What an Individual Recovery Programme Involves
How accommodation, structure, practical support and lived experience come together around each resident.
Read about the programme →OHC Recovery Resources
Clear information for recovery, families and professionals
For people considering recovery, families supporting someone, professionals making referrals and anyone wanting to understand addiction more clearly. Our articles combine lived experience, experience supporting recovery in Coventry since 2005 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.
Official meeting finders
Find a recovery meeting
Search for local or online mutual-aid meetings using the official links below.
Alcoholics Anonymous
Find an AA meeting
Cocaine Anonymous
Find a CA meeting
Narcotics Anonymous
Find an NA meeting
SMART Recovery
Find a SMART meeting
Al-Anon
Support for families and friends
Meeting information is maintained by the individual organisations and may change. Open Hands Coventry is not responsible for external websites or individual meetings.
New to the library?
Start here
Choose the starting point that best matches what you need today.
Recovery First
A short, practical guide to the first 30 days, common difficulties and the support that can help.
Read Recovery First →Guidance for Families
How to remain supportive without taking over responsibility for another person’s recovery.
Read family guidance →Making a Referral
Who OHC may be suitable for, what residents can expect and how to start an honest conversation with us.
Referral information →Free to read
The Recovery Handbook and Programme
Recovery Is Possible: A Peer-Led Handbook for Alcohol and Drug Recovery: written by Open Hands Coventry. Download the handbook below, or open our Practical Recovery Programme online. Both can be used on your phone, tablet, or computer.
Download it to your phone so the emergency numbers inside are one tap away, wherever you are: open it in your Files or PDF app rather than your browser for the tap-to-call links to work.
The EPUB is suitable for phones, tablets, Apple Books, Kobo and most reading apps. Kindle users can add it using Amazon’s Send to Kindle service.
Practical recovery
Recovery and relapse
Practical recovery
Recovery and relapse
Understanding addiction, recognising risk and building a life that supports continued recovery.
Lived experience
Why We Can’t Have Just One
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 →
Practical recovery
Avoiding Relapse
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 →
Evidence-informed
Addiction Is Not a Moral Failing
Most people think addiction is a willpower problem. The research says otherwise, and understanding why matters for recovery.
Read article →
Practical · Evidence-informed
Dealing with Cravings
An urge does not have to be obeyed. Practical ways to manage cravings through delay, changing surroundings, distraction, support and forward planning.
Read article →
Safety
Naloxone: What It Is and Why It Matters
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 →
Mutual aid
Recovery approaches
Mutual aid
Recovery approaches
Twelve Step mutual aid, the Helper Principle and secular perspectives: the range of approaches residents can choose between.
12-Step · SMART
12-Step and SMART Recovery in Supported Housing
An honest comparison of 12-Step fellowships and SMART Recovery, including their strengths, limitations and how OHC supports individual choice within an abstinent setting.
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Peer support
The Helper Principle
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.
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Twelve Step
The 12 Steps of AA Explained
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.
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Twelve Step · Secular
You Don’t Have to Believe in God to Recover
A secular perspective on AA’s “higher power” language and what the evidence says about what actually helps people recover.
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Evidence-informed
Science Is Not a Four-Letter Word
How neuroscience helps explain why AA’s tools actually work and why fellowship itself may be the most powerful “higher power” of all.
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Twelve Step
Common Misconceptions About Twelve-Step Recovery
Seven common misconceptions about Twelve-Step recovery, from a peer perspective: on faith, powerlessness, meetings, rules, and what the research actually shows.
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Mutual aid
Peer Recovery: AA, NA, and CA
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.
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Lived experience
“I’m an Alcoholic, Not a Drug Addict”
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.
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Support and safety
Wellbeing, families and medication
Support and safety
Wellbeing, families and medication
Guidance on mental health, trauma, family relationships and the safe place of prescribed medication in recovery.
Safety
Alcohol, Other Drugs and Suicide
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.
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Our values
A Person-Centred, Trauma-Informed Approach to Recovery
Trauma-informed means little unless it shapes how people are actually treated. No shouting, no humiliation, and trust that is earned, not assumed.
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Safety · Twelve Step
Your Medication Is None of AA’s Business
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.
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In depth
Evidence and wider harm
In depth
Evidence and wider harm
Longer pieces examining the evidence, the wider consequences of drug supply and how peer support works alongside clinical treatment.
Awareness
Every Line Has a Human Cost
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.
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Evidence · ~9 min
If We Encourage Moderation with Alcohol, Why Not with Cocaine?
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.
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Evidence · ~9 min
Peer Support and Clinical Treatment: What the Evidence Actually Says
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.
Read article →