Recovery Conversations Podcasts
Recovery Conversations are a series of podcasts with Caspar Walsh in conversation with experts in the three areas that we use as lenses and practices for our addiction recovery work - nature connection, meditation and creativity.
These podcasts will be of interest to you whether you are in recovery or not, whether you have been involved with us already, curious about what we do or simply interested in the topic of the talk.
May Recovery Conversation
Courttia Newland
Recovery River
Courttia Newland is an author, screenwriter, playwright, creative writing tutor and literary activist. His recent novel ‘A River Called Time’ was shortlisted for the Arthur C Clarke award in 2022.
Caspar worked with Courttia in the early 90's producing an event in Bristol for the 10th Anniversary of X-Press Publishing.
He met Courttia again in 2023 at the Redacted event in the Barbican Centre, London - powerful night of black out poetry hosted by Inua Ellams; redacting and re writing material from Courttia's new book, A River Called Time.
April Recovery Conversation
Suzi Crockford
Held by Place
Suzi Crockford is a visionary writer and teacher, shamanic healer and maker of sacred objects. She works with wellbeing and mental health through landscape by supporting the finding of our deep connection to 'All that Is’, believing that if we can remember that we are simply one part of a living, sentient world - and act accordingly - we can co-create "The More Beautiful World Our Hearts Know is Possible". She is known for the clarity of her teaching, her patience and good humour and her beautiful interweaving of the sacred and the ordinary. Her work takes place in the liminal realms between this reality and 'the other', and has at its foundation an unshakeable belief in the sacredness of all of creation. This Recovery Conversation looks at how nature connection can bring a sense of belonging, and how that belonging supports recovery.
March Recovery Conversation
Gavin Blench
The Path of Art as Nourishment for the Soul
Gavin Blench is a Devon based abstract artist and printmaker.
"My work deals with the tension between open and boundaried space within my local landscape, on the edge of Dartmoor, where there is an interplay relating the topographical to the social. Wild space butts against the needs and assertions of community. I portray place in its temporal aspect, showing the surface of the land as possessing a lifespan of its own that is imprinted by the activities of many of our own lifetimes; boundaries thousands of years old, interwoven and overlaid by newer demarcations. Within this, there is also an acknowledgement of my own temporal viewpoint. I have progressive multiple sclerosis, so these familiar places become increasingly inaccessible. Inevitably the landscape I love becomes a resonator for the emotions around loss and approaching mortality."
Gavin is also a sometimes staff member and elder on our residentials.
February Recovery Conversation
Sandhya Dave
Body-Heart Mindulness
Sandhya Dave is a body psychotherapist and diversity consultant, working with all ages and specifically with mental health and in the community and describes herself as a ‘shape shifting mischievous goddess who likes to play!’
She cofounded Devon Diversity Consultants working in the arena of training and exploring systemic racism and the decolonising of our minds and institutions, and trains on a programme from the Global Centre, called Cultural Champions which takes cultural diversity and anti-racism work into schools and the community.
Sandhya created Resilient Roots a safe brave space for POC and offers restorative practice work. She was part of a core group that set up Moor Trees in Devon in 1998, looking to reforest parts of Dartmoor and have to date planted 60,000 trees as well as working with Trees for Life in Scotland. She co-created Devon Earth and Faith Network and has recently taken part in the Extinction Rebellion non-violent protests.
January Recovery Conversation
Malaika Kegode
Creative Routes to Freedom
Malaika Kegode is an award-winning writer, performer, creative producer, and Associate Director at Theatre Royal Plymouth. She creates work for stage, radio, music, and film. Her work is focused on uplifting and celebrating the overlooked and misunderstood. She is a vocal advocate for creativity as a tool for healing and connection. Her recent work, ‘Outlier’ explores the impact of isolation, addiction, and friendship on young people coming of age in the often-forgotten places.
December Recovery Conversation
Chris Chapman
The Visible Soul of Dartmoor
Chris Chapman is a renowned Dartmoor photographer and author, having worked in the area since 1975. His website includes a gallery of his archive of beautiful and evocative Dartmoor photographs taken over the last 50 years. This conversation is full of warmth, wisdom and Chris’s generous and kind spirit.
Rite to Freedom supports those in established recovery from addiction through mentoring, self-empowerment, wilderness experiences and the power of personal stories.
We work specifically with the tools and practices of nature connection, meditation and creativity.
We are a registered charity based on Dartmoor, UK.
Rite to Freedom supporters will become directly involved in our work which helps people at any stage of the addiction recovery process. Our work focuses on creating positive and sustainable changes in their lives.