UK Recovery Summit 2011 Cardiff

Friday 9th September saw the 2011 UK Recovery Federation summit which brought together providers, supporters and people in recovery from all over the UK.

It was held at the All Nations Conference Centre, Cardiff. I arrived on Thursday afternoon and met with UKRF Directors Alistair Sinclair and AnneMarie Ward who organised the conference as well as other speakers for dinner. It was slightly daunting in some ways as there were a lot of prominent people from the field at the table but  they are all really interesting and passionate people and I appreciate the opportunity to meet people who I can learn so much from. Always nice to see my Twitter friends Nigel Brunsdon, Tim Bingham and Melody Treasure too.

We were lucky enough to have a stand there to promote training and EFT for Recovery. There was an immediate interest in EFT and it restored my faith that I should continue spreading the word. There’s an obvious need for people to have access to emotional support at all stages of recovery and EFT can help with that so I’ll keep right on and see what areas of the UK it takes me to. It was an opportunity to connect and it was great to meet so many inspirational people and hear their stories.

Speakers included:

Keith Humphreys Professor of Psychiatry at Stamford University

John Strang National Addictions Centre, Kings College London

Neil Hunt University of Kent and UK Harm Reduction Association

Carol McDaid Faces and Voices of Recovery, Virginia, U.S

Colin Wilkie-Jones Chief Executive, eATA

Bryan Morgan West Sussex DAAT and EXACT

AnneMarie Ward  & Alistair Sinclair UKRF Directors

There were two people in particular who made my trip to Cardiff even more worthwhile. Francis and Rie. I met them both separately and then found out they were husband and wife. Amazing people. Here is Rie’s Wired In blog.

http://wiredintorecovery.org/member/blog/2733/entry/11662/a-personal-story2/

http://wiredintorecovery.org/member/blog/2733/entry/11665/a-personal-story.-two/

Next up the Recovery Walk.

Stacey

The use of Emotional Freedom Technique for Recovery

This week I had the opportunity to introduce EFT to a group of service users at Park House residential treatment centre in Birmingham with great feedback. I was able to quickly help with the thoughts and emotions they were dealing with there and then including Cravings, Frustration, Stress and Agitation.

Here’s more about how it can be used and be especially beneficial for people in recovery.

Various complementary therapies and talk therapies have been used historically within drug treatment. Some work on a physical level to help people feel more relaxed and to aid the detoxification process. Others work at an emotional/psychological level. Emotional Freedom Technique does both.

EFT is an Energy Psychology which combines a talk therapy with tapping on meridian points on the body similar to the points used in acupuncture.

The tapping begins to move energy around the body. When this shifts it helps to free and clear any blockages and therefore the issues.

EFT also works on a psychological level as it is combined with a talk therapy with the use of affirmations and statements helping to tune into specific issues.

I used to use auricular acupuncture which I always felt worked well to get people in a relaxed state and feedback was always positive about better sleep, less anxiety, reduced cravings etc.

After I became a trainer I missed my one to one work and looking back on it felt that more could be done to address the emotions that were leading to drug use. By fluke I discovered Emotional Freedom Technique which helped me personally immensely with a phobia I had.

I soon got myself on the courses to become a practitioner and due to my experience in the substance use field realised how beneficial it could be. I have now been using EFT for two and a half years both on others and on myself. That is one of the other beauties of it. As well as getting to the root of issues with a Practitioner it can be used as a coping strategy day to day whenever negative emotions including Anxiety, Fear, Stress and Sadness arise and more importantly to alleviate cravings.

I set up EFT for Recovery as a Community Interest Company in order to give more people the opportunity to experience and learn the technique and whilst it’s great for everyone I knew that it could be valuable for people with goals around their own recovery.

You can see more info on EFT for Recovery on my website here. It can have really amazing results.

Stacey