Staff featured in this video (in order of appearance):
- Dr Cosmo Duff Gordon, Founder and Service Director
- Richard Coltart, Outpatient Programme Unit Head
- Dan Stanley, Team Leader and Counsellor
- Sarah Hodgson, Recovery Assistant
Dr Cosmo Duff Gordon
Addiction comes with a lot of shame. Most people in addiction probably spent many years guarding their shame or hiding their addiction from others. The idea of having to talk about stuff is that’s a difficult thought. That’s anxiety-provoking.
I think many people in addiction problem would feel different, but really unique. They can’t probably imagine that they can be helped by being in group therapy with other people with similar problems. But actually, the paradox is the power of group therapy, of identification, of being able to relate, not feeling quite so alone and especially in terms of shame, being able to share shame, because shame does die in exposure and sort of work through it, it’s all incredibly powerful.
Richard Coltart
The impact of being in a therapeutic community for recovery is everything. If we think about how people have got here, they’ve got here essentially on their own. Predominantly because they come from a place of fear and fear drives control and control says, I’ve got to drive the bus and I’ve got to do this on my own and I’ve got to steer my way to being okay. But that that tends to end really badly.
Coming in here and understanding the benefits of a Minnesota model, a 12-step model, a meeting model that involves getting well together is key because we can for the first time understand that actually it doesn’t fall on our shoulders to have all the questions answered. We don’t have to know everything. We can actually come to the group and ask for help. We can feel held where we might not have felt held before.
Dan Stanley
Addiction is very cunning. It wants to keep them trapped in that shame and in that guilt. I think that is one of the fears coming and facing people that they don’t know and sitting in groups and owning that. It’s in doing that that they really get free.
Sarah Hodgson
Some of the changes that have been really beautiful and remarkable to have been honoured enough to be able to be a part of people’s recovery journey, is seeing the sort of withdrawn, fearful person come in full of fear, full of doubt, full of concern, but also with a lot of willpower. Seeing that willpower from where that started the process, transforming them to the more confident, sense of self coming through and then gradually with that, when you can see the clients are taking on board, all the guidance that they’ve been provided with and then turning that around into their own recovery and what that means to them is really, really special. Just seeing, witnessing that transformation, whether it be in terms of how they might present
themselves or speak with you as they go through the process. It’s something that’s not always easy to put your finger on, but it’s sort of a sense that you can gain from each individual. I think just in their character and the way that they will come to you and say little snippets of, you know, this bit here that you mentioned to me, that really helped me or just generally just seeing how that they start to have new relationships with their peers, with the counsellors the work they’re doing. It’s really, really, really wonderful, really amazing to see and obviously very rewarding.
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