Sarah Vaile
Recovery Cymru
02920 227 019
sarah@recoverycymru.org.uk
www.recoverycymru.org.uk
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Lots of talk about recovery
Collaboration is the key!
Crossed-wires?
Where are we at as a sector?
Different approaches to recovery focused
treatment in Wales, England, Scotland…
Recovery = Abstinence
Recovery is just a new buzz
word – it’s what we were
doing all along!
Recovery is the opposite of
harm reduction
The Recovery approach is not
suitable for everyone
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Recovery for the individual
The Recovery Model for Treatment
Community-led recovery support
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A journey, process, experience
Self-defined
About quality of life
Reduction in problems
Different for each individual
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Waiting lists
Service User feedback – disempowerment,
communication, treatment is ‘done to’
someone, lack of options for people seeking
abstinence
‘The methadone issue’ / ‘Script & nothing else’
Perceived lack of psycho-social interventions
Treatment exits
The revolving door – aftercare / sustaining
change
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Recovery is a process that occurs in the
community with others
Treatment may be one part of this process
Client ownership of the treatment process
Greater emphasis on long term goals and
aspirations vs. symptom management
Valuing the contribution of professional
expertise and the expertise of lived experience
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Recovery Oriented Integrated Systems services are not isolated pockets of care but
should form a ‘greater whole’
A range of treatment options and client choice
Planning for exit
Early re-intervention and re-linkage to
treatment and recovery supports
Recovery communities
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Treatment – Aftercare – Community is not
linear
The grass-roots peer-led recovery movement
Supports individuals on all stages of their
journey, including throughout treatment
Independent life in the community
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Differences in the English, Scottish and
Welsh approach
What does recovery mean for methadone
prescribing, non-abstinence based recovery,
client choice and treatment options
Perceived differences between alcohol and
drug recovery
Perceived differences in options needed
depending on the severity of problem
Philosophical differences re: abstinence
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Are not separate or opposing paradigms!
Focus on individual journeys
You need to be alive to recover!
A recovery oriented treatment system needs a
range of options for people on all stages of their
journey and to support all client choices.
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Focus on engagement in treatment and
treatment retention… then what?
Disempowering prescribing practices
Long term prescribing with little / no choice to
attempt reduction
Lack of psycho-social options available
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Don’t throw the baby out with the bathwater
Medication can be a powerful tool
Options and choice
People’s needs and choices may change over
time
We need to validate all recovery pathways: the
recovery community is a big tent
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Medication Assisted Recovery Support Project
Collaboration between the National Alliance of
Methadone Advocates (NAMA) and the Albert
Einstein College of Medicine
Opiate addiction has both medical and
behavioural components.
Walter Ginter, Director
M-A-R advocate
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“Methadone is not Recovery, Recovery is
Recovery. Methadone is a pathway, a road, a
tool. Recovery is a life and a particular way of
living your life”
The methadone debates de-values the
individual’s process of change and
achievements
We should be focusing on a person’s life
functioning.
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A partnership prescribing plan
Psycho-social-spiritual options alongside
prescribing
Focus on recovery capital and quality of life
Choice and encouragement: to attempt
reduction (abstinence is not a dirty word!)
Validation of medication assisted recovery:
challenging stigma
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Harm reduction is a necessary and critical part
of a recovery oriented treatment system
The recovery community and harm reduction
should work together
Recovery is about an individual’s quality of
life, not about treatment philosophies
Policy, commissioning and system design need
to support all elements of a recovery oriented
treatment system and all recovery pathways!
Definition of Recovery for the individual:
 “Recovery from alcohol and drug
problems is a process of change over
time that facilitates an individual to
make positive choices and improve the
quality of his or her life.” (2012)
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Still a work in progress!
The definition will be used to support the
development of:
 A definition of a Welsh Recovery
Oriented Treatment System
 An audit criteria to measure recoveryfocused practice
A shameless plug!
“Embracing Recovery Training”
In partnership with