DDN October 2017 DDN_DIR_October2017 | Page 6

Cover Story Recovery should be about freedom. So why aren’t we embracing diversity, asks Mark Prest P The bigger picture icture an addict, what do you see? Someone white, probably work ing class and straight – a stereotype straight out of Trainspotting. As a gay man in recovery, my own treatment experiences clearly demonstrated that the ‘one shoe fits all’ approach doesn’t work. It was a small place, an intimate affair and to my knowledge I was the only out gay in the rehab. It’s since felt to me that my sexuality and its relationship to my alcoholism were simply ignored by my counsellors. I exited rehab with much of the hurt and harm from my failed rel