Mindfulness Meditation – 20 minutes Creative Writing exercise – 30 minutes (Exercises set by me for the first - two sessions.  Thereafter by the participants) Read-around of work produced – 30 minutes Refreshment Break 15 minutes Reiki – 1 Hour    Two and a half hours is twice the average length of a group session in re-hab.  Recovering addicts live under conditions of constant and often unbearable stress.  Which means they bring that stress to whatever activity they undertake therefore in order that a reasonable measure of the true person within the addict should be available to take part in the creative writing exercise (something we felt was essential to the potential success of the endeavour), it was imperative to begin the session with an activity which would promote personal relaxation and inner calm, leading in turn to a mitigation of the “Small Mind” within us, from which we all suffer a certain amount of agitation and unease, and addicts especially so.  The writing exercise encourages and enables participants to confront themselves and their deeper issues in a manner simultaneously challenging, safe, and empowering - which is, of course, the very essence of creative therapy.  Personal creativity is of significant importance within the overall canon of drug recovery practice; creative writing especially so because words are our primary means of communication and by employing them to reach inside ourselves to where our inner being co-habits with both darkness and light, in order to bring those elements to the surface where they can be the better understood, we actually volunteer our vulnerability, which is possibly the most empowering act any one of us ever performs. The addition of Reiki and meditation adds new and exciting dimensions to this creative perspective.  Reiki is a gentle, natural system of healing, a derivative of Qi Gong, the High Spiritual Healing Art of ancient Tibet, woven into a simpler (and thereby more accessible) form by Japanese Buddhist, Dr. Mikao Usui, at the turn of the 20th century.  All activities need rules of engagement.  In this particular instance the rules created themselves from procedural necessity - silence during meditation and Reiki, and concentrated quiet during the writing exercise.  With, of course, due allowance for the occasions when participants were unable to maintain their focus and their discipline.  The writing exercises are set by the residents.  This is because we felt we needed to include the residents as partners in the project rather than mere recipients of the therapy and that the best way to do so was to offer them stewardship of the writing exercises.  And it has succeeded.  The creative writing has produced a quite amazing body of work. And often inspired by the unlikeliest of sources.  One group member who, sadly, can barely read or write, set two of the most telling exercises we have had, which, in turn, produced some utterly compelling compositions.

I offer this quote from a Vale House counsellor, after he had participated in one of the sessions.    ‘I have experienced listening to a resident reading out something about a past experience they had had that was very confidential and upsetting for them.  It must have taken so much trust in the group to be able to write it down and then share it in that way.  For me, moments like these are special and are very healing for the individual and the whole group.’ Here are a few comments by staff and residents.  Residents names withheld in the interests of confidentiality. ‘The sense of co-creation is essential to an ethos of support and nurture within the group, underpinned by willing co-operation with meditation and sitting quietly while others receive Reiki or complete a written task.      The attempt is made to create a ‘family circle’ in which there is an acceptance that through difference each member is engaged in a parallel activity for personal and mutual gain.’                                                       Chris Dawkins Case Manager, Vale House    ‘The written part of the session is the whole package for me. As a participant, I couldn’t wait to start writing and found I was initially  frustrated with the relaxation/meditation phase. Part of me wanted to get to the “interesting bit” as quickly as possible. It was only when the meditation ended that I realized how essential it had all been.    Allowing myself to empty my world of wants, needs, and deadlines left me in a safely open frame of mind. From there it was easy to move forward into the written work totally free from pre-conditioned thoughts and feelings.’                                                       David Hayward-Leach (DIP Integrated Counsellor)                                              “I was really nervous about today because I didn’t know what to write about but then friendship just popped into my head and what I found strange was that A knew.  I think we made some sort of exchange of thoughts through our minds.  The subject went OK and Reiki was  wonderful.”   “This week I was pleased with what I wrote.  I just let my mind go and I felt as if I was really there.  Meditation is a way of getting quiet time for me.” “I think I’ve settled into a rhythm now.  I find Reiki and meditation a lot better and I always enjoy the writing.”    “Really enjoyed it.  Was one of my favourite pieces I think I have done yet.  Meditation as always was a pleasure, it really chills me out.  Reiki at the end made me very relaxed.”   “Since I came out of drugs it has been very difficult for me to relax.  The Reiki sessions are sometimes bliss, sometimes torture.  Writing is my favourite part of the whole session.  I really do enjoy the challenge.  Like the latest, how I would pursue my life in the future.  So for me the sessions  still have pros and cons attached, but I do believe as time goes by I will grow enough to enjoy relaxation and the Reiki sessions also.”

Upon completion of the pilot which first took place on Saturdays, the project was integrated into the mainstream Vale House programme with immediate effect, where it now occupies the Friday afternoon slot with the Friday afternoon activity now taking place on Saturday afternoon. This is the first change to its therapeutic structure that Vale House has introduced since it opened thirteen years ago. When the project began, the staff at Vale House were quite sceptical of it.  Exorcising that scepticism took a while, but eventually it happened.  Staff members now join the group for Reiki when their stress levels are inordinately high, and members of the management team avail themselves of the peaceful atmosphere which the sessions create, relaxing in the room when the sessions have ended.  ‘Soaking up the atmosphere and chilling out,’ as the projects manager recently told me.  Resident resentment has also gone.  Residents now openly make comments such as ‘I pray for Friday afternoon.  It keeps me sane.'   Roy Birch National Outreach and Mentoring Scheme Coordinator

Stats of the success of the Vale House Project is currently being updated and will be availabe in the near future.    Date of post: May 09

The Vale House Project is run by volunteers.  You can help by making a donation to Survivors' Poetry When you make a donation via mycharity page.com YOU will be CHARGED a 2.8% fee.  For example if you donate £5 you will pay £5.14