Recovery means different things to different people. It is a broad and complex journey that people must take at their own pace.
It is much wider than substance misuse alone, and can take many forms including:
- reducing risk taking;
- overcoming dependence;
- improving health;
- improving quality of life;
- and achieving personal fulfilment.
The Welsh Government has created a national framework for substance misuse services and has adopted the following definition of recovery:
‘Recovery from problematic drug or alcohol use is defined as a process in which the difficulties associated with substance misuse are eliminated or significantly reduced, and the resulting personal improvement becomes sustainable.’
The recovery approach builds independence and skills over time, ensuring people ‘own’ their own journey towards sustained self-management and freedom.
Recovery capital
Recovery capital refers to the internal and external resources a person has to achieve and sustain behavioural change and recovery.
Recovery capital and what impacts on substance use is unique to every individual but some key areas we find useful to look at include:
- Substance misuse and sobriety
- Psychological health
- Physical health
- Community involvement
- Social support
- Meaningful activities
- Risk taking
- Housing and safety
- Recovery experience
Barod aims to support individuals at every opportunity to look at what recovery capital they have and what they would like to work on; helping them to reinforce the changes and progress they make.
Mutual Aid Partnerships
We encourage our service users to attend recovery activities, such as the annual recovery walk on Pen Y Fan mountain (organised by Chooselife in partnership with Barod), and the annual Wales-wide National Service User conference.
We promote peer to peer support opportunities such as:
- AA and NA fellowships
- Hepatitis C support groups
- Recovery Cymru based in Cardiff
- CASM – Carmarthenshire support group for families and carers
- Swansea groups E2E
For more information on the Recovery Framework, see it HERE