Long-term members of a pioneering organisation in the development of recovery communitites tell the inspiring and moving story of CCAR, the Connecticut Community for Addiction (CCAR). ‘CCAR is a centralized resource in CT for all things recovery. Whether you are contemplating a life in recovery, are new to recovery or are in long-term recovery, CCAR is here to help you to navigate the recovery community, by connecting you with others in recovery and providing access to area support services. Since 1998 we have worked to make this reality – the CCAR 20 Strong documentary tells this story.’
Factors That Facilitate Addiction Recovery
January 28, 2023
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)
Factors Facilitating Addiction Recovery
January 18, 2023
In my last blog post, The Nature of Addiction Recovery, I finished by saying that I would describe the key factors that facilitate recovery from addiction in today’s blog post. In fact, I’m going to summarise these factors and provide links to my relevant blog posts of 2022 which provide much more detail. The descriptions linked to have come from a chapter of my eBook Our Recovery Stories: Journeys from Drug and Alcohol Addiction.
Hope: This hope is based on a sense that life can hold more for one than it currently does, and it inspires a desire and motivation to improve one’s lot in life and pursue recovery.
Empowerment: To move forward, recovering people need to have a sense of their own capability, their own power.
Self-Responsibility: Setting one’s own goals and pathways, taking one’s own risks, and learning one’s own lessons are essential parts of a recovery journey.
A Sense of Belonging: People recovering from addiction need to feel the acceptance, care and love of other people, and to be considered a person of value and worth.
(Gaining) Recovery Capital: Recovery capital is the quantity and quality of internal and external resources that one can bring to bear on the initiation and maintenance of recovery.
My Interview with Huseyin Djemil for his ‘Journeys’ Podcast
July 18, 2022
Last year, I was interviewed by Huseyin Djemil of Towards Recovery for his ‘Journeys’ podcast. I was really pleased to be Huseyin’s first interviewee for his podcast, as I hold him and his initiative in high regard. It was also really nice to talk to him again, the first time in around 15 years. The last time we had met was in London, and now we were communicating via Zoom, with me in Perth, Western Australia, and Huseyin in Henley, UK.
Huseyin Djemil is Senior Consultant and Trusted Advisor with 25+ years experience working in the substance use, addiction, recovery, social care, criminal justice, and not-for-profit sectors. He is Founding Director of Towards Recovery, which offers an open safe space for people in recovery from addiction and helps them find the right path for themselves. He started the Journeys Podcast last year because he believes strongly that the stories of recovering people need to be visible to give others hope.
The Recovery Scholarship of Ernie Kurtz
January 16, 2015
Here’s some great reading for you, from one great scholar and storyteller about another. Bill White starts the New Year with this excellent posting on his blog. Enjoy!
‘One of the distinctive voices within the modern history of addiction recovery is that of Harvard-trained historian Ernie Kurtz.
Spanning the 1979 publication of his classic Not-God: A History of Alcoholics Anonymous to the just-released Experiencing Spirituality (with Katherine Ketcham), Kurtz has forged a deep imprint in studies of the history of A.A. and other recovery mutual aid groups, the varieties of recovery experience, the role of spirituality in addiction recovery, and the personal and clinical management of shame and guilt.
