DB RECOVERY RESOURCES - Key Persons
For three decades, Deirdre Boyd has been a leader in the field of recovery
from addiction, with an international reputation: she "inspires the inspirers".
Based in the UK, she heads up DB Recovery Resources which supplies a daily news service to the international alcohol/drug-treatment field on addiction recovery, offers an archive of over 38,000 news+research items, publishes Recovery Plus journal, and organises the DB Recovery+ UKESAD international symposia on addiction recovery: the next one will be 1+2 July 2024 - her 33rd recovery birthday. DB Recovery Resources is a NAADAC-approved education provider. Invited in 2021, by the Chancellor, to submit addiction treatment/recovery research and evidence, she has spoken at the All Party Parliamentary Drugs Misuse Group, the APPG Alcohol and the APPG on Children and Cannabis, was part of the dti Foresight Project on Brain Science, Addiction & Drugs which predicted drug scenarios for the next 25 years. Deirdre has been quoted in House of Commons and House of Lords debates on alcohol and drugs, and contributed to the Drug Policy 2010 and Select Committees. She authored Addiction & Recovery: self-help for friends, families and addicts, which was translated into 7 languages. Deirdre served on the board of the International Certification & Reciprocity Consortium UK & Europe CIC; IC&RC has 45,000 members worldwide.She served on the board of the National Association for Children of Alcoholics (UK) and sat on the Centre for Policy Studies' Addictions committee. Deirdre was voted by the public to receive the Directory of Social Change Influencer Of The Year Award 2012. The International Council on Alcohol & Addictions presented her with the ‘Dr Vincent Bakeman Memorial Award for Outstanding Community Services'. She has also received a Sierra Tucson Award for Outstanding Achievement.Deirdre has written for national and international publications, and has appeared as an expert ‘talent' for addiction-recovery issues on BBC News, Sky News, and other media outlets. Formerly and for over 20 years, she worked as CEO of the Addiction Recovery Foundation and was editor of Addiction Today journal. Earlier, Deirdre facilitated women's groups at the Drug & Alcohol foundation after training in integrative psychotherapy. She was on the Employee Assistance Programme Association steering group. Before entering the substance-misuse field in 1993, Deirdre worked in the PR departments of charities such as Turning Point and the Sick Children's Trust. She was manager of the PR department for multinational £120million-turnover Wang UK (c $2billion globally) and was development officer for Mensa Ireland.
In her early career, Deirdre wrote articles for publications ranging from women's lifestyles to economic and business-management to computer press; her portfolio includes Image, Business, Vision, DataBusiness, Checkout, Inside Guide To Ireland, Satellite & Cable TV News, Popular Computing, Computing, PC Business World, Computer News and inhouse magazines for multinational corporations.