FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
03.10.2024
For press inquiries, to arrange an interview or request photos, please contact the Pathway Comms Team at jonathan.lucas@pathway.org.uk
- Homeless and inclusion health charity Pathway is delighted to announce publication of Finding Rat Park: A Handbook for Recovery.
- Written by award-winning writer and film-maker Denise Harrison, Finding Rat Park is a practical survival manual for anyone navigating their way through detox, rehab and onwards through recovery.
- With 137,749 adults having entered treatment for some form of drug or alcohol dependency in 2022 to 2023, there are very few families in the UK unaffected by addiction. The link between homelessness and addiction is also profound, with 20% of people in treatment having no home of their own.
- Created from the vital perspective of lived experience and the fundamental insight that we have to change our relationship both with ourselves and the outside world to overcome addiction, Finding Rat Park fills the gap between the advice and support that addiction services offer and the personal, lived reality of coming out of addiction. It gives practical, step-by-step advice about how to make it through and out of addiction and homelessness, and ultimately how to find your own Rat Park.
When Denise began her own recovery journey, there was no practical guide explaining triggers, cravings, or how to manage poor mental health in stressful environments such as homeless shelters. So, with the support of homeless and inclusion health charity Pathway, Denise has written one, describing all the things that helped to keep her safe and avoid relapse during the early stages of recovery, and beyond.
Written with the warmth and candour of someone who has had first-hand experience of addiction and homelessness, Finding Rat Park brings together personal insights, tried and tested tips and powerful stories of recovery. It is both a practical guide and a friendly companion to help anyone navigate the labyrinth of addiction, homelessness and rehab. Crucially, it also seeks to bridge the many gaps in understanding that exist between those on that journey and those who care for them. The book will help not only people in recovery, but also support workers and staff working in substance misuse services and specialist homelessness services, as well as friends, families and carers who want to understand what a path out of addiction is like.
Finding Rat Park is a book crafted with kindness but also a deep sense of practicality at its heart, and Pathway is delighted to have supported Denise in creating it.
Pathway’s CEO Alex Bax said:
“Finding Rat Park feels personal, as if a friend has taken your hand and said, ‘it’s okay, there’s a way through the maze’. It doesn’t judge or assume, and in doing so it unlocks recovery for all. It’s a vital companion for any recovery journey and we are proud to have supported Denise and her vision.”
Author Denise Harrison said:
“The opposite of addiction is connection, and a huge part of the recovery journey is learning how to forge meaningful relationships again…with ourselves, with our friends, with family, and also with our environment. As well as offering practical support and advice to anyone confronting their own addiction, I hope the book is a starting point for friends and family trying to understand what someone is going through and how to support them as they rebuild their life and relationships.”
What other people are saying about Finding Rat Park:
“This book is a masterpiece – written with such simplicity, clarity and kindness. And using the Rat Park analogy is a stroke of genius. It could be life-changing for anyone going through recovery or any kind of challenges.”
Matt Peacock MBE, Founder and Co-Director of Arts & Homelessness International
“This book helped me today, it will help me tomorrow, and for the rest of my life…thank you.”
Mat Amp, Deputy Editor of The Pavement magazine
NOTES FOR EDITORS
About Finding Rat Park
Finding Rat Park is published by Pathway on 3rd October 2024. Priced at £9.99, copies are available to order at the Pathway website. Services wishing to bulk buy copies should contact info@pathway.org.uk
Pathway will be making an initial distribution of copies to selected specialist services and partners in London.
Funders who might like to support the further development of this work or wider free distribution of the book should contact us at info@pathway.org.uk
About Denise Harrison
Denise Harrison is an award-winning writer and filmmaker, known for her hard-hitting work on homelessness and addiction.
In 2014, Denise’s life started to veer out of control after a series of devastating losses saw her spiral into homelessness, addiction and breakdown. She was subsequently hospitalised in 2016 and spent four months in treatment where she slowly began to rebuild her life. For the last eight years she has been sharing her story in the hope that others can find in it the inspiration to begin their own journeys to recovery.
Pathway is delighted to have supported Denise to write Finding Rat Park. We believe the book has huge potential, both directly as a recovery tool and as a way to foster empathy and understanding among those who will also have been affected by someone’s addiction (families, friends and employers for example), whose own feelings often get overlooked.
You can contact Denise Harrison via email at justagirl17x@gmail.com, through LinkedIn, or follow her on X through her handle @justagirl2017x
Denise is also available for interview.
About Pathway
Pathway is the UK’s leading homeless and inclusion health charity. We exist to improve the health of people experiencing homelessness and other forms of severe social exclusion. Pathway’s Partnership Programme supports NHS organisations to scope, commission and create local Pathway teams to improve outcomes for in-patients facing homelessness.