Vision

In August of 2011, 13 members of NH’s Recovery Community gathered for a week at Knoll Farm in Vermont, to talk about our shared values and our dreams for a healthy statewide recovery movement. Here is some of what we came up with in our “brainstorming” session:

 

What values are spoken/unspoken in the recovery movement in New Hampshire?

What values are welcome/unwelcome in the recovery movement in New Hampshire?

 

Our values about what is welcome are clear: Honesty, humility, wisdom (as opposed to intelligence and the formal education), approachability, commitment, self help, spirit, community, enthusiasm, compassion. There are values that are clearly spoken: We help each other, and value each other. We take time to listen, educate, and give back. We value the Traditions, the Steps, the Principles. We value the way our practice of these things changes as the people involved change, and government changes.

What values are unwelcome ? Indifference, anger, aloofness, superiority, closed-mindedness, ignorance without investigation.

What is spoken or goes unspoken depends on who and where you are.

The value of anonymity is welcome, anonymity is huge! I don’t want to be penalized for saying I am in recovery, and I want to do what everyone else can do! Yet the term “recovery” is about the value  of  getting back what I had in my life before. I’ve gone so far beyond that. I am going forward into something I had never experienced before.

The recovery movement doesn’t speak out for itself: I read the newspaper and I cannot believe the lack of understanding. Not understanding the impact it has in our state; not understanding the impact it has on our families.

What no one asks: What is the circle of recovery in New Hampshire? How do the many people working diligently, together form one big circle?

There is an unspoken injustice in New Hampshire that is the state’s responsibility: New Hampshire liquor stores do not give even half of the money required by law to the recovery movement.

The State has articulated its  values. These include:

×        recovery is person centered

×        individuals direct their own recovery

×        recovery is holistic, using lots of systems and approaches

×        recovery is adequately financed

×        recovery is culturally competent

There are many factions in the recovery movement. These include treatment clinicians, often working in isolation

We speak of the recovery movement as a place to be among people who understand, and being able to find them anywhere in the world.

Healthcare providers are overwhelmed by the responsibility for addressing addiction in primary care settings, which makes conversation about doing this unwelcome.

We do not speak of addiction as the result of something other than a disorder or dysfunction. Addiction may be a mistaken behavior in pursuit of normal human desires for happiness. If we thought of it that way it would take the stigma away. An unspoken idea: It is better to obtain happiness than sobriety.

There is an unspoken assumption that nobody gets better; “once an addict, always an addict”. There are many successful people who have recovered but remain anonymous, their story is unspoken. As a result, policymakers do not know that people recover.

Prostitution is unspoken in our recovery movement. Whether women are in the sex industry on the streets, in the home, or even just once, they need a place to recover.

There are unspoken tensions in the recovery movement:

×        Clinical versus Self Help models, and the gaps between them;

×        Anonymity versus Advocacy;

×        The degree of stigma attached to addiction versus the degree of stigma attached to mental illness, and

×        the opposition between the addiction and mental illness fields.

Some things are unwelcome in our recovery community. Valuing only the “tried and true” leaves little room for change; if we are not open to the possibility of change, it could grow stale and our attraction lose its luster.

Some conversations are unwelcome by some people in our community: staunch traditionalists have a problem when the nature of somebody’s problem is not strictly alcohol or not strictly substance abuse. What is often spoken aloud in these circumstances is negative feedback and stigma. This is true for people with dual diagnoses of addiction and co-occurring mental illness, or people with alcoholism and also other addictions. When what is spoken aloud becomes a challenge:  “Are you an alcoholic?”  what becomes  unspoken is the possibility that the way we’ve asked this question may send people away,  possibly to die. Some people forget that the Big Book says that we may need outside help.

We should talk about how the stock market crash affected the recovery movement. It affected policy and funding. It affected me! And this creates an opportunity; an opening for a movement organized from the bottom up instead of the top down.

Listening for what has not been said before: Many things fall under the umbrella of “recovery movement”: alternative therapies, dual diagnosis, 12 step program. I am not sure I will welcome everything, but I will sure keep my ears open.

What is unspoken: That families participate in recovery, even in pre–recovery.

What is spoken now in portrayals of using or being addicted is shame. What could be spoken is the pride in the successes that can come with recovery.

What is your dream or vision for a healthy, whole, statewide recovery movement?

I have a dream that when a child says they are ready for help, there is a place for them to go, and a place for them to return to that will nourish and accept them.

I dream of a time when addiction or recovery is seen like breast cancer and diabetes: where research about it is cutting edge, and is supported by medical establishments and the private sector and government.

I dream of a New Hampshire where, when families seek healthcare, questions about substance abuse are a routine part of the screening.

I envision a New Hampshire with recovery centers throughout urban and rural areas; centers that offer the wide variety of resources we have explored this week , all under one roof.

I envision a New Hampshire where it becomes common knowledge that addiction offers limited delight, and is therefore a mistake.

I dream of a New Hampshire where the recovery people will show up and turn out for other people’s events; one where we will know how our mission and other people’s missions fit together, and  we will bring knowledge of other people’s work to our recovery.

I dream of a statewide recovery movement that educates newcomers and protects their rights.

I dream of a New Hampshire with statewide awareness acceptance and availability of resources for people struggling with addiction. I envision New Hampshire as a place where resources about addiction are common knowledge; and welcoming help is available for anyone. A New Hampshire where everyone who looks for help to leave addiction will be able to find a mentor; and those people  receiving mentorship can someday become mentors to others.

I dream of a New Hampshire where families, businesses, and communities understand what “help” means; understand the tools; understand the disease.

I dream of a walkathon to call attention to the disease of addiction, just like other diseases. I envision that walk going to the Statehouse, with more than just people in recovery, but also allied movements for health and well-being. As a breast cancer survivor, I dream of a New Hampshire were addicts have the same access to care and support that was available to me.

I dream of a statewide publication that serves as a hub and pulls people together.

I envision a New Hampshire were businesses want to give goods and services to recovery communities.

I envision a New Hampshire where the stigma can be lifted, where those in recovery can transform their shame into success stories that can benefit others.

I dream of a New Hampshire where people with wealth will help from their pockets, to ensure that others can freely access treatment for addiction. I dream of New Hampshire where the lowest of the low and youngest of the young get the same treatment as the richest and most powerful in the state. I have a vision of a New Hampshire were wealthy and privileged addicts feel free, are welcome, and are able to be supported in getting well. I dream of a movement where people elected to highest office who are also in recovery will talk about it.

I dream of a movement that includes lots of kinds of people. One where more people break anonymity to help more people get well. A  whole, healthy statewide recovery movement will include people in prostitution. It will include mentors who are not only older; it will include mentors who are Next Gen leaders in a variety of colors and flavors.  A movement with enough training and resources to support its members and their mentors. This movement will resolve prejudices against forms of treatment that are not supported by everyone, but that are working for some people right now.

A statewide recovery movement would offer its members consistent, honest, fluent communication about problems, and how to fix them; about successes, and how to celebrate them. A statewide recovery movement would make sure that everyone who wants and needs help will get access to the same kind of unconditional support to share their story. This movement will help communities to work  together with open minds, so that  everyone will find help to address their unique, individual recovery needs.

This movement would be a place where I., and anyone else, can learn how voting and public policy work. A statewide recovery movement would be a place for mental health professionals could learn to understand addiction.

Such a movement would help our State, which makes millions of dollars from alcohol, start to use more of those resources to fund treatment of addictions.

A whole, healthy statewide recovery movement will help us to manifest a common language to express our needs and desires.

New Hampshire understands that we do not have to reinvent the wheel: we are open to other places having something to teach us about building such a movement.

I dream of a New Hampshire where battered women do not have to choose between help for domestic violence and help around addictions; I envision New Hampshire as a place where no one has to choose  one  their diseases should be the center of their healing — HIV or addiction.

I dream that New Hampshire becomes a wholeness community. I dream of a time when New Hampshire has big, visionary, generous support conditions. I envision a time when others will come to New Hampshire to experience these things that we have learned. I envision a time when New Hampshire leads other states to a more enlightened condition.

I dream of a time when we are involved find a way to address the real criminal impact of addiction, for this is the thing that makes others in sensitive to the recovery needs of addict.

I dream of a vehicle to restore families that are destroyed by addiction — a methodology or treatment to heal families. And I dream of a New Hampshire that will make a Narcane available to families and friends of addict.

I envision a New Hampshire where public high schools include teaching about addiction as coursework

I dream of a New Hampshire were addicts seeking treatment and maintenance hear that recovery can be a lot of fun. We hear about how much work it is but seldom hear about how much fun it is!

I dream of a time when good people working in recovery and treatment and are paid a decent wage, so they can continue the work they love.

I envision changes in the New Hampshire criminal justice system, so that people who receive treatment won’t be labeled in ways that make it hard for them to find a job. I envision a criminal justice system where diversion and prevention become the rule rather than the exception. I envision a  criminal justice system where  sentencing offers offenders a choice between treatment and jail as the  rule rather than an exception

I envision a time when we all can see ourselves , and each other, as leaders.

I dream of a New Hampshire where faith communities universally see a role for themselves in supporting people with addiction, and supporting families who live within addict.

I envision a time when people in program return to the spirit of program, rather than the letter of the law. One where we remember that kindness and love are the founding principle of our program. And I believe that people with time in the program should be the ones to educate us all about that.

I dream of a day when everyone is aware about what is real and not real about what “recovery” means.