‘Dr Mark and The Village’ by Mark Ragins

March 5, 2023 by

I was going through some of my old blog posts and came across a 2014 post from one of my favourite people in the mental health field, award-winning psychiatrist Mark Ragins. I thought it was time to post it again. First a few words from Mark about himself which I consider particularly pertinent:

‘I am a recovery-based psychiatrist.  After 27 years working as the Medical Director at the MHALA Village in Long Beach, California, an award-winning model of recovery based mental health care, I moved on in 2017 to be the only psychiatrist at CSU Long Beach providing innovative psychiatric services for the students there.  I also continue to work as an independent trainer, consultant, speaker, writer, and transformation leader in the Mental Health Recovery Movement. I believe that:

> My work should be person-centered, working to help people grow and develop into the person they are meant to be, not just to treat mental illnesses or conditions.

> My relationship with the people I work with should be collaborative and client-driven working on your goals, rather than pressuring for compliance with my treatment.

> People recover because of the strengths and resilience that they use and develop, not because I took care of them and fixed what was wrong with them.

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What Does the Recovery Model Look Like Today: Mark Ragins

February 2, 2023 by

Dr. Mark Ragins, a leading figure in mental health recovery, emphasises three key features of recovery-based care: 1. Is the service person-centered rather than illness-centered? 2. Recovery programmes move from being professional driven to being client-driven. 3. Is the programme really strengths-based rather than deficits-based? NAMILosAngeles. 9 April 2021. [4’32]

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Sapphire’s Recovery Story: ‘It Should All Be About the Person’

January 31, 2023 by

Things went well when Sapphire was intimately involved in decisions about her methadone-based treatment, but poorly when professionals took sole control. (7,631 words)

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What Works in Treatment: Sapphire’s Story, Part 1

September 28, 2021 by

Sapphire’s Story shows the importance of person-centered treatment. Things went well when Sapphire was intimately involved in decisions about her treatment, but poorly when professionals took sole control. In this post, I start a short series focused on various stages of Sapphire’s treatment career.

Sapphire was being prescribed methadone for her heroin addiction, but as the dose was not high enough she was suffering withdrawal symptoms. To counter the discomfort of this withdrawal, she was purchasing methadone on the street and using benzodiazepines. Then a problem arose from her urine sample:

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How Do I Know a Treatment Service is Recovery-Oriented?

July 9, 2021 by

Some treatment services today say they are doing recovery—using recovery-based care—when they are not in fact doing so. So how do you know that you are going to receive genuine recovery-based care when you sign up to a treatment service claiming to be recovery-oriented?

Here is some help from Mark Ragins about what to look for in a service offering recovering-based care. Mark may be talking about mental health recovery, but what he says is also of relevance to addiction recovery.

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What Works in Treatment?: Sapphire’s Story, Part 3

November 7, 2013 by

rsz_dscf2263We’ve been following Sapphire’s Story with a focus on the treatment she received, recognising that treatment can either facilitate or have a negative impact on the recovery process. We’ve seen Sapphire courageously overcome heroin addiction, crack addiction and most recently an addiction to benzos. There’s more to overcome.

‘Once I was off the benzos and feeling a little more like myself, I went back to work. I hadn’t worked since having the crack-induced event, so was really scared that I wouldn’t be able to cope with a job.

As I had come off the benzos, and now had the proper support of a partner and my family, I started thinking about reducing my methadone with a view to abstinence. I knew I had the willpower, as I’d managed eight nightmarish months of the benzo detox and I’d also kicked a crack addiction about two years earlier.

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What Works in Treatment?: Sapphire’s Story, Part 1

October 31, 2013 by

rsz_img_2357Sapphire’s Story shows the importance of person-centered treatment. Things went well when Sapphire was intimately involved in decisions about her treatment, but poorly when professionals took sole control. We’ll look at various stages of Sapphire’s treatment career.

Sapphire was being prescribed methadone for her heroin addiction, but as the dose was not high enough she was suffering withdrawal symptoms. To counter the discomfort of this withdrawal, she was purchasing methadone on the street and using benzodiazepines. Then a problem arose from her urine sample:

‘When I was 25, my urine screening revealed that I was taking benzos and the CDT sent me to a shared care GP who was to prescribe my methadone and benzos. At my first appointment, I decided to be honest and tell the GP about the methadone I was buying, and how bad my benzo use had become.

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“Creating Connections through Dialogue” conference

July 28, 2013 by

‘We live in an increasingly interdependent and interconnected world. The Creating Connections conference was an opportunity to explore various aspects of connectedness and the implications for recovery.

Health and mental health providers, people with the lived experience of mental health challenges and recovery, family members and others were invited to participate in workshops and joined in facilitated dialogue sessions to connect and learn from one another to become more effective in our lives and in our work.’

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