Mark Gilman has spent over 30 years working in addictions research, policy and practice. In January 2005, Mark began to study recovery from addiction which involved attending hundreds of meetings of Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) and other forms of community based mutual aid.
Having been introduced to the theories and principles of ABCD, Mark began to see how the growing recovery movement in the UK is an exemplar of ABCD in action. He has a first degree in Organisation Theory and a MA in the study of Drugs, Crime and Social Deviance.
Until July 2015, Mark was the Strategic Recovery Lead for Substance Misuse in Public Health England (PHE) and advised NHS England and the UK Ministry of Justice on the implementation of the substance misuse elements of the ‘Through the [Prison] Gate’ programme.
Mark was previously a regional manager at the National Treatment Agency for Substance Misuse (NTA) which he joined in 2001. He is also a founder member of the newly formed British Addiction Recovery Group (BARG).