Andy’s Story

Andy is a 41 year old male from the Port Glasgow Inverclyde.  Andy referred himself to Moving On for support with Cannabis related issues, Anxiety, Social Isolation and Depression. Andy was looking for a new direction and wished to use his IT skills to improve the quality of his lifestyle. 

Andy was reluctant to access services initially as he was ambivalent about his ability to make the changes he wished to make. 

 Andy took part in all aspects of Moving On’s Psychosocial Recovery Based group Sessions.

Alongside this Andy attended Peer Led Smart Recovery Meetings held within Moving. These sessions focus on Relapse Prevention, recovery planning, and Motivation Enhancement,. SMART Recovery also supports behaviour change by enabling Service users to Build Life Skills, and effective Coping Strategies as alternatives to using drugs and alcohol. 

“I didn’t want to be around people who were neck deep in their addiction. I was pleased that all the people attending the groups were as focused about change as I was”. 

Andy maintained regular contact with his Key Worker from the start of his programme to completion and remained working with the Moving On team to Identify Pathways for Employment, Further Education and Training.

Andy is feeling more Motivated, Confident and focussed on working on developing his goal of gaining qualifications to work in the IT sector. He is also attending college, enjoying the experience of going to college and he is looking into giving something back by becoming a Volunteer IT tutor.

“At first it was all about recovery, but I came to see that my time at Moving On was about a total lifestyle change. I changed my way of thinking, how I saw myself and realised I had the ability to change”.