What’s your natural high?

art music cooking adventure mindfulnessbeing with animals writingspiritualityperformance enhances my recovery!

Exploring creativity can dramatically benefit our recovery, whether we have a history of substance use, or have been impacted by another person’s addiction.

art music cooking adventure mindfulnessbeing with animals writingspiritualityperformance

enhances my recovery!

Exploring creativity can dramatically benefit our recovery, whether we have a history of substance use, or have been impacted by another person’s addiction.

Join us for programs and workshops that feature a variety of creative recovery topics. You’ll meet treatment professionals and people with lived experience who will share some amazing possibilities for a richer, fuller life in recovery!

We are exploring creative ways to enhance, celebrate or deepen our recovery! If substance use disorder has impacted you or someone you love, you’ll find countless paths that exist to find meaning in the journey of recovery.

Whether you are new to recovery, or if you have been in recovery for some time … there’s so much to discover!

2-Part Writing Workshop


☝️Part 1: Wednesday, September 29, 2021 from 6 to 8 pm
✌️Part 2: Wednesday, October 13, 2021 from 6 to 8 pm
📍at Be a Part of the Conversation’s office in Ardmore

Creative Recovery Writing workshops will give participants an opportunity to transform a personal experience into a short story or memoir.

  • You must be fully vaccinated in order to attend, as we are meeting in person and will be indoors.
  • These workshops will only be conducted in person at Be a Part of the Conversation’s office in Ardmore (16 E. Lancaster Avenue, Suite 101, Ardmore, PA 19003). They will not be available online.
  • Be sure to bring your favorite tools for writing: laptop, notebook, paper, pencil … whatever works best for you!
  • Limited to 20 people. If for any reason you cannot attend, please cancel your registration to free up space for others.

Music Workshop


Thursday, September 30, 2021 from 6:30 to 8 pm
📍at Be a Part of the Conversation’s office in Ardmore

Music therapy is an evidenced-based practice of using music to promote non-musical goals. This workshop is open to both musicians and non-musicians, individuals in recovery, individuals who know someone in recovery, or anyone interested in learning more about music therapy. We’ll focus on using songwriting and song rewriting as a means of positive self-expression, coping, and gaining insight into areas that one may be struggling with.

You DO NOT need to be a songwriter or have any experience in this area to engage and learn from this workshop!

  • You must be fully vaccinated in order to attend, as we are meeting in person and will be indoors.
  • This workshop will only be conducted in person at Be a Part of the Conversation’s office in Ardmore (16 E. Lancaster Avenue, Suite 101, Ardmore, PA 19003). It will not be available online.
  • You do not need to bring anything.
  • Limited to 10 people. If for any reason you cannot attend, please cancel your registration to free up space for others.

Learn More about Creative Recovery!

In the summer of 2021, we introduced Creative Recovery with the help of panelists representing adventure, yoga, cooking, working with animals, music, art, writing and spirituality/mindfulness.

Below are recordings of the two introductory programs, along with information about our panelists.

View the Recording from Part 1:

Adventure • Yoga • Cooking • Animals

View the Recording from Part 2:

Music • Art • Writing • Spirituality/Mindfulness

Meet Our Panelists

John Shields
Adventure

Arielle Ashford
Yoga/Meditation

Andrew Deery
Cooking

Matthew McFadden
Being With Animals

Dr. Caroline Fenkel
Being With Animals

Barry Salop, CRS
Music

Daniel Benonis, M.A., MT-BC, LPC
Music

Patrick Montgomery
Music

Eric Tankel, M.S.Ed, LPC, CAADC
Writing & Photography

Ken Beldon, LSW
Spirituality

Resources by Creativity Topic

Are there resources you’d like us to add? Send an email to kim@conversation.zone

Sync Recovery 

Sync Recovery on Facebook: facebook.com/syncrecovery


The Phoenix 



Thank you to John Shields for sharing the following resources!

Surfing: John Shields – 215.908.1879  john@pointbdesign.com

Ad-hoc group connecting via text or group chat. Currently have boards and wet suits for people to try.


Swimming: Jeff Rake – 610.212.3776  jprake@gmail.com

Currently do both pool and open water sober swimming.


Climbing:  John Shields – 215.908.1879  john@pointbdesign.com

Indoor at a number of good rock gyms (reach is best in my opinion).


Outdoor Climbing:  Gunks is a world class outdoor area; 2.5 hour drive.

  Also, the Wissahickon has many outdoor areas.


Fitness in Recovery:  Sidra  570.412.4454  info@fitnessinrecovery.org

Workouts in many areas including crossfit. Lots of opportunities.


Soccer:  John Shields – 215.908.1879  john@pointbdesign.com

YSC in Wayne. Five seasons per year; competitive soccer at night.


>> View the slides that John shared.

Manor of Hope 


Read a story about Andrew Deery 


Book referenced by Andrew: Culinary Artistry by Andrew Dornenburg and Karen Page  

Find Daniel Benonis on LinkedIn 


Vampr is the #1 Network for Musicians 


Find fellow musicians on MeetUp 


Publication referenced by Daniel Benonis: Defining Music by Kenneth E. Bruscia  


TED Talk: Why I Want to Change the World with Music Therapy 

Thank you to Ken Beldon for providing the following resources!

Mindfulness Meditations recorded by Ken 


Radical Acceptance: Embracing Your Life With The Heart Of A Buddha by Tara Brach 


Addiction and Grace: Love And Spirituality In The Healing Of Addictions by Gerald May 


Breathing Under Water: Spirituality And The 12 Steps by Richard Rohr 


Find Ken Beldon on PsychologyToday.com 



Other helpful resources.

The 12-Step Buddhist: Enhance Recovery from Any Addiction by Darren Littlejohn   


Recovery Dharma: Using Buddhist Practices and Principles to Health the Suffering of Addiction 


Celebrate Recovery: A Christ-Centered 12 Step Program 


Addicts Victorious: Christ-Centered Addiction Support & Transformation 

Dog fostering program referenced by Matthew McFadden: To Love a Canine Rescue, Inc. 


Philadelphia Animal Welfare Society (PAWS) 

31 Addiction Recovery Journal Prompts to Use During Your Healing Process 


Link to classes with Arielle Ashford at Unity 

Nidra is Sundays, Mondays, and Thursdays at 8 pm. 🙂 All are welcome.

Contact Arielle:  Arielle@unityyoga.guru


View a recording of the July 21, 2021 Creative Recovery: Yoga class with Arielle Ashford of Unity Yoga / Unity Recovery:

Arielle also shared this voice recording of a guided meditation:


Caroline Farrell (Website) – 610.733.2721  carolineozeroff@yahoo.com


Jean Schaller / Yoga On Main – 610.955.3026  schallerjean@gmail.com


Hummingbird Yoga & Massage: Trauma Sensitive Yoga and Massage Studio 

Book:  Creative Recovery by Eric Maisel, PhD and Susan Raeburn, PhD 

Research & Support for Creative Recovery

Study

Creativity, brain, and art: biological and neurological considerations

Article

7 Ways Creativity Supports Addiction Recovery

Study

Alexithymia and Addiction: A Review and Preliminary Data Suggesting Neurobiological Links to Reward/Loss Processing

Study

The Role of Self-esteem in Tendency towards Drugs, Theft and Prostitution

Article

Can Creative Writing, as an Add-on to Treatment for Alcohol Use Disorder, Support Rehabilitation?

Research

The Use of Creative Writing Interventions in Substance Abuse Treatment