I continue my Story of this exciting recovery initiative from Eternal Media. You can read Part 1 here. Recovery In Focus is about connection and using photographs to tell stories. It helps people in early recovery from addiction, as well as other problems. The course was developed by Jill Whittingham, Lead Therapist at Eternal Media, and is run by Lucke Gabriel and her. Eternal Media Founder Marcus Fair provides additional support.
4. Out and About
Going out on location allows the group to gel in a way that doesn’t always happen in the classroom. Jill takes them along to interesting places like Media City in Manchester, Quirky Quarter in Liverpool, Chester Roman walls, and Bodnant Gardens. It always surprises her how many people have rarely gone outside of their own local environment. Sometimes, a person tells her that they have had a past bad experience during their addiction days in a specific location they are visiting. She helps to alleviate their concerns by emphasising that the group will provide support if things get difficult for the person while they’re together.
Jill recently took a Recovery in Focus group to Liverpool where they visited The Brink, a sober venue where they heard from a member of staff how people have a great time watching bands and comedians, or just having a coffee or a meal in a sober environment. Most of the group had never seen or heard of such a place. The group then took photographs in a local attraction of interactive experiences followed by Liverpool docks.
The project also introduces participants to the wider world of photography with visits to regional photography exhibitions and galleries, arts venues that many have never been to before. Jill also takes photography books and work by prominent photographers to the workshops for participants to explore.
In the last Recovery in Focus session, participants are invited to choose two of the photographs they have taken during the course, one which represents their addiction and another their recovery. They are asked to write captions for each photograph. It can take them a long time to make those decisions! Jill has these photographs printed and arranges for them to be shown in an exhibition at a local community venue or art gallery. A special exhibition opening event is organised where families, key workers, local recovery communities, treatment service workers, funding staff from the National Lottery, and others are invited. ’And that is very powerful, because for every single one of them, it’s like, “Wow, that’s my photo on that wall.”’
5. Fertile Soil
Running Recovery in Focus has changed the way that Jill tries to help people. Previously in her work as a counsellor and running groups, she had been much more overt in talking about addiction processes and what is required to help people find recovery. Her approach was more focused on identifying what was going on for them and highlighting the changes they needed to make. Very solution-focused and influenced by 12-step models, as expected in most UK treatment centres. Jill has now created an environment where the person finds themselves exploring, ‘Who am I?’ and ‘What is it that I want?’ They gain a better understanding of themselves; nothing is being forced on them and they take responsibility for building their recovery tools.
When a person stops using or drinking they find it difficult to work out who they are, particularly as their confidence and self-esteem are so very low. Jill is nurturing people participating in Recovery in Focus, allowing them to feel supported, and through this their confidence and self-esteem grow. This nurturing process is very important to Jill. Through her initiative, she is creating a fertile soil in which flowers blossom.
6. Connection
Jill emphasises that whatever path one chooses for recovery, connection with other people, being part of a network, whatever its size, is key. Recovery in Focus can be a new network for people who have a common interest in wanting to move on from their addiction and find long-term recovery. Each week, whether in the classroom or out on location, Jill illustrates the importance of connectivity, and building a network, by using a ball of string. This exercise has become a key part of the Recovery in Focus approach, keeping the connections strong and clear.
Each time they meet, participants start the workshop by throwing the ball from one to another whilst saying their name and answering a simple question, such as how they got involved with the project, or what their favourite pizza topping is! Staff take part in the exercise as well. Participants see the network developing. They also see what happens when someone leaves the network, maybe because they have relapsed. When the string drops, the group has to pick it up themselves. They don’t go chasing after the person to give them the string; they have to pull it that bit tighter and remain connected. It is important to note that staff contact participants who don’t attend a session and offer support and encouragement to try to get them to return.
7. Dealing With the End
Jill is very careful about how the group experiences the ending of each Recovery in Focus project because she’s very aware of this time having been a very significant period in a participant’s recovery and in their broader lives, as well as in their building and strengthening of relationships. She starts talking about the ending in Week 9, using a classic therapeutic approach. She asks the group how they feel about the fact that next week will be their last session. She gets various responses, with participants often saying how amazing the project has been and how they don’t want it to end. She is planting the seed of the end and encouraging people to acknowledge how they feel before it actually does end. Being encouraged to share how they feel about the ending is part of a therapeutic approach to managing and preparing for endings.
In Week 9, Jill also asks everyone to send her a photograph they’ve taken that that means something special to them in relation to Recovery in Focus. These are emailed to Jill who compiles them for the final workshop.
In the last session (Week 10), everything the group does revolves around pulling all things together so that there is a constructive ending. It’s so important how the project ends, because so many of the participants have previously experienced horrendous endings in relationships, jobs, and their addiction. Participants need to learn that not all endings are bad ones, even though they feel emotional about it; it’s okay to feel emotional about an ending.
In that afternoon session, Jill shares participants’ chosen final photographs on the big screen. Each group member describes why they have chosen their particular photograph, and how it relates to what Recovery in Focus has meant to them. Jill uses specific questions to get them talking about how the end feels and what the project has meant to them. She describes her approach as, ‘Managing an ending. That’s all it is.’ She always says to the group, ’It’s not the end. It’s an end.’ Jill will go on to describe ways the participants can keep connected and pursue their new interest in photography.
On the final day, Jill also provides a feedback sheet, in which some of the questions have been designed to encourage an emotional response. Along with some things she knows must be submitted to the National Lottery as part of their feedback requirements.
It’s not unusual for there to be tears during this final workshop.
8. Continuing the End
Jill created a closed Facebook group called Collage to which all participants are encouraged to join and use after their particular Recovery in Focus project has ended. She posts a weekly photo task each Saturday on that page; the particular task for the week in which I interviewed Jill was based on ‘autumn leaves’. Jill says it’s purely a task to facilitate connection, sharing, keeping in touch with people, and looking at everybody else’s photographs. It helps people continue to communicate with friends they have met during their Recovery in Focus group sessions and at the events. It also continues the task-based element of the photo location shoots which so many report on enjoying.
Jill always invites past group participants to attend the continuing Recovery in Focus exhibitions. The exhibiting photographers are encouraged to invite family and friends, key workers, support workers, etc. It gives them something to look forward to. And then there are other gatherings, such as a full-day event where she invited everyone who had participated in one of the Recovery in Focus projects that have been held to date. The first RIF Gathering was held in a smart hotel in Chester in September 2024, with a speaker (this time it was Mandy Simpson who shared her storytelling project about her relationship with her father, called Brook House Calling), plus photo exercises based on activities from the project. The event also encouraged an awareness and the development of this new recovery community of which they are a part.
In the afternoon, the group walked into the city centre (with a photo task of course!) and visited several interesting photo locations. A highlight of this particular day was their visit to an exhibition of the entire body of work created by Recovery In Focus to date—an incredible show of 60 photographs. This was a very special day and through such events and gatherings, Eternal Media continue to maintain and build their Recovery in Focus community.
Jill also sets up a WhatsApp group for each Recovery in Focus group. Participants in each group have joked about her being the WhatsApp police, because she tells them right from the beginning that she doesn’t want any ‘thoughts for the day’, or photos of their dogs and cats going in the WhatsApp group. It is a forum to share information about where they are meeting next, what’s required of them, and any other instructions. Jill encourages them to set up another WhatsApp group for their particular Recovery in Focus group to discuss and share about other matters. Jill is thrilled when they do so. They ask if she wants to join, but she politely says ‘no’. The group is for them.
Jill runs Jill Whittingham Counselling Services.
