What an Individual Recovery Programme Involves
How accommodation, structure, practical support and lived experience come together around each resident.
Read about the programme →For people considering recovery, families supporting someone, professionals making referrals and anyone wanting to understand addiction more clearly. Our articles combine lived experience, more than twenty years of supporting recovery in Coventry, and reliable published evidence.
Written in plain language by Open Hands Coventry. We distinguish lived-experience perspectives from evidence-based information and review factual material periodically.
Choose the starting point that best matches what you need today.
How accommodation, structure, practical support and lived experience come together around each resident.
Read about the programme →A short, practical guide to the first 30 days, common difficulties and the support that can help.
Read Recovery First →How to remain supportive without taking over responsibility for another person’s recovery.
Read family guidance →Who OHC may be suitable for, what residents can expect and how to start an honest conversation with us.
Referral information →Recovery Is Possible: A Peer-Led Handbook for Alcohol and Drug Recovery — written by Open Hands Coventry. Read it on your phone, tablet, or computer.
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Understanding addiction, recognising risk and building a life that supports continued recovery.
Every resident follows a programme shaped around his needs, risks, abilities and progress. Accommodation provides the stable base, but it is not the whole programme.
Read article →Some people can use alcohol or other drugs without major consequences. For others, one drink can quickly reopen old patterns of craving and loss of control. This article explains why.
Read article →Relapse often starts long before the first drink or drug. A peer perspective on the early warning signs, common triggers, and ten practical ways to stay on track.
Read article →Most people think addiction is a willpower problem. The research says otherwise — and understanding why matters for recovery.
Read article →An urge does not have to be obeyed. Practical ways to manage cravings through delay, changing surroundings, distraction, support and forward planning.
Read article →Naloxone can temporarily reverse an opioid overdose and buy time for emergency help to arrive. What it does, who should carry it and how to respond.
Read article →Plain explanations of Twelve Step recovery, fellowship, belief and the value of one person in recovery helping another.
People in recovery often benefit from helping others facing the same challenges. First described by Frank Riessman in 1965, this idea is at the heart of how Open Hands Coventry works.
Read article →A plain guide to the Twelve Steps — what they involve, how they build on each other, and why helping others is not just the final step but a foundation of lasting recovery.
Read article →A secular perspective on AA’s “higher power” language — and what the evidence says about what actually helps people recover.
Read article →How neuroscience helps explain why AA’s tools actually work — and why fellowship itself may be the most powerful “higher power” of all.
Read article →Seven common misconceptions about Twelve-Step recovery, from a peer perspective — on faith, powerlessness, meetings, rules, and what the research actually shows.
Read article →AA, NA, and CA aren’t treatments — they’re peer communities built on recovery, service, and belonging. Free, local, and run by people who’ve been where you are.
Read article →Some people in AA quietly believe they are a different kind of person from someone recovering from other drugs. What usually separates them is identity and language, not the addiction itself.
Read article →Guidance on mental health, trauma, family relationships and the safe place of prescribed medication in recovery.
Alcohol and drug dependence are linked to a higher risk of suicidal thoughts and behaviours. Understanding the risks, why recovery helps, and where to find support.
Read article →Trauma-informed means little unless it shapes how people are actually treated. No shouting, no humiliation, and trust that is earned, not assumed.
Read article →Letting go does not mean walking away. A guide for parents on the difference between detachment and abandonment, and what actually helps.
Read article →AA’s own policy is clear: medication is between you and your doctor. What some members say is a different matter — and it can be dangerous.
Read article →Longer pieces examining the evidence, the wider consequences of drug supply and how peer support works alongside clinical treatment.
Cocaine’s journey from coca farm to Coventry street runs through exploitation, violence and organised crime. What that chain looks like, and what it costs.
Read article →A longer, evidence-based look at why known strength makes alcohol moderation possible in a way illicit cocaine’s unknown strength does not — and what that means for recovery.
Read article →Peer support and clinical treatment are often framed as rivals. The evidence, and UK policy, increasingly says the real question is how well they work together.
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