Jess qualified and began working as an OT in September 2022, when she was excited to take on the challenge of being the first Occupational Therapist in the UK’s biggest drug and alcohol service provider, CGL. Jess has enjoyed supporting people in addiction recovery to find meaning and has had some very positive outcomes. Throughout her career and education Jess identified that there was a massive need for OT within substance use and she was eager and excited to build the foundations and implement such a service in the city she grew up in, Coventry. Through hearing service user stories and building rapport Jess has found herself advocating for the recovery community and enjoys opportunities to challenge practice and stigma in the hope of creating a more accessible health and social care setting. Interventions have directly supported people to maintain periods of abstinence, putting people in a more comfortable and stable situation to begin reducing their use and supporting people who would struggle to engage in a traditional treatment setting. Jess’ favourite part about working as an occupational therapist in substance use is supporting people to live a meaningful life that’s worth letting go of drugs or alcohol for.