‘Learn from the true experts’
Our Recovery Stories: Journeys from Drug and Alcohol Addiction is now available via Apple, Amazon or Kobo (price: £4.99, A$8.99, US$6.99, €5.99). Please note, that you must purchase and download the book from the supplier’s store in your country or region. The Amazon and Kobo links above are for the UK stores. There is no link for Apple, as their system works differently through the Apple Books app. The book contains over 170,000 words.
Further information about purchasing, downloading and reading the book is provided at the bottom of this page.
Synopsis
Recovery from addiction comes from the person with the problem. He or she does the work in overcoming their substance use and related problems, getting well, and getting their life (back) on track. Recovery is a process of self-healing. Practitioners may facilitate recovery, but they do so by catalysing and supporting natural processes of recovery in the individual.
Our Recovery Stories provides important insights into recovery and recovery-based care by showing the lived experience of recovery, through a collection of twelve inspiring Stories that describe people’s journey’s into and out of drug and/or alcohol addiction. Three additional Recovery Stories focus on family members whose lives have been affected by a loved one’s substance use problem. All the book’s storytellers have gone on to help other people with their recovery journey.
In addition to a Prologue, the book contains two additional chapters, one focusing on Factors That Facilitate Recovery and the other, entitled Brain Chemicals to Human Connection, which outlines the author’s journey in the addiction recovery field.
Why important?
Our Recovery Stories is invaluable to people affected by substance use problems, as well as their family and loved ones, as it provides hope that recovery is possible (via a multitude of pathways), and provides an understanding of the nature of the problem (addiction) and how it can be overcome. The voices of recovering people are particularly empowering, since they are readily identified with and trusted by people in need of help.
The experiences, insights and reflections of the book’s storytellers are of value to people working in treatment and recovery support services, as well as to commissioners and policy makers. The book will help communities create empathic environments in which recovery can flourish. It will also allow the general reader to gain a better understanding of addiction and recovery, helping to reduce the prejudice and stigma that exists towards people with substance use problems (and their families). Prejudice and stigma are major barriers to recovery.
About the author
Author David Clark, a Professor Emeritus of Psychology, was previously an award-winning neuroscientist who trained with a Nobel Laureate (Arvid Carlsson), but changed ‘career’ in 2000 because he did not feel that a biomedical approach was helping people overcome addiction.
David received widespread recognition for his grassroots initiative Wired In, as well as for the online community Wired In To Recovery, which were developed to empower people to overcome substance use problems. He developed this Recovery Stories website in 2013 and Sharing Culture, an educational initiative focused on the healing of intergenerational trauma, in 2014. More recently, he developed The Carrolup Story website (with John Stanton) and published the eBook Connection: Aboriginal Child Artists Captivate Europe, a magical story about traumatised Aboriginal children rising above adversity in 1940s Western Australia. A story of the healing of trauma.
Reflecting on his unique journey, David believes the three most important things he has learnt from his career are ‘the strength of human spirit, the power of human connection, and the healing impact of story.’
Purchasing, downloading and reading the book
As described above, you need to purchase and download the book in the supplier’s store in your country or region. Search for the book using the words ‘Our Recovery Stories’.
Apple users will purchase, download and read the book in ‘Books’, which is already on your iPad, iPhone or computer.
Those people purchasing from Amazon will read the book on a Kindle Reader OR can download the free Kindle app to read the book on your phone, tablet or computer.
Those people purchasing from Kobo will read the book on a Kobo reader OR download the free Kobo app to read the book on your phone, tablet or computer.
We hope you enjoy reading the book. Please feel free to send your thoughts, via the Contact us form, when you have finished reading.