At Alongside You, we’re always looking to see where needs are in the community and how we might be able to meet those needs. Together with our associate, Richard Somerset, we’ve found that there are areas of need in recovery and aftercare programs. Richard and I have worked for many years in addictions and recovery and one of the needs we’ve identified is services for people once they have come home from treatment centres. Of course, treatment centres are wonderful and needed, but what happens to clients when they come home?
In order to fill this need, we have been working on developing comprehensive Recovery and Aftercare programs for clients once they return home, as well as developing relationships with the major treatment centres to provide referrals for treatment for those that need it. The goal is to have a seamless transition and experience both going to, and coming back from treatment to support each client in their recovery.
One of the advantages we have at Alongside You is being able to provide all of these needed services under one roof. We’ll be able to handle individual, couples, and family counselling, neurofeedback, occupational therapy, yoga therapy and trauma-sensitive yoga, registered dietitian assessments and nutrition planning, therapeutic arts programs, and group therapy that incorporates process groups and dialectical behaviour therapy. Along with our community partners, we’ll be tying in exercise and martial arts programs, sober living activities, sober coaches, and more. Recovering from an addiction or problematic use of a substance is a long-term recovery process and we are here to provide the long-term support. We attended the Recovery Capital Conference of Canada this past September and one thing that was highlighted, that we see daily in our practice, is that it takes an individual’s brain two to five years to recover from misuse of substances. A 45-day stay at a treatment centre is a great reset and start to a recovery program, but it’s only the beginning. Our hope is that our Recovery and Aftercare programs will fill the void and support clients on the two to five-year journey it will take for their brain to rewire itself.
We can’t do everything at once, and so we’re starting with a three-month, recurring program that addresses the core needs we see from clients returning from treatment – that is, continued group work and individual counselling. Additional treatments and services are available as add-ons based on client need and interest to support the core program. We also want this program to be open to those who may have been able to stay at home and recover. We will be providing an assessment to see if our program is a good fit for those who may not even have gone away to treatment and are looking for an ongoing recovery solution closer to home.
We’re excited to launch these programs and meet more of the needs that we are seeing. At the end of the day, the number one focus for us is complete and comprehensive client care that is client-centred and recovery focused. Recovery Capital is the sum total of the resources available internally, and externally to people in recovery and our goal is to increase recovery capital in our community and with our clients. Recovery capital is client-centred, trauma-informed, and strengths-based. It builds on the internal resources of the clients, helping each of the clients rewrite their story and to have a life worth living. If we have a life worth living, we have a life worth striving for.
For more information as we launch our program in January 2018, please see our website. If you are interested in signing up, please give our office a call or contact us and we will be glad to start the intake process with you!