Public lecture explores spirituality and recovery

Wendy Dossett, Emeritus Professor of Religious Studies at the University of Chester will present the lecture, Transcendence and Community in Recovery from Addiction in the Binks Building room 107 at Exton Park at 7pm. 

The association of spirituality with recovery from addiction often forms a barrier to access to community-based recovery support. Drawing on extensive research on lived spirituality in a range of addiction recovery modalities, Wendy uncovers the often-overlooked similarity between clinical language about addiction and its treatment and the spiritual language of recovery. She argues that significant among the issues driving a systemic failure to meet the needs of people suffering with substance issues, their families and communities, is a regrettable lack of spiritual and religious literacy. She makes a Medical Humanities case for the contribution of Religious Studies to recovery from addictions.   

Wendy is the Principal Investigator of The Higher Power Project and has published extensively on the language of spirituality in addiction recovery. She was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Recovery Researcher Award by UKESAD (The UK & Europe Symposium on Addictive Disorders). She is a Visible Recovery advocate, an activist in the Recovery-Friendly University Movement, and she is herself a person in long-term recovery from addiction. Wendy has also served in several senior capacities as an advocate for secondary level RE and education in religion and worldviews. Her two areas of specialism are linked by a commitment to the value of religious and spiritual literacy. She retired from lecturing in 2023 following a heart attack but continues to write and advocate in these fields. 

A response to Wendy’s public lecture will be given by Dr Ed Day MBE, Clinical Reader in Addiction Psychiatry at the University of Birmingham and the UK Government’s Recovery Champion.  

The University of Chester is a Recovery Friendly University and in March 2023 became the second university in the UK to sign the Recovery Friendly University Pledge. The pledge was created by Recovery Connections, a peer-led substance use recovery organisation based in Middlesbrough and asks universities to tackle the stigma and barriers people in recovery face, especially when trying to access higher education. The University is committed to creating an inclusive and welcoming community and by signing the pledge, it is showcasing the intent to continue prioritising widening participation and inclusivity, whilst also celebrating the achievements the University has already made in this area. Staff and students that are in recovery are welcomed and their achievements and ability to overcome adversity are celebrated.  

The event is free to attend or watch online. Tickets can be booked here https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/transcendence-and-community-in-recovery-from-addiction-tickets-1048583390147