CDP - Challenging Dependency - Before and After

Challenging Dependency

The Council for Dependency Problems (CDP) has been providing services successfully for over 25 years, in Hull and the East Riding of Yorkshire.

Working in partnership with self help groups and individuals in recovery, we are creating an abstinence based Recovery Community Centre through which recovery can be developed and maintained.

The Centre is a safe haven for people recovering from a wide variety of addictions. We welcome them, their family and friends.

CDP’s Recovery Community Centre is a place to celebrate success.

Its primary purpose is to put a face on recovery by providing a safe place where local communities of recovery can come together and design and deliver the support they need.

  • The Centre  aims to serve a broad spectrum of people with recovery in common.
  • The Centre  actively involves members in its day to day running through its monthly Meeting.
  • The Centre  is Non judgemental:  If a person says they are in recovery, then they are, unless their behaviour demonstrates otherwise.
  • The Centre  bridges the gap between treatment services and mainstream volunteering, education, training, placement or work experience opportunities.

This is a unique service in Hull, providing opportunities for people recovering from different addictions to share their experiences and recoveries. CDP believes that it is a concept that will benefit many, providing the opportunity to share “what works” between different recovery groups, family members and friends that will bring long term benefits.

The Centre  welcomes 12 step, secular, faith based, methadone and other medically assisted recovery, family and community groups. The ground rule for all participating groups is mutual respect irrespective of philosophy.

Recovery

There are a number of definitions of recovery. A very succinct one line definition is provided by the Betty Ford Institute:

“a voluntarily maintained lifestyle characterized by sobriety, personal health, and citizenship.” *

Whichever definition you adopt it is likely to have three components:

  • Sobriety or abstinence
  • Engagement in the community or society (citizenship)
  • Wellbeing 

In 2011, CDP took a strategic decision to make people in recovery our community of interest and our focus.

CDP welcomes the growing focus on recovery, as it switches the emphasis from an individual’s problematic behaviour and the professional’s intervention to concentrating on individually determined solutions, strengths and success stories.

CDP’s Way of Working

We have a tradition of working flexibly with individuals and their families struggling with dependency. CDP aims to help people develop a sense of their self worth, take personal responsibility and regain control over their lives.

We have a long history of developing innovative approaches to working with complex needs, including mental health and offending. Anyone interested in this history will find more through exploring this site. Throughout a strong ethical current has been maintained that finds expression in providing:

  • Person centred services
  • Accessible services (open access and pro-active outreach)
  • Acceptable services through creating an environment of trust and respect

We work closely with public bodies, particularly in Health and Local Government, other voluntary sector groups, including self help or mutual aid, but continue to ensure the independence of our Charity. We recognise that joint working can make for more effective use of resources in meeting people’s needs and the CDP recognises that an increase in such activity is good for public confidence in the Charity. The Charity Commission believes that all charities should consider seriously and imaginatively whether there are ways in which they could do more and better for their beneficiaries by working together. 

Who benefits from the services that we provide?

  • Individuals facing the challenges of their dependency, building a life in recovery, free from drugs and alcohol
  • The families of substance misusers, their carers and siblings and in particular younger ones, with the benefits of having a positive role model, the removal of temptation and a healthier more resilient family environment
  • The local community, through improved pro social behaviour, reduced costs of crime and health 

To view our leaflets on How We Work with Clients and CDP's Service Description, please see our Publications section.

* “What is recovery? A working definition from the Betty Ford Institute”, found in the Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment, 20 September 2007; The Betty Ford Institute Consensus Panel.