My Dream

When I was in college for addictions counselling we had this great assignment where we got to design our own treatment centre. The instructor told us we had unlimited funding (imagine that in the real word!) and we could do whatever we want. Now that I’ve been in recovery for over a decade and involved in addictions counselling for almost as long I thought it’d be fun, using the same parameters, to write about how I would set up a treatment centre.

The treatment centre would be in a house setting. The majority of treatment centres I’ve worked at have been in old houses and I feel this type of setting lends itself to the therapeutic community that is essential for any good rehab. The facility would cater to both men and women, ages 18 and up, and treatment would be free – no fee-for-service. Women would be allowed to bring children with them as there would not only be a daycare facility but also a children’s program. This program would be in addition to the centre’s family program.

Program stay would be anywhere from 28 days to 35 days with aftercare available. There would be no therapists involved in the residential portion of treatment but referrals would be made post-treatment or even several months into the aftercare program. It’s my firm belief that not everyone needs a therapist to get sober and therapy style treatment in the first six months of recovery does more harm than good. While not a medical facility a doctor would meet with clients once a week to take care of any physical needs including those having liver issues, pancreas issues as well as those infected with Hepatitis and/or HIV.

The centre would be an abstinent based one. No methadone but Suboxone would be allowed if the person had a plan to wean off completely. The program itself would be firmly rooted in the 12 Steps of recovery with each client being assigned a 12 Step counsellor in order to gain a firm understanding of what the Steps are about and how they are worked. The clients would be taken to 12 Step meetings every night with attendance being mandatory. The meetings would be either Alcoholics Anonymous or Cocaine Anonymous. The facility would have a gym and twice a week clients would have the choice to use the gym with a trainer or partake of a yoga class. Every week there would be group sessions on relapse prevention, denial management and daily meditation. Twice a week there would be separate men’s and women’s groups. Depending on the need a LGBT group could be added to this. The centre would take an holistic approach offering group acupuncture and hypnotherapy sessions to help with anxiety and withdrawal.

No mobile phones would be allowed nor iPods or anything with a screen. However, computers would be made available to check emails and do banking, etc. All social media would be blocked. Phone time would be available at certain times for social calls but time would be limited. We would serve caffeinated coffee and clients can eat candy if they desire. However, a nutritionist would have at least one session with each client. If the client desired to have further meetings with the nutritionist to help create a healthy meal plan post-treatment then that would be arranged.  As the centre is teaching the “we” part of recovery all clients would be assigned basic daily chores including, garbage, setting the table, cleaning, etc.

Mandatory individual counselling sessions would be held once a week with clients working on weekly recovery goals in an effort to formulate a discharge plan to show how they plan to take what they learned in treatment and apply it to the real world. Since money is no object the facility would also have its own sober living community post-treatment houses for those who needed that extra time to transition back into the everyday grind. Once a person graduated from the centre they would become an alumnus and be able to drop by, but not stay overnight, for groups. An alumni association would eventually be formed with the goal of helping new clients.

I’m sure once I started up such a facility things would have to be tweaked here as everything is a learning experience. I often hear lottery commercials on the radio/TV with people stating what they would do if they ever won – from buying an island, to travelling, to buying mansions, etc. If I ever win the lottery, and it was enough, I would open my own treatment centre. I already know which people I’d ask to work with me.

Dave the Dude

The Word is Powerful

I’m a firm believer that the Type Three Alcoholic/Addict will not achieve recovery through a spiritual awakening unless he/she completes (and continues to practice) the 12 Steps. Saying that I think those of us who are recovered have to be careful what we say around the newcomer so as to not to give them the wrong idea.

A common saying that recovered alcoholics/addicts say is, “it’s not the meetings you make but the Steps you take”. I agree wholeheartedly but if a newcomer were to hear this without further explanation he/she may think that meetings are not important at all. When I first entered Alcoholics Anonymous I went to a meeting every day (sometimes two) even as I was working on my Steps. One of the legacies of Alcoholics Anonymous (and I would say CA as well) is unity. I believe that unity is found through the Fellowship and that can only be found at meetings. I know I would not have been able to stay sober if it were not for the multitude of meetings I attended and support (positive energy) that Fellowship provided me. When speaking I often say that the Fellowship carried me on their shoulders for the first few months of my recovery.

It is the aforementioned positive energy that I was able to use as a stepping stone to my Higher Power. Carl Jung called it the collective unconscious. For the first time in a long time I was surrounded by people who wanted me to get well and didn’t want anything in return. They told me to come back rather than stay away. They didn’t care if I was shaky or disheveled, they loved me for me.

Just as it is inherently dangerous to say things like, “don’t drink and go to meetings” it is also dangerous to criticize the notion that lots of meetings will help someone. It was at the meetings that I learned how important the Steps were and that the Big Book was the instruction manual. It was at meetings where I found my sponsor and formed a support network of healthy recovered people that I have remained in contact with for over a decade. And it is at meetings that I find newcomers to pass on what was so freely given to me.

Another dangerous thing to say to newcomers is, “stick with the winners not the losers”. The Big Book tells me those who have not yet gotten the program and continue to act/think in a toxic manner are spiritually ill. They are not losers. To say someone is a loser implies that there is no hope. A better way to phrase this would be to suggest to newcomers to hang around people who have completed the Steps and recovered from this “seemingly hopeless condition of mind and body.”

Language is very important and the word can be a powerful tool. I’m sober not clean – a house is clean. I’m recovered not recovering – telling the newcomer I’m recovered shows them that this illness can be put into remission. Meetings are important but if you don’t do the Steps then they won’t be enough. As don Miguel Ruiz Jr. said, “are you letting knowledge control you or are you controlling knowledge?”

Dave the Dude