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Vince Cullen became interested in Buddhism after starting his own recovery from alcohol dependency.
He first visited the Thamkrabok Drug Treatment and Rehabilitation Centre in 1998, in his then role as Chairman of the UK charity East-West Detox.
Vince left East-West Detox in November 2002 to pursue a more personal relationship with the Thamkrabok Monastery and indeed with Buddhism.
In 2003, Vince ordained for a brief period as a monk working directly with addicts in ‘The Hey’ - the addicts treatment compound - at Thamkrabok.
Since then he has facilitated treatment at Thamkrabok for many addicts who make their own journey to Thailand.
He has also escorted and supported addicts, as part of organised programmes, to Thamkrabok.
Vince is authorised by the Abbot of Thamkrabok to take addicts to the monastery for detoxification treatment.
In 2006, Vince again ordained; joining the monks and nuns of Thamkrabok Monastery on the annual Tudong.
Vince is a charter member of the Buddhist Recovery Network and represented the Thamkrabok Monastery at the BRN inaugural conference in Los Angeles in October 2009.
Since November 2009, Vince has been facilitating a Meditation for Recovery group in West Berkshire, UK.
In 2010 TARA Detox will offer a 12-week ‘Mindful Detox - Mindful Recovery’ program that combines detoxification at Thamkrabok and a period of rehabilitation at the New Life recovery community in Chiang Rai, northern Thailand.
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