‘Of course there are
obstacles – we call
these “lemons”.’
THE FACILITATOR EXPERIENCE
ACT-PR IN BRISTOL
I first came across ACT-PR at a FAMA
training day in 2015. What appealed to me
was the focus on behaviour and I also liked
the fact that it wasn’t measured in terms of
success/failure. I followed it up and if
memory serves, the first conversation went
like this:
Me: We don't have any peer organisations in
Bristol.
Mark: Set one up.
Me: How do I do that for ACT Peer Recovery?
Mark: You’re doing it right now.
We agreed that an information day would be
a good place to start, and in spring 2016
Bristol City Council gave us a small sum to
host it. Mark came with four peers and they
presented ACT-PR to us – everyone got it
straight away and the first group was set up
in October 2016. Twelve of us started in a
space at Bristol Drugs Project, and it was
amazing how things suddenly begun to click.
We’ve now finished the group leader
training and have four new ACT meetings,
including an LGBTQ+ meeting. We’ve
formed a small charitable organisation and
found office space. We have several people
interested in doing the next round of group
leader training in September.
With my peer colleagues we have worked
hard to get ACT-PR off the ground because
we have all benefitted from the model
ourselves – developing our noticing
muscles, loving our lemons and changing
our lives. We really have ‘just done it’.
Jamie Freeman
www.drinkanddrugsnews.com
THE PEER EXPERIENCE
‘Past/present/future’ is a format from
the meetings:
Past: I used to react, get angry and be
confrontational which caused arguments at
home, filtered down to my children and
rippled out to the rest of my life. It caused
problems everywhere, including work.
Present: ACT-PR helped me get a pause
button so I could notice my behaviours in
advance and stop myself. Now I talk instead
of shouting and choose my words carefully.
Future: Life has got a lot more peaceful and
relationships have improved all round. I am
no longer this ogre that people are frighten -
ed of. I have become more approachable,
and get on so much better with everyone.
Female parent, 40
FAMA, WARRINGTON
After assessment we started to tell people
about ACT-PR. They could attend a short
introductory session that is held every week
at the same time, so staff know when it is.
From the beginning it has been well
attended and we have seven or eight
people coming each week to learn the basic
principles. In the year we have seen over
200 different people at these introductory
sessions. Half go on to the full mutual aid
meeting that we also run in the building.
After that there are the community groups
which attract a wide range of people.
We are now getting ready to use the
video introductions at assessment time, and
expect the numbers to grow even further.
The results speak for themselves, and many
people have stayed the course and
developed recovery in the mutual aid groups.
BRIC worker
I attended a meeting and had a lot of
‘penny-drop’ moments – it really made
sense to me, so I wanted to see if I could
help out. I started by doing small parts of
the meeting while the leader supported me,
like a mentor, until my confidence improved.
Once I was comfortable doing that I
attended the six-week training course.
I enjoyed the course because it was very
practical. We didn’t just sit there and listen
– we had to have a go and get out of our
comfort zone. As the weeks went by my
confidence improved and by the end I was
ready to start my own group, which you
have to do to get a licence.
Now I run my own group and have watched
the attendance slowly build. It makes me
feel very proud to see people starting out
on the process that I followed. One day I’ll
hand it over to them and go on to the next
level. And yes, it’s still scary – but it works.
Lancashire male, 36
‘Life has got a lot more
peaceful and relationships
have improved all round.’
May 2017 | drinkanddrugsnews | 17