A successful Decatur County addiction support group is making plans to expand to Columbus.
“Recover Out Loud,” group founder John Cunningham says his organization is perhaps best known by its nickname: “It’s A ‘We’ Thing.”
With groups recently formed in Greensburg and Rushville, the group will have its first meeting in Columbus on Feb. 4 in the ground floor conference room at the Doug Otto United Way Center at 1531 13th St., starting at 5 p.m. Fellowship is planned at 6 p.m.
When asked how the group’s approach differs from other support organizations, Cunningham, 38, responded by spelling out what “Recover Out Loud” is not.
“Well, it’s not a 12-step program — it’s not faith-based — it does not support relapse in any way, shape or form — and it is certainly not anonymous,” he said.
Cunningham said he wants to break down the walls of anonymity and give recovery a loud and proud name, said Meagan Cothron, the group’s Community Outreach Coordinator.
“He did not want to continue the trend of being contained behind closed doors and in the basements of churches any longer,” Cothron said. “He wants to break the stigmas and offer an alternative lifestyle to the traditional recovery programs.”
When asked about the “It’s a ‘We’ Thing” slogan, Cunningham said the phrase acknowledges that addiction is naturally selfish and “all about I, I, I,” Cunningham said.
In contrast, the emphasis on “we” illustrates that recovery is based on interdependence — and one cannot successfully recover on his or her own, he said.
Instead of advocating one particular type of recovery method, the group welcomes all recovering addicts to speak openly about their addictions, past experiences, and what they find personally effective in preventing addiction relapses, Cunningham said.
There is one exception: Cunningham says Recovery Out Loud disapproves of any medical-assisted treatments for addiction, preferring that their members recover through total sobriety. While those using such treatments won’t be turned away, Cunningham said efforts will be made to stress sobriety.
Cunningham is not a professionally-trained substance abuse therapist, but said he was the person who left home and behaved recklessly, later making a repentant return.
After developing an alcohol problem at a very early age, court records show Cunningham’s addictions led to several felony arrests including multiple cases of burglary, theft, possession of stolen property and possession of a controlled substance, from 2007 to 2012.
While three felony convictions resulted in a 14-year prison sentence, his time behind bars was reduced by former Bartholomew County Superior Court 1 Judge Chris Monroe.
For Cunningham, the sentence reduction had given him a second chance at life and wanted to take full advantage of it, Cunningham said.
While still in prison, Cunningham collectively joined together with others who were also looking for a change in their lives, and seeking answers on how to overcome narcotics addiction.
“It was then that Recovery Out Loud became a vision to seek a more unified path to recovery that welcomes all paths to sobriety,” Cothron said.
Cunningham recruited another recovering addict, Jason Fry, in trying to work out the best functioning vision. The two built a new foundation after several years of collaborating ideas and discussing various topics of recovery, Cothron said.
When Recovery Out Loud held their first meeting at the Greensburg City Park last September, there were 10 people who attended. But at the last meeting, 41 recovering addicts showed up, Cunningham said.
It was during a presentation titled “Through the Eyes of an Addict” in Columbus last year that Cunningham demonstrated his effectiveness as a speaker and motivator, according to Bartholomew County Library Community Services Coordinator Mary Clare Speckner.
Cunningham is able to connect with recovering young addicts because they knew he was an addict himself for several years, Speckner said.
“If group leaders haven’t been in the trenches, how do they know what a recovering addict is going through?” Speckner asked. “He’s a normal person who doesn’t talk above people’s heads, and he is able to get his message across.”
While Cunningham does not gloss over his presentations, he is effective in communicating to others and getting them to open up about what they went through,” Speckner said.
Group members are very supportive of one another, performing several social and charitable activities together, Cunningham said. It’s all part of creating a lifestyle created solely on positive and healthy connections, he said.
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"Our mission is to unify all walks of recovery, that any journey of sobriety taken, proven by it’s abstinence from any and all mind altering substances, will be welcome to share themselves as open and as freely as they so choose without any bias judgment from the We."
More information is available online at itsawethingrecoveroutloud.com
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The "Recover Out Loud" addiction support group will have its first Columbus meeting on Feb. 4.
It will be held in the ground floor conference room at the Doug Otto United Way Center at 1531 13th St. The meeting will start at 5 p.m., with fellowship at 6 p.m.
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