Making Sense Of..‪.‬ Foundation for Change

Today the Foundation for Change team discuss the most widely recognised model of recovery - the 12 Step programme. In this episode we try to clear up some of the common misconceptions and myths surrounding the 12 Step programme and explore why recovery can’t be approached by using the cookie cutter method.

Self-esteem is the term used to describe a person’s sense of self-worth and value. Poor self-esteem can negatively impact all areas of our lives from making the right decisions for ourselves to being able to identify and express our own needs. Our self-esteem determines how we act and behave in relationships and actually, the kinds of relationships we seek out and stay in. The topic is a huge one given how our self-esteem affects most aspects of our lives.

In this episode, we start off by talking about the first time we encountered the word self-esteem and how our own personal relationship to it has evolved over the years. We discuss where poor-self-esteem originates and how we have each individually found ways that have helped us build up our own resilience. It's often the small, positive changes that can help us keep taking steps forwards. One thing we can all agree on is that improving our self-esteem is not a linear path, so be kind to yourself and know that some days will be better than others.

Spirituality is a divisive word that tends to both intrigue and frighten people. In this episode, we have a go and deconstructing what the word means for us. We explore the baggage the term is laden with and that often prevents people from not only understanding what the word means, but benefiting from what it actually is.

That we didn't explicitly talk about addiction until our 24th podcast episode is very reflective of our approach here at FfC. Though definitely a part of people's history, we encourage those we work with to look at their addiction as a surface symptom of something far deeper. In this episode, we start with asking a statement posed by Gabor Maté: "The question is not what's wrong with people, it's what has happened to people".

The FfC have a meandering chat in response to this, covering shame, the feeling of competing with others whilst in recovery, the 'relapse journey', the moralistic/overly-simplistic/black or white view of addiction, and more. See what you think.

In our new mini-series on addiction, we take some time to explore what addiction is and what it means to the team at FfC. We talk about the many nuances of addiction that are often not known or misunderstood and have a brief foray into FfC team member Bob's first experience with addiction. It might not be what you think... 

Positive Psychology was developed in the 90s and is the study of wellbeing rather than pathology/mental illness. Lots of things make us happy, however Dr Martin Seligman – the godfather of positive psychology - wanted to put forward a theoretical model of happiness, a framework of wellbeing which we discuss in the podcast in the context of recovery from addiction.

We delve into tips and tricks to improve happiness and wellbeing and the team discuss whether they’re any good or if they are simply for WEIRD people. Have a listen to find out what we’re on about…