person-centered — Recovery Stories

What Works in Treatment: Sapphire’s Story, Part 1

September 28, 2021

Sapphire’s Story shows the importance of person-centered treatment. Things went well when Sapphire was intimately involved in decisions about her treatment, but poorly when professionals took sole control. In this post, I start a short series focused on various stages of Sapphire’s treatment career.

Sapphire was being prescribed methadone for her heroin addiction, but as the dose was not high enough she was suffering withdrawal symptoms. To counter the discomfort of this withdrawal, she was purchasing methadone on the street and using benzodiazepines. Then a problem arose from her urine sample:

How Do I Know a Treatment Service is Recovery-Oriented?

July 9, 2021

Some treatment services today say they are doing recovery—using recovery-based care—when they are not in fact doing so. So how do you know that you are going to receive genuine recovery-based care when you sign up to a treatment service claiming to be recovery-oriented?

Here is some help from Mark Ragins about what to look for in a service offering recovering-based care. Mark may be talking about mental health recovery, but what he says is also of relevance to addiction recovery.

What Works in Treatment?: Sapphire’s Story, Part 3

November 7, 2013

We’ve been following Sapphire’s Story with a focus on the treatment she received, recognising that treatment can either facilitate or have a negative impact on the recovery process. We’ve seen Sapphire courageously overcome heroin addiction, crack addiction and most recently an addiction to benzos. There’s more to overcome.

‘Once I was off the benzos and feeling a little more like myself, I went back to work. I hadn’t worked since having the crack-induced event, so was really scared that I wouldn’t be able to cope with a job.

As I had come off the benzos, and now had the proper support of a partner and my family, I started thinking about reducing my methadone with a view to abstinence. I knew I had the willpower, as I’d managed eight nightmarish months of the benzo detox and I’d also kicked a crack addiction about two years earlier.

What Works in Treatment?: Sapphire’s Story, Part 1

October 31, 2013

Sapphire’s Story shows the importance of person-centered treatment. Things went well when Sapphire was intimately involved in decisions about her treatment, but poorly when professionals took sole control. We’ll look at various stages of Sapphire’s treatment career.

‘When I was 25, my urine screening revealed that I was taking benzos and the CDT sent me to a shared care GP who was to prescribe my methadone and benzos. At my first appointment, I decided to be honest and tell the GP about the methadone I was buying, and how bad my benzo use had become.

“Creating Connections through Dialogue” conference

July 28, 2013

‘We live in an increasingly interdependent and interconnected world. The Creating Connections conference was an opportunity to explore various aspects of connectedness and the implications for recovery.

Health and mental health providers, people with the lived experience of mental health challenges and recovery, family members and others were invited to participate in workshops and joined in facilitated dialogue sessions to connect and learn from one another to become more effective in our lives and in our work.’

Sapphire’s Recovery Story: ‘It Should All Be About the Person’

June 3, 2013

Not only shows how methadone, at an appropriate dose, can bring stability to a person’s life, but also emphasises the importance of person-centred treatment. Things went well when Sapphire was intimately involved in decisions about her treatment, but poorly when professionals took sole control. (7,610 words)

What Works in Treatment: Sapphire’s Story, Part 1

How Do I Know a Treatment Service is Recovery-Oriented?

What Works in Treatment?: Sapphire’s Story, Part 3

What Works in Treatment?: Sapphire’s Story, Part 1

“Creating Connections through Dialogue” conference

Sapphire’s Recovery Story: ‘It Should All Be About the Person’

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