Please check out three posts I have added to the Stories section of our website for one of our later Recovery Voices, Tim Leighton, a person who has greatly inspired me over the years.
A few years into his personal recovery from addiction, Tim started work at Clouds House (a residential treatment centre) as a counsellor in 1985 and launched his first training course for addiction counsellors in 1988. He has been leading professional education and university degree courses in the field of addiction for over 30 years. He has worked as practitioner, supervisor, programme designer and consultant, researcher, and educator in the charity sector and the NHS. In 2022, he moved into independent consultancy.
Tim was a UKCP registered Cognitive Analytic (CAT) Psychotherapist from 1994 to 2022 (moved to retired status) and is also an accredited trainer and supervisor. His current research interests are the development of social identities in recovery from addiction and the ecology of recovering communities. His PhD was a critical realist study of mechanisms of change in alcohol and drug rehabilitation programmes.
Tim is currently an independent consultant in addiction recovery research, staff team and programme development, practitioner training and clinical supervision, and professional education.
Here are the three posts I have added to the Stories section, each which links to a film:
Enjoying Life in NA: Tim lived in London for two years where NA was his job. He was fully committed to NA and loved it. There was lots to do, as they organised conventions and parties and things like that. [Film length, 5’41”]
A 36-Year Journey: In 1985, Tim was offered a trainee counsellor position at Clouds House, a residential treatment centre in East Knoyle, Wilshire, which began his extraordinary 36-year working experience at Clouds. He became very interested in group therapy; nobody was really trained in this therapy at the time. [10’14”]
Government & Recovery: Tim the describes how the huge promise of Dame Carol Black’s two recent reports are risking being squandered by government. Much funding is already being wasted, or put towards traditional services who have a tendency to provide what is often called ‘spray-on recovery’. [8’17”]