Recovering Relationships an experience-based support for individuals and families across the stages of long-term recovery
Recovering Relationships is now emerging as a contributing force, as the field revises its approach to developing functioning, stable recovery.
It has been discovered that, when studying approaches are introduced to recovering people looking to build and develop change in their lives, they work. This should be no surprise. It is widely accepted and known that studying as a relationship technology and approach works when proficiently practiced.
“experienced based support”, the main emergence of recovering relationships study has been in the peer-to-peer support environment and movement which has existed for some time in mutual-aid organisations, as well as in developing recovery communities.
This is not the only place where recovery studying has been developing. We who take the courses and who are in recovery ourselves recognised the potential which a taught course offers recovery. The development of recovering relationships and its differing approaches sprang from the truth,trust and consent approaches to mental health.
RECOVERING RELATIONSHIPS OVERVIEW
Recovery Relationships primary focus is on studying what behaviour impacts on individuals and communities of people to develop and live meaningful, purposeful and fulfilling lives while initiating, building and developing recovering relationships. We enter into a collaborative and designed relationship where we uses foundational and advanced course skills, principles and contexts to facilitate the empowerment, transformation and development of the individual. Examining existing conditioning from childhood experience into a holistic course centred method of understanding how they impact on person centred recovery.
As our developmental courses occur, the course does not promote or endorse a particular pathway or methodology that leads to recovery but a joint experiential realisation of what constitutes a healthy, nurturing relationship. While there exists an active recovery relationship, the recipient is a partner in the other person’s life journey, facilitating access to their own child withins human resource, as defined by ourselves. We who are receiving the taught course are in charge of and provides the agenda for recovery and we are seen as the experts in our own life.
Our progress in our lives and recovery are supported by developing awareness of our current choices, actions and responsibilities. Our recovery is always grounded in agreed actions with agreed accountability.
We do not work in isolation but develop and maintain relationships with others, peers and volunteers in the field and their community as referral and support resources for their course work.
KEY CONCEPTS AND APPROACHES
Recovery comes from the persons actual recovery. The key principle on which recovering relationships rest in our practice which is that recovery is something that is re-generated by the person looking for, or in recovery. This deep respect for an individual’s history, ability and resourcefulness in finding their own path to recovery lies at the heart of recovering relationships.
Recovering Relationships is systemic. Recovery recognises that recovery develops and takes place in a series of relationships or a lack of relationships.
Recovering Relationships always is grounded in action and the accountability of our course work. All Recovering Relationship sessions ground in agreed action that we will attempt to take. We create mutually agreed relationship goals based on truth, trust , consent and feedback within the sessions or singularly so that they have an external process by which to evaluate the consequences of actions taken, or not taken, on our own recovering lives.
The agenda for a recovering relationships session always flows from the Stager (Ten Stage Recovery).
Accessing meditational resources. Recovering Relationships has become an invaluable gateway to resources that may be practical – such as local meetings – web-based meetings, google hangouts and webinars. The emphasis is on the taught course to add structure to develop a relationship to and interact with these recovery resources.
The recovering relationship is consciously designed between students and guides (those that have completed the course). The emphasis is on the students needs and requirements. The solid and clear design of the relationship provides a strong container which, adjusted as and when we and students agree positive solutions providing a robust and powerful place for us to be present.
Recovering Relationships is applicable across all models and approaches to recovery. As recovering relationships have no agenda other than to assist and support others to find and develop recovery, whatever that might be to the student, they work with whatever particular recovery pathway a student is developing at any given time.
Recovering Relationships are not experts in treatment nor are they offering it. Recovering Relationships is an addition to the existing environment and should be seen as new combination of tools which performs a particular role and function outside of medical or therapeutic treatments but often in alliance with them.
What is its impact? People receiving recovering relationships report increased feelings of confidence in their approach to and experience of recovery, a deepening of their belief in their own existing and future capabilities and positive actions. Also reported are feelings of being respected and individuated, of not being cogs in a system or recipients of a programme of treatment. There is an the increased sense of the possibility of self determination. The process and experience of being in recovering relationship and receiving the taught course also instigates a ‘self coaching’ facility which impacts as much on the personal development of the students as it does on the people they grow to support.
FACTORS ENCOURAGING GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT OF RECOVERING RELATIONSHIPS
Widening the road to recovery. Recovering Relationships offers a particular pathway of engagement for many people unable, unready and/or unwilling at a given time to engage with other pathways to recovery such as 12-step programmes, treatment programmes, spiritual pathways and so on. Significantly, recovering relationships are proving to be excellent first lines of engagement for people presenting with problems with misuse of substances or behaviours who are far away from accepting an engagement with others, it is a start to breaking social isolation.
Recovering Relationships is liberating. Course work and studying ways of approaching relationships rub off on other people. The non-judgment and acceptance which recovering relationships offer and tends to be attractive to others as well.
Low barriers to entry. The ability to acquire and use recovering relationship skills requires no prior or particular educational or academic experience. Almost anyone can learn and practice them.
Immediate returns. As the skills and approaches which form foundational recovering relationships skills and principles are essentially already aligned to existing innate human behavioural tendencies, they are easily understood from almost the beginning of the courses. There is an almost immediate return on the investment made in learning them.
As many of us working to support recovery look for new and more effective ways forward, recovering relationships offers support for the further empowerment of people and communities at grassroots level. In addition, it can expand the skill sets being offered by service provision organisations and individual practitioners.
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