About Tracey
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My Story
The Unapologetic Writer
I’m a sweary Northerner and the #unapologeticwriter behind Have a Word With Yourself and memoir Blood Is Thicker Than Alcohol. Pregnant at 16, addicted by 20, I am now a recovery champion with 30+ years in the field.
My mission is to disrupt shame, speak my truth, and empower others to reclaim their stories. I write raw, rebellious truth no filters, no fluff, no shady bullshit. If you’re after perfection or polite silence, jog on. I speak my truth so you can find yours.
My Journey
I’ve lived addiction from both sides: as the user and the affected daughter. I also know what it’s like to be stuck in a controlling, chaotic relationship.
I’ve overcome a lot: addiction, mental health struggles, being written off as a teenage mum, and the identity work that comes with rebuilding yourself from scratch. I spent time in a psychiatric unit, battled through years of self-destruction, and clawed my way into recovery and not just from substances, but from the shame and silence that kept me stuck.
Writing gave me a voice when I didn’t know I had one. It helped me own my story, not just survive it.
You can read more about me and my writing journey by downloading my Magazine, you can either read a PDF version Tracey Ford v8 or read an electronic version by clicking HERE
My Story
From Survival to Voice
My writing journey started while caring for my dad. A man broken by alcohol, grief, and his own demons. I turned to journaling to offload the pain while trying to hold it all together, watching him fall apart.
Writing became my way of surviving the silence, the shame, and the emotional chaos. It helped me make sense of the addiction that ran through both our lives including his drinking, my drug use, and the tangled mess of love, resentment, and loss shared between us.
That’s what led to Blood Is Thicker Than Alcohol — a memoir that tells two stories of addiction with very different endings. It’s not a glossy recovery tale. It’s raw, rebellious, and rooted in lived experience.
My Mission
My mission now is simple: to disrupt shame, speak truth, and empower others to reclaim their stories. Especially the ones who’ve been silenced, like the forgotten family members, the women who’ve lost themselves in survival mode, the people who’ve been told they’re “too much.”
I write for them. I write for me. And I write because I believe storytelling isn’t just healing — it’s fucking life changing.
Professional Credentials
2020 – present
Operations and Development Manager for Community Safety
Overseeing partnership response to anti-social behaviour in Sheffield city centre – lead on the help us help campaign: Link
1995 - Present
Addiction & Recovery Specialist
2003
Family & Friends Project
2004-2020
Recovery & Partnership Officer
Present
International Advocate
Founder of the SWIPE Women’s Network, member of the World Federation Against Drugs Global Gender Committee, and invited speaker at the United Nations in Vienna.
1995 - Present
Addiction & Recovery Specialist
2003
Family & Friends Project
2004-2020
Recovery & Partnership Officer
Present
International Advocate
Why "Have a Word With Yourself" Exists
Having a word with yourself isn’t about pulling yourself together it’s about getting honest. It’s asking, What do I need? What do I want? What do I deserve? and daring to act on the answers.
This platform exists because I believe that far too many women are still silenced by shame. Told they’re too emotional, too messy, too much. I say: bring the mess. That’s where the magic is.
I believe in post-traumatic growth, lived experience, and self-responsibility. I’ve seen what happens when women stop hiding and start writing. Recovery isn’t just about abstinence it’s about reclamation.
My Publications & Contributions
My writing journey started over 18 years ago when I turned to journaling by way of trying to cope with caring for my father, who was suffering from alcoholism. Journalling helped me process my thoughts and feelings when I felt like my life wasfalling apart.
My journaling was paused after his passing, but the journals sat in my bedroom, calling me to make something of them; it was like an inch that wouldn’t go away.
I eventually decided to attempt to put pen to paper, but I didn’t know what I was doing or how to write a book, so I returned to journaling once again. My writing started like a smoking ember, igniting dormant thoughts and feelings.
I realised that all the unanswered questions I’d been searching for were already inside me; I needed to be patient and trust the process.
Apart from finding doors and insight that I never knew about myself, writing has also brought be some external achievements.
Created website and published 264 posts.
Blood Is Thicker Than Alcohol
A raw memoir about two stories of addiction with very different endings.
Time to Have a Word With Yourself?
A New “Have a Word With Yourself “workbook for reclaiming your story through writing.
COMING SOON!!!
Find Your Oasis
2021- NACOA, A collection of poetry by people affected by parental drinking
Performing Recovery Magazine 2024
Published poetry in Performing Recovery Magazine 2024
Podcast
Life and soul of the party
Poetry Film 2022
‘Don’t Underestimate a Woman in Recovery’
Poetry Film 2024
Book contribution
2025 The Intentional Life: Crafting Your Legacy One Day at a Time – David S.
Anderson, Ph.D. Published America
Book contribution
2025 Women’s Recovery Pathways Book, published by New Central Media