Our Background
"Helping Groups to Grow Development Ltd" supports the development and application of recovery- and acceptance-based intervention programmes as a key provision in drug and alcohol treatment services and recovery organisations. Our aim is to be a key part in the bridge out of formal treatment provision and into the mutual aid community.
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Since our formation we have been working with treatment providers and recovery groups across the UK. Programme participants have hailed the life-changing impact of our programmes: Nudge, Pathways to Recovery and Moving On In My Recovery. The earliest and possibly the most successful programme has been Moving On In My Recovery.
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What is the aim of this website?
We have been doing some incredible work in Wales in supporting people into and beyond recovery from substance addictions. This website documents some of our outcomes and it shares some of this work. We hope you find it useful and inspiring.
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Moving On In My Recovery
Moving On In My Recovery (MOIMR) is an acceptance-based cognitive behavioural programme with a growing evidence-base (https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/10550887.2024.2331528#d1e385). Unlike many traditional programmes, MOIMR is unique in that it has been developed alongside service users using their lived experiences of what worked for them in their recovery. The programme is co-facilitated and co-delivered by people with lived experience of addiction alongside staff from treatment services. The programme is underpinned by Acceptance and Commitment Therapy and its own unique resiliency/vulnerability model: https://www.mdpi.com/2076-328X/14/12/1237 .
​https://doi.org/10.3390/bs14121237
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The benefits of MOIMR have been wide reaching, profoundly empowering and since its development the programme has been credited with helping hundreds of people across the UK achieve sustained recovery from addiction. With the addition of the new, free Moving On App we have an additional resource that can offer real-time intervention on a hand held devise or on a desktop computer.
Additional programmes like Nudge and Pathways to Recovery offer support for the whole treatment journey, from those finding it difficult to engage and in entrenched and unhelpful patterns of behaviour to those in the early stages of recovery.
About me
Dr Lee Hogan
I work as a consultant clinical psychologist with people who have experienced difficulties with substance dependency or who are currently experiencing difficulties, which I have done in various roles for more than 25 years. I developed our programmes: Nudge, Pathways to Recovery, Moving On In My Recovery and the Moving On App. Following my undergraduate degree in psychology, I obtained a PhD in the psychology of Addictive Behaviours from the University of Wales Bangor in 2005 and a second Doctorate in Clinical Psychology from Bangor University in 2008. I work as a Consultant Clinical Psychologist in an NHS Substance Misuse Service and I am also the Research Director for the North Wales Clinical Psychology Programme at Bangor University. I am the Director of Helping Groups to Grow Development. I have published numerous papers in the area of substance addictions.
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More stuff about me: I live in a beautiful part of Wales in the UK with my wife and our cats. We are incredibly proud of our two adult daughters who currently live in a different part of the UK. In the 1990's I competed as an elite level amateur boxer representing my country (Wales) at several international tournaments. Boxing is a big part of my life. Over the last couple of decades I have volunteered as a fully qualified boxing coach supporting numerous boxers to achieve their goals competing in local and international tournaments and even world championships. I still enjoy keeping fit.
The Moving On App
Since the launch of the Moving On App in April 2022 to January 2025 there are now around 3,600 users from 87 countries worldwide. The App has been downloaded most in the in the UK (1896 users), the USA (671 users), and Philippines (513 users). The App is FREE and a great resource for people in Recovery. Although designed as a companion to the MOIMR programme, we see and hear it being used as a great standalone resource. Please do get in touch to tell us your experience of the App. We are due to launch a significant upgrade to the App in January 2025 with several new features!
Testimonials
IN THEIR WORDS
"My life has changed so much because of Moving On In My Recovery and I can't thank those involved in the program enough. It gave me the opportunity to find out who I was once again because I'd lost my sense of purpose. I've made some fantastic friends through Moving On and I've now been on a course so I can be a facilitator for the program. My life has changed so much."
STEPH
"Nothing could sort my head out and I'd been to so many different support groups but they didn't really work, so I thought I'd give Moving On In My Recovery a chance. I've been involved in the programme for three years now and I've found it great. I've now been trained to be a facilitator and it's nice to be able to help other people. I'm able to encourage people because I've been there myself."
GARETH
"I’d given up on myself, but I didn’t want my kids to think I’d given up on them. I know from Moving On In My Recovery that we can often find healing by contributing to others. I want to make sure that years of dereliction and pain are not wasted by using my story of experience, strength and hope to help someone else get better. Because we can only keep what we have by giving it away."
SAFF
MOVING ON IN MY RECOVERY
"We are incredibly proud to be able to share our latest videos. Commissioned by "Helping Groups to Grow Developments" , to celebrate and promote their game-changing programme "Moving On In My Recovery".
This is: "Moving On" and "Keep On Moving On"! Enjoy!"
Team Eternal
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KEEP ON MOVING ON
This film is two and one half years after our first film (see above). It catches up with some of the people in the first film.
ALCOHOL CHANGE "REBUILD AND RECOVER" CONFERENCE 2021
Research (also see the Downloads section)
"Exploring the process and experience of change throughout ‘Moving On In My Recovery’; a psychological group intervention promoting recovery from addiction"
Shepley, E., Hogan, L. M. & Jackson, M. (2020).
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"A Feasibility Study of the Effectiveness of Moving On In My Recovery"
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Hogan, L. M., Cox, W. M., Bagheri, M., Rettie, H. & Morgan, B. (2020)
Events
We hosted an extremely successful conference at Bangor University in 2020, where we shared some of the latest research findings while celebrating the life changing impact of the Moving On In My Recovery Programme.
In April 2018 we held the "Moving On In My Recovery" Celebration Day, celebrating the success of people in recovery and many individuals who have gone through our game-changing programme. One of our senior colleagues said: "This was the most inspiring day of my career".
Dr Lee Hogan and members of Moving On In My Recovery presented at Alcohol Change UK annual "Rebuild and Recover" Conference 2021.
In December 2022 and January 2023, HG2GD delivered training in Cardiff to staff at Recovery Cymru and Cardiff and Vale Drug and Alcohol Service (CAVDAS)
NUDGE AND MOIMR FACILITATOR TRAINING
May 2024 HG2GD undertook more MOIMR training in North Wales. The North Wales Recovery Community hosted the event and community members and residents took part.
MOVING ON IN MY RECOVERY FACILITATOR TRAINING
In May 2024 HG2GD undertook more MOIMR training for Hywel Dda Health Board and DDAS in Carmarthen.
MOVING ON IN MY RECOVERY FACILITATOR TRAINING
Publications (also see the Downloads section)
