The Art of Drug and Alcohol Rehabilitation
THE ART OF DRUG AND ALCOHOL REHABILITATION
Drug and alcohol addiction are devastating on so many levels to so many people. It tears away out our very souls, our moral fiber and our belief in our self – not just for the one using but for everyone who loves them. By the time someone enters into a drug and alcohol rehab centre there is so much damage that needs to be fixed and repaired – again both for the addict and their loved ones.
The process of rehabilitation is not a simple one. Although we all have the same illness the approach and treatment methodologies cannot be the same. It becomes an artful skill meeting the broken at the point of their need and then mapping a path out using scientific methodology and a lot of creativity to create something uniquely special to the individual’s treatment plan. It is certainly not a one size fits all approach.
Although the recovery principles are pretty standard, the implementation and the adaption of these principles to the individual is completely different. Humility is a great ingredient to combat arrogance but what if the individual is a timid, people pleaser with no belief in themselves. Assertiveness is important but not if the individual is controlling. Boundaries are important for those who don’t know how to say “no” but become counterproductive for those caught in a rigid and principled lifestyle. Spirituality is important but not if used to avoid the painful truth of their addiction or to control the process. There are people that are lazy that need to work and then there are people who over work to prove their worth. There are those that love to defy the rules and then those who are too petrified to put a foot wrong.
In order to truly be able to help someone through the process of rehabilitation one needs to get to know that person – their fears, their defenses, their unhealthy patterns of thinking, their beliefs and values and their own unique behaviors in which they try to conceal their own vulnerabilities and insecurities. In order for this to happen one has to develop a relationship built on trust, mutual respect and integrity. One has to provide carefully constructed environments and experiences off of which to observe and analyze the individual’s responses. Building trust and respect is probably the most vital first step over and beyond gaining compliance to rules and regulations. It is this foundation that allows us to truly challenge certain behaviours and invites the individual who needs the help into discussions in which they are receptive to feedback.
All too often, especially in” old school” approaches, the treatment centers created a relationship built on authority and fear. It was developed on a Parent/Child bases where the counsellors are the parent and the addict was the child. It created, most of the time, a power struggle between the addict and the staff, that were seen as the authority. This approach created great amounts of friction, removed trust, integrity and respect and created an atmosphere where the addict continued to work the system or became so miserable feeling stuck and hopeless in the system. It was the counsellors’ role to ensure the addict was taking responsibility by forcing compliance and challenging defiance and not the addict’s role to adopt personal responsibility in order to better themselves.
Surrender in the old days became about submitting to the requirements of the program with a “humble” and “grateful” attitude that said “yes sir”, “how high sir”, “three bags full sir”. Please don’t get me wrong I am in recovery thanks to the old school approach and I certainly found that my own sense of value and esteem improved as I met the requirements of the program and let go my need to defy authority and rather follow direction and advice HOWEVER, I remained, for a long time, as “the child” in the adult/child relationship and was driven to serve through humility and gratitude but not for the right reasons. I did relapse after treatment and it was only when I came to realise that I had to take responsibility and implement principles for myself (and not because I would be in trouble if I didn’t) that I truly started my journey of recovery.
I have discovered that if you can see the potential and purpose in someone and lead them to see that in themselves that they are more likely to practice personal responsibility in pursuit of their dreams and a life in recovery. This life in recovery has to be better than the life they had in addiction. Allowing someone to build their esteem and worth based on choices they have made, not on compliance, means so much more and tends to last longer. Allowing someone to experience real world consequences rather than imposed ones pushes the individual to truly take responsibility rather than trying to avoid trouble or fearing getting caught.
I have experienced that Grace and Mercy can be more of a life changing consequence that punishment and shame. This does not take away the need for authority, boundaries and consequences it just gives us options that allows us to be artful and skillful in reaching our desired outcome – the reclaiming of life. Of course, in the field of recovery there will be individuals who tend to abuse this approach and in doing so abuse all of those around them. These individual’s may need the more “old school” approach but, we cannot operate a system designed to catch the 10% of individuals trying to cheat the system and ignore that there may be a better way for the other 90% of individuals desperately trying to regain some dignity, self-worth and value.
It is an easy trap to fall into in drug and alcohol rehabilitation where all the focus and attention and rules are pivoted on the one or two individuals misbehaving while we ignore the needs of the rest. It is easy to get caught in the crisis created by the few that rebel and then respond with a blanket approach to avoid such crisis in the future. In my experience at Jahara if we ignore and don’t emphasise these rebelious individuals and their behaviour, but rather pay attention to the ones who are working their recovery, that eventually the rebels seeking attention see the ridiculousness and self-destructive nature of their own behaviour and make the choice to change. It is enlightening to see past the transgression and into the future of their potential and more enlightening when the individual is able to recognise that their transgressions are blocking them from their potential. This is a magical and artful ingredient to the recovery process.
Drug and Alcohol rehabilitation is constantly changing and as treatment centers we need to adapt to the ever-changing resident that enters for rehabilitation along with the patterns and idiosyncrasies of each and every generation. There is a wonderful cliché in the NA/AA rooms that says, “we have a wrench to fit every nut that walks through the door”. Knowing that we need to adjust the wrench or even upgrade or downgrade to a bigger or smaller wrench is an important aspect in refining the art of providing rehabilitation. We should have a toolbox of many different tools and we should be able to chop and change those tools dependent on the individual we are working with.
The final product of the rehabilitation process for drug and alcohol dependence should be an individual who has been able to redefine themselves and develop a new image based on a new purpose and direction. An individual no longer driven by fear and anxiety but rather an individual able to manage and go through their fears and anxieties. The final product should be a person who knows who they are and where they are going in life. The final product should be someone who has embraced recovery principles in their own unique way and who has found a way to live a life embracing recovery – not because of the fear of the alternative but because they truly love themselves and what they have chosen to stand for in the new found culture of recovery.