“Personal recovery depends on NA unity”: an exploratory study on recovery-supportive elements in Narcotics Anonymous Flanders

Abstract

Background: Mutual aid organizations, such as Narcotics Anonymous (NA), can provide support in substance use disorder (SUD) recovery processes. However, research on NA and its recovery-supportive elements is scarce and perspectives of NA-members remain understudied, in particular outside the US. Therefore, this study aims to gain insight into recovery-supportive elements of NA, as experienced by its members. Methods: To explore the perspectives on and experiences with recovery-supportive elements in NA, 11 in-depth interviews with NA-members were conducted in Flanders (Belgium). Interviews were audio-taped, transcribed verbatim and analyzed by using CHIMED , a personal recovery framework (Connectedness, Hope, Identity, Meaning in life, Empowerment, Difficulties) developed by Leamy and colleagues in 2011. Results: Various recovery-supportive elements of NA were highlighted, with Connectedness as a key component including opportunities for building up a social network and for providing a safety net or sounding board. Elements that enabled Connectedness were 1) a non-judgemental approach, and 2) mutual understanding through sharing in NA. Other elements of the CHIMED framework were less frequently mentioned, although these were inextricably linked to Connectedness. Conclusions: Connectedness appeared to be the crucial recovery-supportive element in NA, emphasizing the relational character of SUD recovery. Although other elements of the CHIMED framework were identified, these were closely related to and intertwined with the concept of connectedness.

Are members of mutual aid groups better equipped for addiction recovery? European cross-sectional study into recovery capital, social networks, and commitment to sobriety

“…Narcotics Anonymous: NA) and alternative mutual aid groups (e.g. SMART recovery or other [local] types of recovery groups) have received far less public, professional and scientific attention and scrutiny (Dekkers, Vos, and Vanderplasschen 2020;White et al 2020;Zemore et al 2017). For example, no clinical trial has yet compared addiction treatment with and without NA involvement, despite most NA-studies involving treatment populations (White et al, 2020).…”

Substitute Behaviors following Residential Substance Use Treatment in the Western Cape, South Africa

“…However, an alternative explanation may be that love is representative of service users’ social support from families and broader social networks. Application of the CHIME-D (Connectedness, Hope, Identity, Meaning in life, Empowerment, Difficulties) personal recovery framework has foregrounded the importance of connectedness throughout recovery for 12-step recovery support group members [ 67 , 68 ]. It has also been demonstrated that relapse risk is considerably lower when a spouse or sponsor is supportive of one’s recovery process [ 61 ].…”

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“…It consists of five positive elements important to recovery, namely, connectedness, hope, identity, meaning in life and empowerment (Leamy et al , 2011). Research has shown that not only are these five elements common to mental health recovery (Leamy et al , 2011; Stuart et al , 2016), they are also significant to the process of addiction recovery (Dekkers et al , 2020). Since its inception, the CHIME framework has seen adaptations such as CHIME-D and C-CHIME to expand on certain facets of recovery, for example, CHIME-D considers personal recovery in terms of the difficulties faced (Stuart et al , 2016; Dekkers et al , 2020), and C-CHIME looks at promoting recovery through creativity (Carson and Hurst, 2021).…”