Over the past year, I’ve been writing new articles for Wired In, as well modifying some of the old articles. I’ve also made pdf documents for each article. I hope you will find some of the articles of value and enjoy reading them. Please feel free to download the pdf documents and pass around to other people.
There are now seven articles in this section that relate to the research that my colleagues (students, ex-students, people in recovery) and I conducted when I was running the grassroots initiative Wired In. There are also nine other articles relating to various topics.
Here are eight new articles:
Factors That Facilitate Addiction Recovery
Recovery is something done by the person with the substance use problem, not by a treatment practitioner or anyone else. Whilst there are a multitude of pathways to recovery, there are a number of key factors that facilitate recovery from serious substance use problems. (9,545 words)
Learning From the Experts at BAC O’Connor
A qualitative research project involving clients of the structured day care programme at BAC O’Connor provided insights into the positive effects of the programme, as well as the factors that contributed to these beneficial effects. (2,302 words)
Recovery, Reintegration, and Anti-Discrimination: Julian Buchanan
Key research highlighting the social exclusion that dependent drug users experience, and the difficulties they face in trying to reintegrate. Julian Buchanan describes a model for integrating problematic drug users back into mainstream society. (2,756 words)
Self-Change and Recovery Capital
Robert Granfield and William Cloud’s research provides important insights into how many people overcome substance use problems without accessing treatment. They stress the importance of recovery capital in the process of recovery from addiction. (1,920 words)
Cocaine: The Experience of Using and Quitting
A large-scale research project involving current and former heavy users of cocaine, conducted by by Dan Waldorf and colleagues, reveals important insights into how people use cocaine and how they stop using the drug. (3,706 words)
Understanding Intentional Behavioural Change
Recovery from addiction is about behavioural change. James Prochaska and Carlo DiClemente’s model about the stages and processes of behavioural change has made a very significant contribution to the field. (2,409 words)
Alcoholics Anonymous (AA), 12-Step Movement, and Minnesota Model
Describes the nature of Alcoholics Anonymous (AA), other 12-Step programmes, and the Minnesota Model, how they developed, and the key assumptions that underlie their approach. (1,320 words)
Harm Reduction (Harm Minimisation)
Describes the rationale behind the harm reduction approach, as well as the different harm reduction interventions, e.g. needle and syringe exchanges and methadone maintenance. (922 words)
I’ve also made great changes to the following article:
Untangling the Elements Involved in Addiction Treatment
Our research focused on interviews of people in a prison treatment programme revealed insights into the elements that operate in the treatment process, and how they interact to facilitate recovery from addiction. (3,892 words)
Pleas check the other articles, as they now all have accompanying pdf versions.
I’ll be talking about my Background Briefings (Drink and Drugs News) in an upcoming blog. I continue to slowly upload these Briefings onto the website.
And if you are curious about the photograph. It shows me at Arthur’s Stone just outside Reynoldston, the village where I last lived on Gower in South Wales. I used to take my dogs for walks/runs in this area. Whenever, I visit Gower (my ‘heart-land’), as I did last September, I always go up to Arthur’s Stone, not just to see the beautiful view, but also to spend time in my mind with my dogs, Tessa, Timmy and Shadow.
