Here are the ten most viewed posts on our Recovery Voices website—excluding the main section pages, e.g. Home, Blog—since we first launched the website on 25 September 2023. [NB. Posts loaded onto the website before our launch are dated as 25 September below.]
10. Factors That Facilitate 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. Here, I describe eleven primary factors that facilitate recovery from addiction, with quotes from recovering people. [Articles, 25 September]
9. North Wales Recovery Communities NWRC comprises a number of communities, including a residential rehab at Penrhyn House, Growing for Change, with its gardens and allotments, and Bwyd Da Bangor (Good Food Bangor), a community cafe/restaurant that provides the best food on the High Street. [Communities, 25 September]
8. David Clark on Towards Recovery’s ‘Journeys Podcast After researching biological mechanisms underlying addiction for many years, I spent time with practitioners and clients at a treatment agency in Swansea, WGCADA, where I learnt a good deal about the nature of recovery and the elements that facilitate treatment. [Communities, 25 September]
7. A Service of Remembrance and Hope: Celebrating Living and Lived Experience On Friday, 29 September, North Wales Recovery Communities (NWRC) held their first full service of remembrance and hope. We gathered in Saint Deiniol’s Cathedral, Bangor, and expressed gratitude for being alive and kicking; and regret and sorrow for those dear to us, who are no longer with us. [Blog, 4 October]
6. On Being Straight: James Deakin Living in Bangor, James decides he has to go straight. He pictures himself where he’d like to be and behaves in the appropriate way. ‘What would a straight person do in this situation?’ He gains a peace of mind from being legitimate. He doesn’t have to worry about anyone kicking in his door at six in the morning. [Stories, 27 October]
5. Towards Recovery This recovery community offers a Recovery Cafe in Henley-on-Thames, as well as an online Recovery Cafe, where people recovering from addiction can get support and encouragement. It aims to help people connect with others, re-connect with themselves and the world around them, and make sustainable changes to create a life of their own choosing. [Communities, 25 September]
4. Our First Week: Recovery Voices A review of progress, thanks to those who have visited the website (and to those who have left messages) and an introduction to our initial interviewees. [Blog, 2 October]
3. Flipped It!! The Movie: Marcus Fair In his interview with Wulf, Marcus Fair says that the ideas for Eternal Media were generated in 2012, from his prison bunk bed during his last term inside. And Eternal Media really kicked off when Marcus and his colleagues made the film Flipped It! Here’s the story about the making of the film, taken from Marcus’s words on Eternal Media’s Vimeo page showing the film. [Blog, 24 October]
2. A Life Remembered Like a stained glass window, with its different elements that make the total picture, John was known to all of us through many different contexts. Yet, he had a life richer and fuller than the parts we each knew. He was known to us, this diverse and disparate community, by a variety of names; JC, John Dogs, John Quack, John Vietnam and Motorhead John, but to name a few. [Blog, 16 October]
1. Dr. David McCartney Links to the 15 main films I edited from my interview with David, along with summaries. David founded Lothians & Edinburgh Abstinence Programme (LEAP)—a residential rehab in Lothian, Scotland, delivered by the NHS and partners. David has an excellent Recovery Review blog. [People, 25 September]