Approach and Impact About us We provide facilitated group therapy, using psycho-dynamic, psycho-therapeutic, CBT, person-centred approaches. We support the 12-step programme and actively encourage clients to engage in 12-step fellowship groups alongside our treatment programme. Formed in 2000 Hertfordshire based charity supporting Hertfordshire adult residents Support all addictions: drugs, alcohol and behavioural Provide funded specialist groups for Disordered Eating, Relationships, Drugs Support family and carers of those with addictions Trained counsellors to Level 3 and above Each group is facilitated by two counsellors with lived experience Our daytime service is free and non-time-limited Our main centre is in Stevenage, plus we have centres in St Albans and Watford Deliver Families Living in Recovery project in partnership with Relate LNW&H and Family Lives We have supported over 3500 people to full recovery over 20 years Our Stevenage crèche supports parents to engage in treatment, by providing free childcare to 50 children per year, funded by Children in Need Semi-anonymised reporting to National Drug Treatment Monitoring Service NDTMS Monitoring tools used are: Client Recovery Wheel, NHS PHQ-9 Depression Scale, NHS GAD-7 Anxiety Scale, TOP form, questionnaires and evaluations, testimonies and case studies Collaborative working with Spectrum Change Grow Live and Emerging Futures Mindful Employer Charity Excellence Framework Quality Mark Real Living Wage Employer Disability Confident Committed organisation Valuing Volunteer Management quality mark Fundraising Regulator registration Members of FDAP, BACP, Hertfordshire Chamber of Commerce, ACEVO Our approach incorporates: Therapy within a group with that has a shared commitment to the goal of abstinence The powerful motivational effect upon the individual that comes from this shared aspiration cannot be underestimated, as they are supported and challenged on a daily basis to grow, develop and overcome their illness. Well recognised counselling and therapy practices Our structured day treatment employs cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) and solution focused therapy to enable clients to maintain motivation, manage their using triggers and sustain recovery. "When you’ve come from a place of isolation and then step in to a room where everyone understands and shares with you it’s amazing.” A spiritual dimension to recovery We actively encourage and support clients to embark on a spiritual journey as part of their recovery. In the 12-Step tradition we encourage clients to develop a relationship with a higher power (whether this be their own particular religion’s conceptions of God, or something more abstract such as human potential, love or nature). We have many times seen the inspiration, joy and comfort that clients have found through exploring the spiritual dimension to life, whether through meditation, worship, prayer or contemplation. "When you then go in to group and everyone introduces themselves to you it’s a feeling of total love." Recovery services for all addictions Whilst many come to us with addictions to drugs and alcohol, we also help those with behavioural addictions. Fully qualified counsellors that are themselves in long term recovery from an addiction Our recovery service staff are all fully qualified counsellors (diploma level or higher) and have each at least eight years of recovery from addiction. This personal experience of addiction helps reinforce the integrity of the approach in the eyes of the clients. "You come here broken, scared and nervous and the first counsellor you meet is someone who says, ‘I’ve been there too’. When they said that to me I felt special." Help with practical matters We provide support and advocacy with, amongst other things, reuniting with children in care, money management and debt, re-entering the workplace, family mediation, parenting workshops, access to other services.