
Star Recovery
Addiction is a growing community issue, requiring a community approach to change a culture of addiction. A community that embraces recovery becomes an area where families and individuals have greater opportunities to thrive.
It is from one individual’s personal story of addiction and recovery that an innovative approach to tackling the growing crisis of addiction was pioneered, and the national charity STAR – Steps to Active Recovery was born.
As a child, Emma Heath felt insecure and uncomfortable in her own skin even though she was brought up in a loving Christian home. She was bullied at school, fell into the trap of not liking herself and her outward struggles became her inward pain.
She found alcohol at the age of 11 and it became her best friend. By the time she was 15, alcohol dominated her life. At University, she considered herself just a heavy social drinker, yet it was masking her hidden pain.
After university, Emma ran nightclubs abroad which accelerated her drinking. She felt hopeless, contemplated suicide, hurting herself and others in the carnage of alcoholism. At her worst, drinking 2 litres of vodka a day, she didn't know anything apart from her name and needed a medical detox.
At the age of 28, she started a 12-step rehab programme. About 12 days in, she prayed ‘God if you can help me get through this, I will help others’. She didn’t realise the power of that simple prayer would lead to recovery and an exciting adventure ahead.
Staying in recovery is challenging when pressures set in and we live in an instant gratification culture. After several years sober, Emma became complacent, losing sight of the gifts recovery gives and she drank again.
Life became very dark very quickly. Emma was arrested for drink-driving, immediately put on probation and lost her licence for the second time. Feeling ashamed, fragile and uncertain about whether or not she could get back on the road to recovery, Emma committed to making a new start.
Six weeks in, a life-changing moment happened. Emma’s mum Lizi had a sudden cardiac arrest. Emma and a friend performed CPR while waiting for an ambulance. The paramedics tried to revive Lizi, shocking her heart 6 or 7 times. They told Emma: ‘We can’t do any more’. Emma felt a sudden peace in the room and felt led to ask ‘Please can you try one more time?’ They tried again and in that moment, her mum’s heart started. The intensity of this experience also brought new life to Emma.
She began working with a number of charities, promoting first aid, creating a Recovery Support Group, volunteering and pioneering large addiction ministries in local churches, helping with chaplaincy roles and setting up a Recovery project for a charity in Bournemouth. But this was just the beginning.
As Emma worked with churches with a heart for helping those in addiction, a deeper need became evident: to develop professional resources and courses for equipping them to grow in their understanding and confidence and provide effective help in the often misunderstood area of addiction.
STAR – Steps to Active Recovery was registered as a charity with this purpose – to equip churches and organisations working in recovery with skills, training, and advice.
“We live in a time of unprecedented access to high-reward, high dopamine stimuli: drugs, food, news, gambling, shopping, gaming, messaging, sexting, tweeting…We’ve all become vulnerable to compulsive overconsumption” (Dr Anna Lembke, Dopamine Nation)
STAR aims to tackle the perception and stigma of addiction. Anyone can fall into a trap of loneliness, isolation and find themselves moving on to paths that lead to dark places or unhealthy habits.
As churches and organisations journey with STAR, they meet a tried and tested criteria whereby they can become a STAR-approved centre, receive training for their volunteers and have the deserved recognition as a recovery support provider. This growing network will provide those who are experiencing addiction with confidence in coming to the church for help and support.
STAR is also expanding its recovery resources: breaking fear and stigma sessions, a freephone volunteer helpline and launching an online learning hub - a revolutionary recovery mapping service for the UK to help people find valuable support around addiction.
What advice can be given to anyone wanting to step out of the boat and into life-saving waters? The truth is, we only need to know a tiny fraction of how to help someone in addiction to step in and help to change the whole trajectory of their journey.
A listening ear is key and we don't have to have all the answers, yet we can walk with them into a place of hope. We can all take forward steps in learning more about addiction and grow in our understanding, so that we can help change the culture in addiction support.
Written by Candice Young for the Jubilee+ Blog.
To find out more about Star Recovery, visit their website (available here).