These four elements are central to the recovery pathways of our participants. Each element reveals specific interactions between sources of recovery capital. It is based on the idea of the interactive and dynamic nature of recovery capital. The photoseries of each theme uncovers the complex nature of recovery capital, how it interacts with structural dynamics of social in- and exclusion with specific attention for woman- and motherhood.
Rebuilding
me
untangling
life & addiction
Becoming connected
ENACTING
perspectives
(Re-)building me
One of the recurring themes throughout the stories of the participants was the importance of (re-)building themselves. It connects to the feeling that life is starting to happen after missing out on so much. The participants stories reveal that creating me-time is not self-evident. It’s strongly influenced by self-esteem, socio-economic position, the lens of addiction and ideas about womanhood.
Untangling what's life and what's addiction
Being in recovery can have a double-edged nature. Throughout the stories of the participants, it becomes clear that this double-edged nature is intrinsically connected to the ‘lens of addiction’. It opens up questions on what and how day-to-day experiences are connected to (previous) dynamics of addiction. This refers to ‘ordinary’ moments in everyday life that remind them of their (previous) patters or dynamics of drug use and/or care and support. To cope with these questions, it's important to share your story. But there are several challenges in relation to womanhood and finding balance in day-to-day life.
Becoming (re-)connected
A challenge throughout many of the participants’ recovery pathways is (re-)connecting with meaningful others. Their experiences uncover the ambiguous nature of these (un)conditional connections, which can simultaneously have positive and negative meanings. For many participants it’s been liberating to experience that some of their life struggles are not exclusively connected to their recovery. Within these experiences there are however very specific dynamics in relation to womanhood and motherhood.
Enacting
perspectives
on the future
A final central element in how recovery pathways can take shape, is the ‘enacting of perspectives on the future’. The stories of our participants reveal how an important part of recovery, is being able to build perspectives on the future and have resources to support them. These perspectives on the future can entail all life domains, from building relationships to having work, following an education, to having affordable and qualitative housing, … The stories show how social expectations towards woman- and motherhood influence those perspectives.