Recovery from addiction (Mind Body Connect)
Mind Body Connect (MBC) is a charitable organisation that works with a range of different cohorts. Service users including those in recovery from drug/alcohol addiction, survivors of human trafficking, homeless young adults, mental health support groups and strength athletes. MBC’s provision includes strength training, circuit training, therapeutic yoga and specific strong man/woman event training. Many of the service users go on to perform in competitive level strength sports as well as some of MBC’s strength athletes performing at national level. However, competition is the tip of the iceberg regarding MBC’s work with their mission statement being “To empower marginalised communities through the medium of exercise”. The mission statement summarises the role MBC aims to play in the holistic development of people, using exercise as the vehicle to do so.
MBC draws from the theoretical concepts presented by Bourdieu (1977) regarding habitus, capital and fields. It is proposed that everyone possesses a habitus, which is said to be formed by their resources, dispositions and characteristics. The formations of the habitus are categorised into economic, social and cultural capital. The combination of such capitals is said to be carried into a field, in which, the value of the capitals is exchanged for symbolic capital which assigns a person a position within a field. The field is a social setting in which people operate, examples include friendship groups, workplaces and sports teams. An individual’s position may change over time if their capitals were to alter, subsequently, altering position within a field and potentially even their identity. For those who find themselves in the midst of addiction, it can often be seen that their capital stocks in these three areas are low (social, economic and cultural). However, this can be attributed to more than just a direct result of drug/alcohol addiction. De Leon (2000) states “People with substance use disorders are among the most socially excluded. Often, they reside at the fringes of society where addiction intersects with systemic inequality and long-term disadvantage. Individually they are often found to suffer low self-esteem and poor health”. This highlights the complexity of addiction and wider sociological issues beyond the remits of this article. However, from a Strength & Conditioning perspective, this does present an opportunity to aid people in the recovery process because, as identified, it requires more than just sobriety.
In an ethnographic study titled ‘Capitalising Upon the Physical: Exercise and Addiction Recovery’ Fitzgerald (2017) sought out to investigate the effects and experiences from those in recovery, whilst steering away from the traditional lab based and dose response methodologies. Rich qualitative evidence was provided which in summary discussed that exercise in a community setting is pivotal for the development of social/physical capital and that increasing these capital stocks was considered crucial in the process of maintaining sobriety. Ex-service user and current MBC S&C Coach Patrick Walsh was contacted for an interview to shed more light upon the provision of S&C by MBC and the role this plays in recovery. In this interview he alludes to the need for a strong understanding of S&C principles to maximise the effectiveness of sessions to allow service users to enjoy a newfound physicality. Patrick also discusses the ins and outs of his journey in recovery and the approach that worked for him. This included becoming a mentor himself and leading people who are in a position he was once in himself. (Full interview below).
During my 3 years working as a Coach at MBC I was able to witness first hand people go from dark points in their lives’ to becoming physically and mentally strong individuals who would go on to become leaders and role models for others. The empowerment of service users can be attributed to the expertise of coaching at MBC. MBC combines a high calibre of coaches including Paul Smith (UK’s strongest man 2016) and Dr. Chris Fotzgerald (Lecturer of Psychology, Sociology and Politics) with practice which is supported by theoretical research which includes paper’s published by MBC such as “A Mixed-Method Investigation into Therapeutic Yoga as an Adjunctive Treatment for People Recovering from Substance Use Disorders”. MBC continues to research the use of physical and mindful practice for marginalised populations, providing recommendations of practice for other similar organisations to utilise. I went on to co-author a paper with Dr. Calum Webb and Dr. Chris Fitzgerald titled “Strength training and the development of recovery capital” which will be published later this year.
At ITAL STRENGTH I want to provide what I have learnt from MBC to the general population. People who may not even be aware of the subtle level of suffering they may be unnecessarily subjected to each day. This may include bodily aches/pains, physical/mental weakness, addictions, an unsettled mind and a lack of self worth. Like MBC, ITAL STRENGTH aims to develop mind and body through an informed practice to empower the individual. Enabling people to enhance their human capital to realise their full potential and go on to support people and causes beyond themselves.
Reference list
Bourdieu, P. (1977). Structures and the habitus (pp. 72-95).
De Leon, G. (2000). The therapeutic community: theory, model, and method. New York: Springer Publishing Co.
Fitzgerald, C. M. (2017). Capitalising upon the physical: exercise and addiction recovery (Doctoral dissertation, University of Sheffield).
Fitzgerald, C., Barley, R., Hunt, J., Klasto, S. P., & West, R. (2020). A Mixed-Method Investigation into Therapeutic Yoga as an Adjunctive Treatment for People Recovering from Substance Use Disorders. International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction, 1-16.
https://www.mindbodyconnectuk.com (MBC’s Website)
