009
March 16, 2023
Film from William L White’s talk at an addiction recovery conference on 18 March 2009 in London organised by Action on Addiction and Wired In. Six clips focus on recovery advocacy, recovery communities, recovery management and treatment.
Bill White’s Writings
March 16, 2023
Researcher, historian, practitioner and recovery advocate William (Bill) L White has been the most prolific writer in the addiction recovery field. You only have to look at his website. The impact of his ideas, work and writings has been enormous. Here, I include links to a number of my blog posts that focus on Bill White’s writings.
Bruce Perry’s Trauma Work
March 16, 2023
I have learnt a great deal from Dr. Bruce Perry about trauma and the healing of trauma over the past years. I have posted a number of articles about Bruce’s work on my Healing blog on The Carrolup Story website that I run with John Stanton. I thought it was time that I linked to these articles on this website due to the impact of childhood trauma and neglect on the development of addiction.
Dr David McCartney’s Blog
March 16, 2023
One of my favourite bloggers is Dr David McCartney, Clinical Lead at the Lothians & Edinburgh Abstinence Programme (LEAP). I’ve known David for over 15 years and I love visiting LEAP when I am in Edinburgh. Here are links to 11 of David’s posts on our website that first appeared on the Recovery Review blog.
Mad in America
March 16, 2023
‘Mad in America’s mission is to serve as a catalyst for rethinking psychiatric care in the United States (and abroad). We believe that the current drug-based paradigm of care has failed our society, and that scientific research, as well as the lived experience of those who have been diagnosed with a psychiatric disorder, calls for profound change.’ Here are some of my posts focused on Mad In America blogs.
Mark Ragins: Village Recovery Writings
March 16, 2023
Recovery-based psychiatrist Mark Ragins has an extraordinary collection of personal writing known as the Village Recovery Writings. Dr Mark worked for 27 years as the Medical Director at the MHALA Village in Long Beach, California, an award-winning model of recovery-based mental health care.
Mike Scott’s Tunes
March 16, 2023
Recovery can be lonely at times, so Mike has selected a number of his favourite inspirational songs from YouTube. Mike is 42 years in recovery and you can read his Recovery Story on this website.
Peer Support Groups
March 16, 2023
This page provides links to the home pages of a number of key peer support groups, e.g. AA, SMART Recovery. Learn why peer support is important.
Phil Valentine’s Blog
March 16, 2023
One of my favourite bloggers has been Phil Valentine, Executive Director of the Connecticut Community for Addiction Recovery (CCAR), who has used his blog to share lessons he has learned in his recovery and in his professional roles. An introduction to Phil and his blog, links to nine of my favourite posts from Phil’s blog, as well as to the “CCAR Recovery Matters!” Podcast run by Phil and his wife Sandy.
Recovery Guide Films of Beth Burgess
March 16, 2023
A series of six short films on key issues by Recovery Coach, NLP practitioner & recoveree Beth Burgess. You can read Beth’s Recovery Story on this website, and find many more of Beth’s film clips on her YouTube channel.
Reflections of Beth Burgess
March 16, 2023
A series of blogs from recovery coach Beth Burgess of Smyls. Beth has written articles about addiction recovery for the Huffington Post which means she has had a large audience.
Stephanie Brown on Recovery
March 16, 2023
A series of my blog posts based on Stephanie Brown’s wonderful book, A Place Called Self: Women, Sobriety, and Radical Transformation. In her book, Stephanie talks about what happens to women in recovery, how they think, how they feel, their problems, the good things, etc. (The book is relevant to men as well!)
Trauma and Healing
March 16, 2023
Links to 12 blog posts from The Carrolup Story website that I developed with John Stanton. These blog posts consider work by world-leading experts, including Gabor Maté, Vincent Felitti, Judith Herman, Bessel van Der Kolk, James Gordon and Judy Atkinson. Bruce Perry’s work is considered in another Resource.
