Staying ‘Better than Well’: an exploration of the experience and ‘active ingredients’ of sustaining recovery within a supportive social environment

• Recovery is embraced and sustained by embedding the tools used in early recovery into an ongoing lifestyle to support an emerging recovery identity.

• Over time, strategies such as structuring time, being positively occupied, going to meetings and connecting with others become a stable base from which people can reach out for new experiences.

• Embedding these tools in an ongoing lifestyle provides individuals with the safety and security to try new things beyond the recovery community.

• Visible recovery networks and role models encourage access to recovery and help individuals to develop and sustain their own identity in recovery.

• Supportive social spaces to build networks and share experiences are central to enduring recovery.