Chester conference to explore spirituality in relation to addiction and recovery
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A two-day conference to be held at the University of Chester next month will examine how addiction and recovery are understood in a range of religious and spiritual traditions, as well as in the spirituality of Alcoholics Anonymous’ Twelve Steps, and other ‘mutual aid’ programmes.

The 2015 ‘Recovery from Addiction’ conference is being hosted by the University’s Department of Theology and Religious studies on November 2 and 3, and the event will include the launch of a special, topical edition of the international journal, Religions.

Delegates will engage with social aspects of recovery, understanding and responding to the challenges of recovery, and the role of Mutual Aid and community initiatives.

Day one will feature papers from contributors to the Religions special edition, Religion and Addiction, including three University of Chester academics. Dr Wendy Dossett, a Senior Lecturer at the Department of Theology and Religious Studies, co-edited the journal’s special edition (with Professor Chris Cook, of Durham University).

Dr Suzanne Owen, also Senior Lecturer at the University’s Department of Theology and Religious Studies, will discuss ‘Native American recovery programmes’ and Dr James Holt, a Senior Lecturer in Initial Teacher Education at the University, will talk about ‘A Latter-day Saint approach to addiction’.

Other conference presenters and topics include:

  • Dr Mansur Ali, of Cardiff University – Drug addiction in Islamic history and theology.
  • Dr Paramabandhu Groves, of Camden and Islington NHS Trust – Buddhist approaches to addiction recovery.
  • Dr Harshad Keval, of Canterbury Christ Church University – Sikh spirituality and recovery from addiction.
  • Professor Kate Loewenthal, of Royal Holloway, University of London – Alcohol and substance misuse in Judaism.

Religions is an international, online scholarly journal that publishes peer-reviewed studies of religious thought and practice, regular research papers and comprehensive book reviews by distinguished authors.

Dr Wendy Dossett said: “The Religions special issue and this year’s ‘Recovery from Addiction’ conference both look at the ways in which religion and spirituality contribute to our understanding of addiction and recovery. We’re looking forward to the discussions amongst conference delegates on engaging with these different perspectives.”

The conference includes a public lecture, on the evening of Monday, November 2, by Harvard Medical School Professor, John F Kelly, who is also President of the Society of Addiction Psychology of the American Psychological Association. Professor Kelly’s lecture is entitled ‘Scientific and Social Aspects of Recovery: The Roles of Mutual Aid and Community Initiatives’, which is also the theme of the conference’s second day (Tuesday, November 3).

Day two is a dedicated practitioners’ seminar, where speakers explore current areas of academic, policy and practice activity around recovery methodology evidence-base, stigma and inequality, the self-narrative and the life-journey in recovery. It will also feature contributions on the use of new Public Health England tools, and examples of successful projects that aim to help improve engagement with mutual aid and community-based recovery initiatives.

Day-two presenters and topics include:

  • Prof John Kelly, of Harvard Medical School – A theoretical framework for understanding addiction recovery and how mutual-aid/recovery support services are using these explanatory theories.
  • Mark Gilman, of Public Health England – Can recovery go up as funding goes down?
  • Tony Mercer, of Public Health England – Promoting mutual-aid through evidence, intelligence and professional development. Public Health England’s Mutual Aid Toolkit.
  • Prof Gabriel Segal, of King’s College London – A scientific explanation of a spiritual solution: why 12-step recovery works.
  • Alistair Sinclair, of the UK Recovery Federation – Responding to the Age of Dislocation, will ABCD and the Fifth Wave connect us?
  • Prof David Best, of Sheffield Hallam University – Stigma, exclusion and access to community capital: realising a therapeutic landscape of recovery.

To book a place at the conference, visit: http://shopfront.chester.ac.uk/

For further information and conference updates, visit www.csarsg.org.uk or The Higher Power Project at www.chester.ac.uk/higherpowerproject