Victoria McCann, BA, MSc, is Communications Director & Editorial Lead at Castle Craig and a member of the clinic’s founding family. With over a decade of experience in addiction treatment communications, she leads the creation of clear, compassionate content that supports patients, families, and healthcare professionals. Victoria is committed to reducing stigma around addiction and mental health, and brings strategic insight and lived sector knowledge to her work. She regularly attends and organises addiction treatment conferences across the UK and Europe, promoting high standards of care and best practice in the field. Victoria also works with the media to raise awareness and share informed perspectives on addiction and recovery. The Herald, The Times, BBC, STV, The Times, New York Post, The Guardian.
Victoria McCann BA, MSc
Stress Management in Addiction Recovery
Stress can cause addiction, exacerbate it and increase the chances of relapse which makes it necessary to incorporate stress management in addiction recovery. Because of the integral role stress plays in addiction, it’s critical that any treatment plan for addiction includes stress management tools. Whether you’re dealing with stress in your current life or are […]
What Happens After Detox?
In order to beat a serious drug or alcohol addiction, it is often necessary to undergo a detox. This is usually the first step in tackling addiction and it deals with only the physical aspect of addiction. That is to remove the substance from your body, deal with any withdrawal symptoms and end up in […]
What Is the Best Drug Rehab Programme?
Choosing a drug rehab programme is an incredibly difficult decision to make. After all, you may be asking yourself, “What is the best drug rehab programme? Which one will really help?”. It can be easy to get lost in all of the marketing, and it may even leave you reconsidering whether it’s worth it to […]
The Benefits of Swimming in Drug and Alcohol Rehab
The Smarmore Castle indoor pool is open daily for swimming sessions. Our fitness trainer provides aqua-aerobics sessions to help support recovery. People who arrive at a residential rehab for detox and therapy are usually in a poor physical state due to years of alcohol and drug misuse, and experiencing high levels of anxiety and stress. […]
What to Expect from Treatment
It Helps to Understand the Process Many people enter rehab not knowing what to expect, and quite a few leave without really knowing what has happened. If you’re in a clinic for a surgical procedure, you may not know exactly what the doctors are doing, you simply put your trust in them to mend your […]
Low Self Esteem and Addiction – How Are They Related?
Does it matter what others think of us? Apart from people affected by certain mental illnesses such as psychopathy, almost every one of us is affected to some extent by the opinions of others. Low self-esteem can lead to addiction and it can also reinforce it. Let us understand how low self esteem and addiction are […]
Seasonal Affective Disorder and Addiction – Is There a Link?
At this time of year, as the seasons change, people start to talk about the seasonal affective disorder (SAD) and its links to addictive behaviour, particularly substance misuse. The two conditions can be treated concurrently. Symptoms of SAD should never be ignored. What Is Seasonal Affective Disorder and Addiction? SAD is a mental health disorder […]
Trouble With the Law? How Addiction leads to Legal Problems
Addiction leads to legal problems in a variety of unexpected ways. Rehabilitation from an addiction of any kind should not be judgmental and help is available for those attempting to recover regardless of past legal problems. Legal Consequences Are Often Unforeseen Addicted people are especially at risk of falling foul of the law. Addiction will […]
Self-Care Does Not Mean Self-Medication: Coping Strategies for Addiction due to Stress at Work
Demanding jobs are the norm these days. They can be satisfying but are often highly stressful too. Anyone involved with the public, such as police, health or social workers, or teachers, might agree. Stress at work can lead to addiction because we sometimes learn to unwind from stress in inappropriate ways. In this article we shall […]
Understanding the Mind of a Gambling Addict
Much compulsive gambling behaviour is based on unrealistic thinking, to a greater degree than that found in other addictions. We are all conditioned to gambling by life, perhaps unknowingly, but it is how we respond that dictates if we will become addicted or not. At Smarmore Castle, admissions for Gambling Disorders increase yearly. In this article, […]