OHCRecovery Is Possible

Evidence behind the handbook

Notes and References

Sources are grouped by chapter.

Chapter 1: Recovery Is Possible

  1. NHS. Drug addiction: getting help. nhs.uk/live-well/addiction-support/drug-addiction-getting-help/.
  2. Alcohol Change UK. Alcohol Statistics. alcoholchange.org.uk.
  3. Office for Health Improvement and Disparities (OHID). Adult Substance Misuse Treatment Statistics. Published annually.
  4. National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE). Alcohol-use disorders: diagnosis, assessment and management. Clinical Guideline CG115. 2011 (updated 2019).
  5. National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE). Alcohol-use disorders: diagnosis and management of physical complications. Clinical Guideline CG100. 2010.
  6. Day E, Manitsa I, Farley A, Kelly JF. The UK National Recovery Survey: nationally representative survey of people overcoming a drug or alcohol problem. BJPsych Open. 2024;10(2):e67.
  7. NHS. Alcohol-use disorder. NHS website. Accessed August 2026.
  8. Department of Health and Social Care. Supplying take-home naloxone without a prescription. GOV.UK. Updated 2025.
  9. Office for Health Improvement and Disparities. Guidance for local areas on planning to deal with potent synthetic opioids. GOV.UK. Updated 2025.
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Chapter 2: Understanding Addiction and Why Recovery Happens

  1. Volkow ND, Koob GF, McLellan AT. Neurobiologic advances from the brain disease model of addiction. New England Journal of Medicine. 2016;374(4):363–371.
  2. National Institute on Drug Abuse. Drugs, Brains, and Behaviour: The Science of Addiction. nida.nih.gov.
  3. World Health Organisation. International Classification of Diseases, 11th Revision (ICD-11). who.int/classifications/icd.
  4. National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE). Alcohol-use disorders: diagnosis, assessment and management. Clinical Guideline CG115. 2011 (updated 2019).
  5. Leshner AI. Addiction is a brain disease, and it matters. Science. 1997;278(5335):45–47.
  6. Kelly JF, Abry A, Ferri M, Humphreys K. Alcoholics Anonymous and 12-Step Facilitation Treatments for Alcohol Use Disorder. Alcohol and Alcoholism. 2020;55(6):641–651.
  7. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. Recovery and Recovery Support. samhsa.gov.
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Chapter 3: When Recovery Does Not Happen

  1. Office for Health Improvement and Disparities (OHID). Adult Substance Misuse Treatment Statistics. Published annually.
  2. Office for National Statistics. Deaths related to drug poisoning in England and Wales are published annually.
  3. Public Health Scotland. Drug-related deaths in Scotland. Published annually.
  4. National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE). Alcohol-use disorders: diagnosis, assessment and management. Clinical Guideline CG115. 2011 (updated 2019).
  5. Alcohol Change UK. Alcohol Statistics. alcoholchange.org.uk.
  6. Merrall ELC, Kariminia A, Binswanger IA, et al. Meta-analysis of drug-related deaths soon after release from prison. Addiction. 2010;105(9):1545–1554.
  7. White WL. Peer-based Addiction Recovery Support: History, Theory, Practice, and Scientific Evaluation. Great Lakes Addiction Technology Transfer Center. 2009.
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Chapter 4: Recovery Capital: Building the Foundations for Lasting Recovery

  1. Cloud W, Granfield R. Conceptualising Recovery Capital: Expansion of a Theoretical Construct. Substance Use & Misuse. 2008;43(12–13):1971–1986.
  2. Best D, Beckwith M, Haslam C, et al. Overcoming alcohol and other drug addiction as a process of social identity transition. Addiction Research and Theory. 2016;24(2):111–123.
  3. White WL. Achieving long-term recovery: what the research tells us. Counsellor. 2012;13(2):18–25.
  4. Kelly JF, Abry A, Ferri M, Humphreys K. Alcoholics Anonymous and 12-Step Facilitation Treatments for Alcohol Use Disorder. Alcohol and Alcoholism. 2020;55(6):641–651.
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Chapter 5: Mental Health and Recovery

  1. National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE). Coexisting severe mental illness and substance misuse: community health and social care services. NICE Guideline NG58. 2016.
  2. Department of Health and Social Care and NHS England. Co-occurring Mental Health and Substance Use Delivery Framework. 2025. gov.uk.
  3. NHS England. NHS Talking Therapies for anxiety and depression. nhs.uk/mental-health/talking-therapies.
  4. Drake RE, Mueser KT. Co-occurring alcohol use disorder and schizophrenia. Alcohol Research and Health. 2002;26(2):99–102.
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Chapter 6: Healing the Body, Supporting Recovery

  1. World Health Organisation. Global recommendations on physical activity for health. WHO. 2010.
  2. National Institute on Drug Abuse. Drugs, Brains, and Behaviour: The Science of Addiction, Treatment and Recovery. nida.nih.gov.
  3. National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. Alcohol’s Effects on Health. niaaa.nih.gov.
  4. Ratey JJ. Spark: The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and the Brain. Little, Brown. 2008.
  5. NHS England. Better Health: guidance on physical activity, sleep and nutrition. nhs.uk.
  6. National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE). Physical health of people in prison. NICE Guideline NG57. 2016.
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Chapter 7: Connection, Hope and Purpose

  1. Putnam RD. Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community. Simon and Schuster. 2000.
  2. Kelly JF, Humphreys K, Ferri M. Alcoholics Anonymous and other 12-step programmes for alcohol use disorder. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews. 2020.
  3. Holt-Lunstad J, Smith TB, Layton JB. Social relationships and mortality risk: a meta-analytic review. PLOS Medicine. 2010;7(7):e1000316.
  4. Snyder CR. Hope theory: rainbows in the mind. Psychological Inquiry. 2002;13(4):249–275.
  5. Frankl VE. Man’s Search for Meaning. Beacon Press. 1959.
  6. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. Recovery and Recovery Support. samhsa.gov.
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Chapter 8: The Helper Principle

  1. Pagano ME, Friend KB, Tonigan JS, Stout RL. Helping other alcoholics in Alcoholics Anonymous and drinking outcomes: findings from Project MATCH. Journal of Studies on Alcohol. 2004;65(6):766–773.
  2. Post SG. Altruism, happiness, and health: it’s good to be good. International Journal of Behavioural Medicine. 2005;12(2):66–77.
  3. White WL. Peer-based Addiction Recovery Support: History, Theory, Practice, and Scientific Evaluation. Great Lakes Addiction Technology Transfer Center. 2009.
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Chapter 9: Recovery Housing: Building Recovery One Day at a Time

  1. National Housing Federation. Housing and health: the role of housing in recovery from addiction. nhf.info.
  2. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. Recovery Housing: Best Practices and Suggested Guidelines. samhsa.gov.
  3. Jason LA, Ferrari JR. Oxford House Recovery Homes: Characteristics and Success Rates of a Recovery Community. Professional Psychology: Research and Practice. 2010;41(1):83–88.
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Chapter 10: Understanding Relapse

  1. Gorski TT, Miller M. Staying Sober: A Guide for Relapse Prevention. Independence Press. 1986.
  2. Marlatt GA, Gordon JR (eds). Relapse Prevention: Maintenance Strategies in the Treatment of Addictive Behaviours. Guilford Press. 1985.
  3. National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE). Alcohol-use disorders: diagnosis, assessment and management. Clinical Guideline CG115. 2011 (updated 2019).
  4. Kelly JF, Humphreys K, Ferri M. Alcoholics Anonymous and other 12-step programmes for alcohol use disorder. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews. 2020.
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Chapter 11: Long-Term Recovery: A Life Beyond Addiction

  1. White WL, Scott CK, Dennis ML, Boyle M. It’s time to stop kicking people when they’re down: the case for recovery management. Counsellor Magazine. 2005.
  2. Kelly JF, Bergman BG, Hoeppner BB, Vilsaint CL, White WL. Prevalence and pathways of recovery from drug and alcohol problems in the United States population. Drug and Alcohol Dependence. 2017;181:162–169.
  3. Laudet AB, White W. What are your priorities right now? Identifying service needs across recovery stages. Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment. 2010;38(1):51–59.
  4. Best D, Loudon L. Pathways to recovery: what works for substance misuse. Perspectives in Public Health. 2017;137(1):23–24.
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Chapter 12: Families, Relationships and Recovery

  1. Satir V. Conjoint Family Therapy. Science and Behaviour Books. 1964.
  2. Brown S. Treating the Alcoholic: A Developmental Model of Recovery. Wiley. 1985.
  3. Al-Anon Family Groups UK and Eire. al-anonuk.org.uk.
  4. NACOA (National Association for Children of Alcoholics). nacoa.org.uk.
  5. Kelly JF, Stout RL, Magill M, Tonigan JS, Pagano ME. Spirituality in recovery: a lagged mediational analysis of Alcoholics Anonymous’ principal theoretical mechanism of behaviour change. Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research. 2011;35(3):454–463.
  6. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. Family Therapy Can Help: For People in Recovery from Mental Illness or Addiction. samhsa.gov.
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Chapter 13: The Future of Recovery: Hope, Science and Innovation

  1. World Health Organisation. Comprehensive Mental Health Action Plan 2013–2030. WHO. 2021.
  2. Tofighi B, Abrantes A, Stein MD. The role of technology-based interventions for substance use disorders in primary care. Medical Clinics of North America. 2018;102(4):715–731.
  3. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. Recovery and Recovery Support. samhsa.gov.
  4. Kelly JF, Yeterian JD. The role of mutual-help groups in extending the framework of treatment. Alcohol Research and Health. 2011;33(4):350–355.
  5. HM Government. From Harm to Hope: A 10-year drugs plan to cut crime and save lives. December 2021.
  6. Office for Health Improvement and Disparities (OHID). Adult Substance Misuse Treatment Statistics. Published annually.
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