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I felt so isolated and desperate that I would never get the treatment I needed . Forward offered me a place on the online programme and it literally saved my life !
It enabled me to reconnect with life and meet likeminded people . Now I am living in recovery . I have a job , I volunteer , I am studying and able to pass on my experience , strength and hope to those who need it .
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Katie Cole , former online programme participant from East Kent
A NEW NORMAL
The power of online recovery
The NHS estimates that two people in every 100 in the UK have a panic disorder and a third of those people will go on to develop agoraphobia , a fear of leaving safe environments . It is twice as common in women as in men . Many people who have agoraphobia use drugs and alcohol to manage their anxiety . Katie was one of those people
Three years ago , as lockdown hit , Katie thought that everyone else had at last come round to her way of thinking , forced to stay at home . ‘ Brilliant , I thought , now I can get everything delivered to me without leaving the house , even my vodka from the offlicence , and it ’ ll be normal ,’ she says , with self-deprecating irony . But as Katie ’ s anxiety worsened and her alcoholism deepened , she felt she ’ d hit rock bottom and needed help , yet didn ’ t know where to turn to find it . ‘ I felt so isolated and desperate that I would never get the treatment I needed .’
A resident of Faversham , Katie heard about Forward ’ s drug and alcohol service in East Kent from her GP and called for help . At the time , as part of our adaptation to Covid , Forward had developed
an online version of our wellestablished structured day programme , offering intensive , abstinence-based group therapy and support .
Katie joined the programme and immediately felt at home . ‘ It was a great experience , I could talk and open up with these faces on a screen . I really connected with them and the counsellor . Slowly , session by session , I began to understand the reasons for my anxiety and my use of alcohol , and to realise that recovery is possible .’ Katie completed the 12-week programme and graduated online in July 2021 .
As lockdown restrictions were lifted and the world slowly returned to normal , Katie ’ s recovery strengthened and her confidence grew . She decided to apply for a job at the restaurant across the road from where she lived , becoming a pot washer , and progressed to assistant chef . She then applied to become a volunteer for Forward , helping with our Reach Out online chat service and as a peer mentor for the online day programme .
Fast forward to today and Katie works for us as a volunteer coordinator , giving back and supporting others with their recovery . Katie gained the OCN in Peer Mentoring and has completed the Award in Education and Training so she can teach others . Katie has also completed a Level 2 in Counselling and has started on Level 3 . ‘ This is my new normal , as opposed to lying in bed drinking vodka .’
As Forward ’ s services also returned to normal , with the day programme back up and running at our hub , we realised not everyone could benefit from access to in-person support . Many people were still , in effect , experiencing their own private lockdown , unable to travel or to leave their homes – through conditions such as agoraphobia but also mobility problems or childcare commitments . Millions are missing out on drug and alcohol recovery , which is why we decided to launch Recovery Online .
Through Recovery Online , we hope to reach many more people like Katie , connecting them to structured support and , crucially , to others on similar recovery pathways .
Building on our experience in East Kent , Recovery Online is a structured programme enabling people to access groupbased therapy and tailored support from their own home , anywhere in the UK , offering all the therapeutic benefits of residential rehabilitation or in-person day programmes . Find out more at forwardtrust . org . uk / service / recovery-online /
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