Making Sense Of...

Today the Foundation for Change team discuss the most widely recognised model of recovery - the 12 Step programme. In this episode we try to clear up some of the common misconceptions and myths surrounding the 12 Step programme and explore why recovery can’t be approached by using the cookie cutter method.

Self-esteem is the term used to describe a person’s sense of self-worth and value. Poor self-esteem can negatively impact all areas of our lives from making the right decisions for ourselves to being able to identify and express our own needs. Our self-esteem determines how we act and behave in relationships and actually, the kinds of relationships we seek out and stay in. The topic is a huge one given how our self-esteem affects most aspects of our lives.

In this episode, we start off by talking about the first time we encountered the word self-esteem and how our own personal relationship to it has evolved over the years. We discuss where poor-self-esteem originates and how we have each individually found ways that have helped us build up our own resilience. It's often the small, positive changes that can help us keep taking steps forwards. One thing we can all agree on is that improving our self-esteem is not a linear path, so be kind to yourself and know that some days will be better than others.

Spirituality is a divisive word that tends to both intrigue and frighten people. In this episode, we have a go and deconstructing what the word means for us. We explore the baggage the term is laden with and that often prevents people from not only understanding what the word means, but benefiting from what it actually is.

That we didn't explicitly talk about addiction until our 24th podcast episode is very reflective of our approach here at FfC. Though definitely a part of people's history, we encourage those we work with to look at their addiction as a surface symptom of something far deeper. In this episode, we start with asking a statement posed by Gabor Maté: "The question is not what's wrong with people, it's what has happened to people".

The FfC have a meandering chat in response to this, covering shame, the feeling of competing with others whilst in recovery, the 'relapse journey', the moralistic/overly-simplistic/black or white view of addiction, and more. See what you think.

In our new mini-series on addiction, we take some time to explore what addiction is and what it means to the team at FfC. We talk about the many nuances of addiction that are often not known or misunderstood and have a brief foray into FfC team member Bob's first experience with addiction. It might not be what you think... 

Positive Psychology was developed in the 90s and is the study of wellbeing rather than pathology/mental illness. Lots of things make us happy, however Dr Martin Seligman – the godfather of positive psychology - wanted to put forward a theoretical model of happiness, a framework of wellbeing which we discuss in the podcast in the context of recovery from addiction.

We delve into tips and tricks to improve happiness and wellbeing and the team discuss whether they’re any good or if they are simply for WEIRD people. Have a listen to find out what we’re on about…

Toxic Masculinity is something that has gained a wider understanding over the last few years and is thankfully being talked about much more in mainstream media. In this episode, the team explore the roots of the term and the ‘psychic mutilation’ experienced by men as a result of the patriarchal system we live in. Rather than understand these as demands unique to men, we explore how it’s helpful to consider the impact these expectations have on men in the first instance and how - since we live in an unequal society - this then impacts upon women.

In this episode we dive into the idea that the way we deal with events in the present - Covid being one such example - is intricately linked to experiences from our pasts, particularly trauma. We explore the many different types of experiences that can leave a traumatic imprint in the body. We particularly look at the physiology of trauma: it is by understanding why our bodies respond to trauma in particular ways and understanding the function of those responses that we can begin the process of healing from trauma. 

In this podcast the Foundation for Change team discuss the topic of feminism. This is something that is very close to our hearts and the topic of gender and power is something that runs through all of our programmes, most obviously being central to our Feminism for Change programme.

Since it is such a huge subject the team discuss some of the broader points of feminism that are relevant to people in recovery and personal growth in general, some of the basic principles of feminist theory and briefly touch upon the herstory of its evolution. Feminist theory isn’t just one idea, but rather covers a lot of different ideas evolving across many different stages. One thread that does run throughout Feminist theory,  however, is the desire to challenge existing power structures (“that’s just the way things are”) that oppress people. Listen to this episode to find out more. 

We live in what could be described as an individualist society. This means as a society we are supposedly motivated by personal goals, rewards and benefits. We can apparently achieve whatever we want as long as we work hard enough. Sounds great! Oh wait, hang on…

In this episode that sits under our series on systems, we explore the concepts of individualism and meritocracy. We hope to help you get a better understanding of just how strong these outside forces are and how they lie for most of our beyond our awareness, yet can still have such a hugely negative impact on our everyday lives.