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BOLD QUESTIONING
I was pleased to see some support, in
among the hornets’ nest of letters and
tweets, for the inclusion of Stanton
Peele’s take on recovery (
DDN
, April,
page 8). It is easy to believe in the
effectiveness of a 12-step model when
surrounded by people who describe
themselves as in recovery – as might
be the case if you go to lots of
fellowship meetings or work in a
treatment centre, or indeed both. Can
it be helpful to question beliefs and
practices which seem to support so
many people making positive changes?
Richard Craven’s letter (
DDN
, May,
page 16) helpfully refers to the shame-
ful and shaming practices sometimes
to be found in 12-step based resi-
dential approaches in the 1980s. Take
for example the instruction ‘shape up
or ship out’ – encapsulating the belief
that snags and difficulties in treatment
were always the responsibility of the
client and never the organisation.
Steps 2 and 3 neatly embedded the
necessity of handing over one’s will to
a power greater than oneself and who
would that be, in the case of fresh-off-
the-street addicts who’d been burning
their bridges, if it wasn’t the counsellor
or the group? Fine if it worked, but for
many rehab quitters this was surgical
removal of any surviving vestiges of
dignity and self-belief. Years were to
pass before ‘vulnerable adults’ entered
the treatment discourse.
Twelve-step rehab has been on a
long, let us hope continuing, journey
since that time, in the direction of
recognising the needs, resources,
qualities and circumstances of the
individual. When an agency has been
especially smug and self-satisfied – in
other words, resistant to change – the
journey has been especially painful, not
infrequently ending in liquidation.
Let’s hope the journey into the light
continues, but let’s also recognise the
inherent resistance of many
Enterprise Corner |
Letters
10 |
drinkanddrugsnews
| June 2014
www.drinkanddrugsnews.com
LETTERS
‘Right now,
broadly
speaking,
12-step rehab
continues on a
rough rule of
thirds – some
clients get it,
some don’t, and
some might if
we went at it
differently...’
SPEAKING AT AN EVENT
last week on how
entrepreneurship can help ex-offenders re-
integrate into society and reduce reoffending
rates, it struck me how important our frontline
workers are to everything we do at TSBC. They’re
the face of TSBC with all our participants and
delivery partners on the ground, as well as the
driving force behind our successes. So, I’d like to
devote this month’s column to giving you a bit
more of an insight into our LEES workers, what
they do and why they do it.
I spent a day with Vicky Scott, our worker in
the London Borough of Merton. She only joined
us about eight weeks ago and is based at the MACs project, which provides
recovery and support service within the Merton drug and alcohol
treatment system.
Vicky starts her day contacting service users to remind them of their
sessions with herself and/or meetings with potential employers, interviews,
attending open days at colleges etc – they sometimes need a little nudge.
Then the rest of the morning is generally given over to preparing for her
individual sessions with service users. As TSBC provides a unique service that
is tailored to each participant and their action plan, the preparation and
research ahead of each session can range from making contact with local
employers to meetings with services such as housing support. She also tries
to arrange for them to meet local people and inspiring role models.
The afternoon is the most client-facing part of her day, where Vicky
actually delivers sessions with service users. The content, which she’s
developed in the mornings, and key objectives of the sessions depend on the
progress each service user has made against their actions. For example, if it’s
the first introductory session, they agree the action plan and what the
service user wants to get out of their engagement. Vicky helps them to plan
their ‘journey’ by setting SMART goals that they will work together to
achieve, throughout their engagement with TSBC.
Like every job, there is some admin, and Vicky will admit to leaving this to
the end of the day (or end of the week, if she can!). But TSBC does allow her
to maximise client-facing time and our project support officer at head office
is on hand to help when she’s ‘super busy’. She also contacts referrals
received at the end of the day, and books appointments with clients.
‘What I love about the role is being able to be such a key part of a client’s
recovery,’ says Vicky. ‘Being directly involved with the participants and
allowing me to share my first-hand experiences, and to see the positive
effects of my efforts and planning with the clients – seeing them engaging
in the programmes is so inspiring.’
‘I believe the uniquely designed programmes that are delivered in such a
personalised manner allow participants to progress at their own pace,
depending on their level of recovery,’ continues Vicky. ‘Not every participant
will complete the programme with a job or even enrol into college but they
WILL have at least progressed in their life’s journey. They
will
have gained
relevant and essential skills or tools along the way, which, I feel, can be
carried with them throughout their lives.’
TSBC are actively recruiting LEES workers across the Midlands and
London. For more information contact Vanessa Bucknor-Scott, head of
people development and resourcing on vanessa@tsbccic.org.uk and follow
me our daily updates and industry news on Twitter by following
@tsbclondon don’t forget to use the #tag DDNews when tweeting.
ENTERPRISE CORNER
WORKFORCE
CHALLENGE
Amar Lodhia
experiences a day in the life of a local
enterprise and employability service (LEES) worker