Positive addiction recovery therapy: A pilot study

The purpose of this study is to evaluate a new programme of work designed to improve the recovery and wellbeing of people in early addiction recovery. The programme, known as positive addiction recovery therapy (PART), is attentive to the recovery process through the G-CHIME (growth, connectedness, hope, identity, meaning in life, and empowerment) model of addiction recovery. It also uses the values in action character strengths and includes a set of relapse prevention techniques. An experimental design using repeated measures has been adopted. Measures for recovery capital, wellbeing, and level of flourishing were selected and pre and post data collected. Primary data analysis was conducted using the non-parametric Wilcoxon signed-rank test. Participants (n=30) were required to be in early addiction recovery, classified as having been abstinent for between 3 and 6 months. The results showed a statistically significant improvement in participant wellbeing. This was also true for recovery capital and flourishing. Whilst a meaningful increase was seen in all measures, exploratory analysis found females responded better to the PART programme. This study emphasises the importance of adopting an holistic therapeutic approach, one that considers multifaceted components of recovery such as those outlined in the G-CHIME model. This study evaluates a new programme of work designed to improve the recovery outcome and mental wellbeing of people who are in early addiction recovery