socialisation — Recovery Stories

What works in treatment?: Michael Scott

March 31, 2023 by David Clark

On the 10th of April, my close friend Michael Scott will celebrate his 45th Recovery Birthday.

Michael lives down the road from me and we see each other regularly. Michael first contacted me back in 2002 when I ran the drug and alcohol news portal Daily Dose. We first met in 2009, not long after I moved to Australia.

Here is a blog post that I first wrote in October 2013, part of a series focused on important factors that facilitate addiction treatment. It is taken from Michael’s Recovery Story, The Power of Empathy and Compassion.

‘I made the decision to stop drinking on April 10th, 1978, three years after my parents had died. My last drinking session took place at the Shenton Park Hotel. I finished my last drink and slammed the glass down, saying to myself that this was it! “No more drinking!” I have not had a drop of alcohol since then.

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Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: addiction treatment, compassion, empathy, Michael scott, socialisation

Untangling the Elements Involved in Addiction Treatment

March 14, 2023 by David Clark

Our research focused on interviews of people in a prison treatment programme revealed insights into the elements that operate in the treatment process, and how they interact to facilitate recovery from addiction. (3,892 words) *

An Illustration of the Manner in Which Factors Facilitating Recovery Interact

July 5, 2021 by David Clark

This blog post is taken from part of a chapter in my recent eBook Our Recovery Stories: Journeys from Drug and Alcohol Addiction.

Research I conducted with Lucie James back in 2008 provided important insights into factors that facilitate behavioural change and a person’s path to recovery from addiction. This study involved a qualitative analysis of the views and experiences of clients on the RAPt treatment programme [1] in one male and one female prison.

Transcripts of the semi-structured interviews with 15 males and 15 females were analysed with Grounded Theory in order to reveal identified concepts and themes. Four inter-related themes were derived from the analysis that were labelled: ‘Belonging’, ‘Socialisation’, ‘Learning’, and ‘Support’. Each of these themes impacted on a fifth theme, ‘Personal Change’, which had two key components, motivation to change and self-esteem.

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Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: belonging, learning, motivation, personal change, prison, RAPT, recovery, self-esteem, socialisation, support, treatment

Michael’s 43rd (Sober) Anniversary

April 10, 2021 by David Clark

My good friend Michael (Mike) Scott last had a drink 43 years (15,695 days) ago today. Tonight, we will celebrate his 43rd Sober Birthday. This morning, I’m going to celebrate his achievement with a blog post focused on some of Mike’s experiences and reflections.

Mike first contacted me about our Daily Dose website back in 2002. He loved our drug and alcohol news portal that I had launched with Ash Whitney early in 2001. Mike met Ash for the first time (on Skype) a few weeks ago and the pair were mutually pleased to have their first chat.

I gave Mike a big shock when I called him one day back in 2009 and suggested that we have lunch together. He replied, ‘How can we do that? You live on the opposite side of the world.’ I told him that I had moved to Perth on Christmas Day 2008.

My Favourite Blogs: Untangling the elements involved in treatment

February 1, 2014 by David Clark

Here’s a summary of a piece of research that Lucie James and I conducted some years ago. I am very proud of this piece of work and it certainly opened my eyes to the importance of gaining a sense of belonging in the recovery journey.

‘To understand how treatment helps people overcome substance use problems, it is essential to understand the elements that operate in the treatment process, and how they might interact to facilitate behavioural change and a person’s path to recovery from addiction.

Lucie James and I set out to gain initial insights into these issues by using a qualitative analysis of the views and experiences of clients on the RAPt treatment programme in one male and one female prison in the UK.

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Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: belonging, learning, motivation, recovery, research, self-esteem, socialisation, treatment

Recovery Stories Highlight: Untangling the elements involved in treatment

January 11, 2014 by David Clark

‘To understand how treatment helps people overcome substance use problems, it is essential to understand the elements that operate in the treatment process, and how they might interact to facilitate behavioural change and a person’s path to recovery from addiction.

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Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: 12-step, belonging, learning, motivation, self-esteem, socialisation, support, treatment

What works in treatment?: Michael’s Story

October 28, 2013 by David Clark

Treatment for addiction involves a number of different processes. What are the most important? Who better to tell us than the people who have used treatment to help them recover from addiction.

During the next week, we’ll look at the views of some of those people who have so kindly given us insights into their lives through their Recovery Story. We’ll start with my close friend Michael from Perth. Let’s look at some of his experiences from the moment he decided to stop drinking over 35 years ago and his views on treatment.

‘I made the decision to stop drinking on April 10th, 1978, three years after my parents had died. My last drinking session took place at the Shenton Park Hotel. I finished my last drink and slammed the glass down, saying to myself that this was it! “No more drinking!” I have not had a drop of alcohol since then.

Read More ➔

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: compassion, detox, empathy, recovery, relationships, self-esteem, socialisation, treatment