Heroin addiction often leads to changes in a person’s relationships, lifestyle, physical and psychological health, values, and identity. Some heroin addicts engage in criminal activity to maintain their habit. Heroin addicts are stigmatised by wider society. (5,643 words) *
David Higham: Life After Prison
February 28, 2023
If you haven’t seen this moving film that focuses on David Higham in our Films section of the website, then please check it out. David had been in and out of prison since the age of 16 and was a drug user for more than 25 years. He went on to create and develop The Well Communities, an inspiring recovery community located in Cumbria and North Lancashire.
‘The Well is a vibrant community of people. Together, we support each other and we believe wholeheartedly that recovery is possible for anyone. By valuing and investing in the people who use our services, we’re able to show a different side to addiction. A side which sees members start their lives afresh with new friends, stronger family links and better prospects.’ UNILAB. 21 August 2017. [6’08”]
Finding Natalie Logan McLean
February 16, 2023
Every now and again I come across someone in the recovery field who really inspires and excites me with their Story and the work they are doing. Earlier this week, I introduced you to Meghann Perry from the USA and the wonderful work she is doing.
Today, I want to introduce you Natalie Logan McLean from Scotland. I came across Natalie’s 2022 TEDxCumbernauldWomen talk, Who Is Natalie?, on Sunday. I was just blown away by her Story!
To hear about the terrible trauma that she experienced as a child, and then the awful traumatic experiences she went through as an adult. How on earth did she come though all of that? No wonder she took to alcohol and drugs in a serious fashion.
Not only did Natalie survive those experiences, she is over 11 years in recovery. Moreover, she set up and is Chief Executive of SISCO (Sustainable Interventions Supporting Change Outside), which is ‘Helping Prisoners Build a Bridge Between Prison and the Community’. Wow!
Recovery Storytelling – A Powerful Tool for Advocacy: Meghann Perry
February 15, 2023
On Sunday, I uploaded a blog post about recovery advocate Meghann Perry. In 2009, Meghann ‘was in jail, facing a 5-year prison sentence for selling crack, after decades of profound chaotic substance use and everything that comes with it.’ In 2011, she changed her relationship with substances and started to rebuild her life.
Today, Meghann has her own successful business as a consultant, curriculum developer, and facilitator. She says on her website:
‘Through unique, creative, authentic training, workshops, and programs, I’m changing the culture through new approaches to support individuals and organizations in their process of transformation from survival, to thriving. This is recovery.’
One of Meghann’s approaches involves storytelling—her initiative really excites me. I’m also thrilled to see that Meghann has been working with CCAR (Connecticut Community for Addiction Recovery), whose Executive Director is Phil Valentine. I’ll be returning to this relationship in a future blog post.
Who is Natalie?: Natalie Logan McLean
February 3, 2023
Natalie charts her life and decisions reeling from one adverse childhood experience after another, what triggered lasting change, and her commitment to removing stigma in order to reconnect with all the parts of ourselves as a society. Natalie set up Sisco, a charity whose main objective is to build a bridge between prisoners and society. From peer lead recovery cafés in the Scottish Prison Service to soccer training in the community, Sisco’s model is built on trust, integrity and honesty. TEDxCumbernauldWomen. 25 February 2022. [15’49”]
Life After Prison: David Higham
February 3, 2023
Awesome film of David Higham, who created and developed The Well Communities, by UNILAD. ‘The Well is a vibrant community of people. Together, we support each other and we believe wholeheartedly that recovery is possible for anyone. By valuing and investing in the people who use our services, we’re able to show a different side to addiction. A side which sees members start their lives afresh with new friends, stronger family links and better prospects.’ The Well Communities are located in Cumbria and North Lancashire. 21 August 2017. [6’08”]
Step Inside the Circle: Fritzi Horstman
February 2, 2023
‘Unaddressed childhood trauma changes how we respond to the world and when triggered, we make choices that sometimes have devastating consequences including domestic violence, addiction, murder and prison. I, too, would have been incarcerated had I not had the privilege and support system I lucked into. Let’s shift the paradigm of how we incarcerate, isolate and dehumanize the most traumatized members of our society.’ Fritzi Horstman, Compassion Prison Project. 22 June 2020. [6’51”]
Natalie’s Trauma Story: My Childhood Experiences
January 3, 2023
In my last blog post, I described my 2022 reunion with Natalie, a recovering heroin addict who first inspired me to start writing recovery stories back in the early 2000s. You can read the version of Natalie’s Recovery Story, I Didn’t Plan To Be An Addict, I initially wrote for this website back in 2013 here.
Natalie is now an inspiring senior practitioner in a treatment service and is over 20 years in recovery. In my last blog post, I said that I would describe Natalie’s childhood experiences that led to her becoming traumatised. This section is taken from my eBook Our Recovery Stories: Journeys from Drug and Alcohol Addiction, which contains the latest version of Natalie’s Story.
‘I lived in a rural area with my Mum and Dad and brother and sister. I remember that my Dad would disappear to London for a week or two from time to time. When I was 11 years old, we moved to a city, although my Dad wasn’t there for the actual move. Within five days of the move, he was arrested for drug smuggling.
‘A Personal Story’ by Wee Willie Winkie
November 11, 2021
Here’s a story we first ran on our online community Wired In To Recovery in September 2010. I then posted it on Recovery Stories in June 2013.
‘I’m 33 years old. I started taking drugs from ten years old and, apart from a three and a half year stint in the army, took them continuously right up to the age of 30. This included 11 years as a heroin addict.
During this time, I felt totally isolated and alone in the world, and completely worthless. After a few years I was desperate. I’d overdosed a couple of times and, at this point in my life, I’d have welcomed death with open arms. It never came, so I decided to help it along a bit.
An Illustration of the Manner in Which Factors Facilitating Recovery Interact
July 5, 2021
This blog post is taken from part of a chapter in my recent eBook Our Recovery Stories: Journeys from Drug and Alcohol Addiction.
Research I conducted with Lucie James back in 2008 provided important insights into factors that facilitate behavioural change and a person’s path to recovery from addiction. This study involved a qualitative analysis of the views and experiences of clients on the RAPt treatment programme [1] in one male and one female prison.
Transcripts of the semi-structured interviews with 15 males and 15 females were analysed with Grounded Theory in order to reveal identified concepts and themes. Four inter-related themes were derived from the analysis that were labelled: ‘Belonging’, ‘Socialisation’, ‘Learning’, and ‘Support’. Each of these themes impacted on a fifth theme, ‘Personal Change’, which had two key components, motivation to change and self-esteem.
Ruby’s Healing Story
June 12, 2021
It’s hard to believe that it is over seven years ago since I launched Sharing Culture, an educational initiative to facilitate the healing of intergenerational trauma. [I don’t upload new content on the website now, but the content is still there for viewing.]
It is also over seven years since Michael Liu and I went out with Professor Marion Kickett to her home country in York to film her describing her life, country, culture, spirituality, family, education and resilience. Marion is a Noongar Elder from the Balardong language group, who is Director of the Centre for Aboriginal Studies at Curtin University in Perth.
‘Prison-Based Recovery Advocacy (The San Quentin Story)’ by Bill White
December 9, 2014
‘The stage is set for a recovery-focused advocacy and peer support movement within the U.S. prison system.
The mass incarceration of drug offenders in recent decades, the growth of prison-based addiction treatment, the growth and diversification of prison-based recovery mutual aid, increased disillusionment with incarceration as a policy strategy of addiction containment, and the rise of grassroots recovery community organizations in local U.S. communities have all been part of this incubation process.
There is a growing critical mass of people in correctional institutions who are initiating and sustaining addiction recovery and who are pursuing service to others as part of their recovery processes. Leaders are rising to articulate ideas and launch programs that address the particular needs and aspirations of people seeking recovery within the shadow of the criminal justice system.
ManyFaces1Voice: Patrick Fogarty
May 19, 2014
Check out the latest filmed Recovery Story from ManyFaces1Voice.
‘Patrick Fogarty received a gift on the day he was supposed to receive a sentence of years in prison.
During a caseworker’s pre-sentence investigation, Fogarty found himself being honest and telling her he had a “major drug problem.” He said, “I’m good with going back to prison. Send me back. I have nothing.”
That honesty – and the caseworker’s compassion – earned him a spot at The Healing Place in Louisville, Kentucky, the organization where Fogarty now works as a result of entering recovery in 2008.
The Road from Crime – Extended Preview
March 10, 2014
Excellent preview, I’m heading to watch the full film.
‘What can we learn from those former prisoners who have successfully “desisted” from criminal behaviour or “gone straight?”
The exit at the prison gate often appears to be a revolving door with nearly 60 per cent of released prisoners re-offending within two years of their release. Prisons and probation departments have, almost literally, tried everything in efforts to rehabilitate offenders over the past century, but the results have been uniformly bleak leading many to conclude that “nothing works.”
‘High on Hope’: Peter’s Story
March 7, 2014
Please watch this excellent filmed Recovery Story. Thank you so much for this share, Peter.
‘A frank and honest account of a life dominated by addiction and crime that ends on a ‘HIGH’ – Peter’s story is testament to the paradigm shifts that can happen when people have, ‘just had enough’, ask for help and receive a sufficient amount of it.
Peter has turned his previous experiences into a positive as he now creates a positive ripple-effect in his community by helping others.
Ruby’s Healing Story
February 4, 2014
“But she said what she had to do first, before she started to heal, was to let the past go. And in order for her to let it go she had to forgive… she had to forgive the people in the mission, the missionaries, the manager of the mission. She had to forgive the station owner and his sons and workers. And she also had to forgive herself.”
Professor Marion Kickett shares the harrowing story of Ruby and describes how her early life experiences impacted on her later life, including the development of a drinking problem. By forgiving people involved in these terrible events, Ruby started a healing (or recovery) process which led to her realising a dream.
Marion is the new Director of the Centre for Aboriginal Studies at Curtin University in Perth and co-founder (with David Clark and Mike Liu) of Sharing Culture, a new initiative to tackle historical trauma and its consequences in Aboriginal peoples.
‘Heroin Addiction, a Mother’s Story’ by Kim
January 16, 2014
It’s time I put up another blog from Veronica Valli and the following from Kim is special… and very moving.
‘Addiction doesn’t just affect the person using drugs it affects the whole family. I know because I lived through my daughter Kayela’s addiction to heroin.
We raise our children and its hard work, changing diapers and heating formula and lining up daycare, the first day of school and homework we don’t understand.
We care for them until they are ready to go off in the world and we can only hope that we did the right thing, made all the right choices.
Kathy’s Recovery Minute
September 21, 2013
“I’d like to stress that one day does not go by that I don’t think about the life I took. I don’t forget that a child grew up without her father and that a mother’s heart was broken because of my choices, including again my own mother.”
“I live a life now full of blessings and I tell my Story as often as I can, so if I can at least save one life, make one change to somebody when they hear my words, it will make at least some part of this tragedy and pain have some type of meaning for the positive. Thank you.” Kathy of CCAR (Connecticut Community for Addiction Recovery)
Michael’s Recovery Minute
September 12, 2013
“I was ingrained in CCAR to show the positive side of recovery, putting a face on recovery, allowing people to see that recovery was possible. A reality that people in many walks of life would able to get their life together again.
Michael Askew is Manager of the Bridgeport Community Recovery Center, under the auspices of CCAR. Formerly known as Dark Shadow, he has been in recovery from 1989 after being in and out of prison for years (seven visits).
