Recovery Code X is a Community Interest Company (CIC) set up to improve the lives of people with mild to moderate symptoms of Complex Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (Complex PTSD) – also known as complex trauma.


 

Our History


The organisation was founded in 2019 by women with direct experience of the psycho-social debilitating effects of complex trauma caused by childhood abuse and neglect, sexual exploitation and domestic violence. They survived an era in which ignorance of Complex PTSD prevailed at all levels of society, before the seminal work of Judith Herman M.D. and others determined the need for a new diagnosis. Their own experiences of hardship and suffering, of being misunderstood and misdiagnosed, exiled and abandoned, forged a desire to help others.


Those who found their way to life-transforming healing tended to adopt a holistic route, using a combination of talking therapies, peer support groups, complementary therapies and healthy lifestyle choices.

 

This is the reason that a holistic approach is enshrined at the very core of Recovery Code X. Our experience demonstrates that healing requires a mix of appropriate knowledge, guidance and therapies, and tends to happen incrementally, in small steps.


A Three Year Plan


No matter how challenging the circumstances, you are worth it, and we are here to support your healing journey.



Recovery Code X is working towards becoming a hub of clinical expertise and complementary therapies for Complex PTSD. We offer a safe and welcoming place where we:

 

  • Provide counselling, peer support and holistic complementary therapies for Complex PTSD.
  • Run educational workshops, courses and talks.
  • Provide advocacy on Complex PTSD, its prevention, causes, symptoms, healing and recovery modalities.
  • Promote the health and wellbeing of Bedfordshire’s residents.


Recovery Code X - solving the mystery of Complex PTSD and paving new ways to healing.



 




Our Vision

Our vision is of a trauma-informed society where holistic healing methods are available to all survivors of prolonged abuse whether experienced in childhood or adulthood.







Our Mission

Our mission is to inspire and empower people who have experienced repetitive, ongoing abuse and trauma to discover the key that will unlock their unique path to recovery.  We aim to provide a safe environment and the tools to support everyone's journey to wholeness and harmony in mind, body and soul.




Our Philosophy

Everyone has a right to good health and happiness.

Everyone is entitled to be treated with dignity and respect regardless of income,

disability, age,  gender,  race or religious belief.

We are each born with a unique purpose to fulfil, gifts to share, a dream to live.

We have a right to live in alignment with our soul’s purpose.

Our challenges do not define us; they refine and make us who we are today.

We all have an innate capacity to heal.

It’s never too late to begin the journey to wholeness.

Self-expression in a safe environment builds confidence, self-esteem and resilience.

Compassion is balm to the soul.

Love overrides trauma.

Wounds can heal.

A better life is possible.



 


Meet the Team


Anna L. Bragga, Managing Director


Anna Bragga is the founder and Managing Director of Recovery Code X. Since 2018, she has been attending and facilitating peer support groups, constantly looking for new ways to improve the therapeutic benefits for participants. She completed the East London NHS Foundation Trust’s Bedfordshire and Luton Recovery College Peer Tutor course in 2021 and facilitated De-Mystifying Complex PTSD workshops.

   She is spearheading the research and development of new programmes that offer a holistic approach to adults who endured childhood trauma, exploitation and domestic violence. She is able to draw on her own lived experience and recovery, as well as her psychodynamic counselling skills and theory, knowledge of Deep Memory Process regression therapy, and ongoing training in shamanics and gestalt therapy. Anna previously had a career in marketing and journalism, and set up Conscience Media to provide PR to small and medium-sized businesses  and not-for-profits. She is a video film maker and author of the novella, Fractured: Memories of a Survivor (Volume I).

                                         


Sarah Harris, Director


Sarah has been with Recovery Code X since September 2019. She oversees budget setting and expenditure, payroll and annual accounts.
    Her accounting qualifications and on-the-job knowledge of the mental health sector are invaluable in helping with the development of Recovery Code X’s medium to long-term growth strategy.
   Sarah juggles Recovery Code X director responsibilities with the running of her own self-employed business. Although she doesn’t have lived experience (fortunately) of the kind of trauma that creates Complex PTSD, she is committed to gaining a counselling qualification so that she can better understand the challenges of Recovery Code X customers and communicate effectively.



Jacqui Finnigan - Clinical Support Advisor


Jacqui is a Chartered Counselling Psychologist, HCPC Registered Psychologist and Associate Fellow of the British Psychological Society.  She is well trained in CBT, ACT, DBT, CFT, mindfulness and EMDR. Jacqui specialises in Schema Therapy and is certified as an Advanced Schema Therapist, with the International Society of Schema Therapy.  

    She has 16 years’ experience of working with clients with psychological difficulties including complex trauma, anxiety, chronic depression, eating disorders and relationship difficulties. 

    She has worked across the NHS and private settings in trauma services, specialist eating disorders and staff psychological services, this includes working as a therapist and in senior management positions.

    Jacqui is passionate about mind and body integration. She has practiced yoga intensively for over 28 years. She uses this to listen to her body, increase her awareness of physical sensations and be more attuned to how her body responds to emotional triggers. She is completing teacher training on embodied yoga.


Melanie Tomsett – Teacher, Counsellor, Facilitator


Melanie Tomsett BSc Hons (Homeopathy) is an experienced shamanic practitioner, teacher, counsellor and homeopath. Her shamanic education began in 1991 under the guidance of the late author and teacher, Kenneth Meadows, a key facilitator of the reintroduction of Shamanism to the UK. Ten years ago, Melanie founded Shamanic Quest to run her private practice, courses and workshops.

   Melanie realised she had Complex PTSD while undertaking her own journey to heal her life. Her experiences and learning, deeply inform and underpin her continuing work to help others regain their personal power, strength and resilience.

   People who attend Melanie's groups and courses are surprised by her warmth and kindness. They feel held, can talk honestly and openly about important topics, and leave having made good connections.

   Melanie joins Recovery Code X to support others on their journey of recovery from Complex PTSD, facilitate groups and share her knowledge of the psychological and holistic health benefits of shamanic practices.

 


We would like to thank all our supporters, donors and sponsors for helping us to make a difference.