Both Wulf and I first independently met Rhoda Emlyn-Jones in the days that she was developing Option 2 in Cardiff in the early 2000s. Option 2 is an innovative initiative for families at risk of having their children removed. A key feature of the initiative is that workers go to the prospective client and encourage him or her to shape the solution in terms of both defining the immediate practical support they need and beginning to set longer term goals. Option 2 has been remarkably successful in enabling families to recover and keep their children.
Whereas Wulf has remained in contact with Rhoda over the years since they first met, I have not seen her in over 20 years. We had planned to meet during my last visit to the UK, but I was burnt out—from my exciting, inspiring and humbling experiences during my visits to four UK recovery communities!— in the latter stages of the trip, so I had to cancel. I will make sure I visit Rhoda during my next trip.
I love Rhoda’s work and I was really inspired by her Recovery Voices interview with Wulf. She talked so much sense and described key approaches that are essential for helping individuals and families recover from addiction and associated problems. Sadly, treatment systems do not focus on these key essential matters. In the following film clip from her interview with Wulf, Rhoda focuses on a key question that must be asked of people who we are trying to help.
What Helped Most? [1 Film, 3’02”]
In her conversation with Wulf, Rhoda points out that when you ask people what worked most for them, they say, ‘Someone listened to me. They truly heard me and understood me.’
Rhoda goes on to say: ‘There are general universal things that we need to do to respond well to people. And the most unhelpful thing to do is to create stereotypes, to label people, to block people from the help at the moment they are inviting it in.
Give people no more, and no less than they need to take that journey through to an outcome they’ve been able to articulate with you, that they’ve never been able to articulate with anyone else because no one’s listening. So we really need to create that momentum, don’t we, for all of our services.’