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The purpose of this study was to qualitatively explore the lived experiences of meaningful relationships among persons in 12-step recovery. The distinction of recovery is important as our study focused less on relational patterns during active substance use and more on their perception within their recovery. This phenomenological study followed Van Manen's six step approach of qualitative research. Data were collected from 7 participants through semi-structured one-on-one participant interviews. Participants were asked open-ended questions regarding their SUD recovery (e.g., "What is your experience of your capacity to be in meaningful relationships?"). Resulting from the analysis, four themes were extracted from the overarching theme of the Capacity for Meaningful Relationships in Recovery. The four emergent themes included Building the Foundation in Recovery, Sharing a Common Ground of Support, Giving Back – Helping Others, and Bridging Recovery to Family – The Biggest Accomplishment. Limitations and future research are discussed as well as the potential impact and application of these findings as they relate to recovery research and practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Alcohol use disorder (AUD) thrives in isolation. Recovery requires healthy and supportive relationships in order to heal and grow. Many individuals in alcohol recovery find it challenging to establish and maintain meaningful romantic relationships, yet little research has examined this concept. With a particular focus on relationship insecurity and relationship safety, this study explored persons' experiences of romantic relationships in AUD recovery. Twenty-three participant interviews were analyzed. A conventional content analysis was first used to inductively uncover categories and then a summative content analysis was utilized to examine textual frequencies. Categories, themes and coded frequencies informed the overall analyses. Three main categories emerged with themes explaining participants' relationship experiences (Identifying Unsafe Relationships: negative and positive impact of conflict; Addressing Relationship Insecurity: anxiety and avoidance; and Establishing Relationship Safety: trust and recovery). Although there were several limitations, this study offers new insight on romantic relationships in AUD recovery. We emphasize the importance of establishing safety and addressing maladaptive attachment behaviors in order to better navigate toward healthy and supportive romantic relationships in recovery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

College settings can be challenging environments for students recovering from substance use disorder. Collegiate Recovery Programs (CRP) have emerged on college campuses across the United States to help mitigate the risks recovering students face and to promote academic and recovery success. The current article describes the first collegiate recovery home to follow an Oxford House [OH] model, established at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. In the present preliminary study, qualitative data were utilized to explore the strengths and challenges of this recovery model and students' experiences in the OH collegiate recovery home. Key stakeholders in the creation of this collegiate recovery home (n =2), as well as current and former student participants (n = 6), were interviewed. The key stakeholders' interviews revealed insights on the home's creation, modifications made from the traditional OH model, and the challenges faced in implementing a collegiate recovery home. Rapid qualitative analysis of the interviews of residents revealed salient themes that describe students' experiences within the collegiate recovery home: (1) resident social support, (2) connection to the student body, (3) anonymous status of the house, (4) lifestyle, (5) optimism, (6) self-independence, (7) Collegiate OH is essential for sobriety, and (8) UNC involvement and oversight. The implications of these findings for collegiate recovery homes are discussed, as well as suggestions for future studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this study was to explore the relationship of addiction, suicide, and surrender. Explored through a narrative inquiry lens, findings confirmed that the process of surrender is a crucial element in long-term recovery. Embracing the concept of surrender allows individuals living with addiction to gain control by giving up control, leading potentially to long-term recovery. Implications for treatment, both facility- and clinician-centric, are shared. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This qualitative analysis looks at women across a continuum of sobriety and affiliation with Alcoholics Anonymous (AA). The sample frame consists of 60 women's stories as submitted to the Grapevine: The International Journal of Alcoholics Anonymous and explores older women's recovery experiences within the context of AA. An intersectional interpretive lens is offered in order to look at both gender and age as they relate to recovery from alcohol use disorder (AUD). Findings suggest a comparative difference not only among older women as a group seeking recovery but between those who have late-onset AUD, those who sought help in middle-age, and those women with long-term sobriety affiliated with AA for 20 or more years. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This qualitative study analyzes gender role ideology and how it shapes the process of addiction and pathways to recovery for women in Alcoholics Anonymous (AA). More than 600 women's stories submitted to The Grapevine: The International Journal of Alcoholics Anonymous between the late 1940s and through the 1980s provides the sample from which dominant themes are extrapolated. The sick role as conceptualized by Talcott Parsons in the 1950s is tested, and it is found that sex roles (now discussed as gender roles) do influence and shape women's experiences as alcoholics and their pathways to recovery. The double standard is identified early on whereas more public displays of deviance are not widely discussed until the 1980s. In between, the labeling of women with "bad nerves," the overuse of sedatives, and the struggle to accept the disease model of alcoholism are all discussed in these women's stories. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

“Recovery Is Up to You,” a 12-week peer-run group experience for persons with major psychiatric problems, has had positive effects on important elements of recovery: empowerment, hope, and self-efficacy beliefs. Determining if such an experience would be equally efficacious for persons with addiction problems is the focus of this study. The 12-week course was experienced by eight groups of persons with addiction problems and the outcome, measured in terms of the response of participants and of the group leaders, was a favorable one as the course was found to be supportive of the recovery process, providing the participants and peer group leaders alike with new perspectives on meaningful living. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Group relations conferences and 12-Step recovery thrive on the participants working in groups. This article is an inquiry into the integration of these traditions, in the Loyola Group Relations Conference, January 14–16, 2011. This conference recruited staff and members from the recovery community. 12-Step meetings were integrated into the conference design. The authors discuss the similarities and differences of the two models and examine the learning of conference staff and members. The authors conclude that Group Relations Conferences focusing on leadership, authority, and recovery from addiction can bring important group relations learning to the recovery community and vice versa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]