Wednesday 16 April 2008

Wired In Charter

Over the next couple of weeks, I am going to tell you more about our organisation Wired In, formerly known as WIRED.

As you can see from our logo, we are focused on helping people find recovery from addiction. At the same time, we believe strongly in helping people overcome substance use problems before they become serious. We work not only with people with substance use problems, but also their families and friends, as well as practitioners working in the field.

In this Blog, I thought I would introduce you to our Charter, which describes the principles on which we operate as individuals and as an organisation.

WIRED IN CHARTER

1. Wired In exists because of the problems that drugs and alcohol can sometimes cause for individuals and their families.

2. Wired In is founded upon Trust: we are independent, objective and honest. Wired In is about being creative, and having the courage to challenge.

3. We aim to create an environment of opportunity, choice and hope for people affected by substance use problems.

4. We treat people with respect and dignity, and work as a mutually supportive team, in a spirit that we hope inspires others.

5. Wired In is an inclusive, non-competitive initiative that seeks to enhance the impact and reach of the best practice of successful organisations.

6. We are not about a quick fix, but realise that positive change often takes time. Poor systems and protocols must be improved to ensure that people get the help that they deserve.

7. We challenge society over the stigmatisation and stereotyping of people affected by substance use problems.

8. We believe it is essential to provide information and support and to people experiencing all levels of substance use problems, rather than simply focusing on those with the most serious needs.

9. We do not promote any one particular philosophy or treatment intervention. We take an approach that focuses upon key principles that are known to lead to behavioural change and facilitate the path to recovery.

10. The energy and experience of people affected by substance use problems is at the core of what we do. We harness this to give them a voice, enabling them to help themselves and others, and influence practice and policy and the views of society.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Fantastic David.

The focus on recovery of the individual is precisely what is needed. Treating the addict, rather than the addiction, utilising a framework such as the transtheoreoetical model, has in my experience, been more successful than seeking to 'engage a client' in a predetermined 'treatment protocol,'if only because it means that one is then working with where the client is at, rather than where one would like him to be.

The drawback as we both known is that such an approach does not lend itself to a specific time/duration format, which may explain why it is used so infrequently in the present treatment strategies in the UK. The traged is of course that the latter has not to date been especially successful in bringing about recovery in the sense of the individual being able to live a 'normal' life insofar as work. family and community obligations are concerned.

I take this opportunity of wishing you success and hope the next decade will see a turn roun in our approach to treatment with the focus on recovery.

David Clark said...

Thanks for this Peter.

I really believe the recovery agenda is about to take off in this country. I was at an Action on Addiction launch yesterday where there were a number of the country's 'movers and shakers'. And they felt that something is happening re: recovery agenda.

I also think that my BBs may have been having more of an impact that I had thought.

Watch the right hand side blogs over the next few days - stuff going up. And lots of film soon as well.