Special & Different Structured Day Programme for Alcohol Addiction

Combating Alcoholism
 

Alcoholism is a monster that gobbles up the emotional and financial resources of the alcoholic, their family, colleagues and friends and the whole community. This manifests in different ways, criminal damage, violence, taking up hospital beds, absenteeism, prison occupancy, dysfunctional families ….. The list is endless.

But the monster can be conquered. The aim of our treatment is life-long abstinence. Many  alcoholics do go on to lead normal productive and inspiring lives – bringing as much joy as they once brought pain into the world. But to achieve this, they need good quality treatment and ongoing support.

Our Structured Day Programme (SDP) has been developed by Rachel Young, Director of The Special and Different Company Ltd. and a specialist in the field of alcoholism. It incorporates aspects of Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, Transactional Analysis, Gestalt Therapy and it uses the 12 Step Programme of Alcoholics Anonymous as its basis. As an organisation, Special and Different is committed to the abstinence model of recovery for alcoholics. It is our belief that alcoholism is a physical, mental and spiritual illness. It has been the experience of thousands of alcoholics that if they are subjected to even a small amount of alcohol they are once again in the grip of full scale alcoholic behavior. However, once alcohol is eliminated from their system, they are able to make a full recovery and to lead a life fulfilling their human potential. Our programme is designed to address cognitive, emotional and spiritual issues in order to treat the client holistically. It is open to all who are assessed as being appropriate on condition that they remain free of alcohol and illegal drugs while on the programme. 

The Aims of the Special and Different SDP are:

  • To offer abstinence from mind altering substances as an achievable lifestyle goal to  alcoholics in the form of a clinically robust treatment programme, and to offer professional support to achieve that goal.
  • To develop social functioning within the context of community rehabilitation.
    To offer a holistic approach by the inclusion of life skills and vocational/educational goals, family therapy and complementary therapies such as mindfulness and meditation, aromatherapy, reflexology and therapeutic art sessions, as well as clinical psychotherapy.
  • To address personal independence and responsibility, for example helping clients to maintain family/social support whilst in the treatment process. There will be regular family meetings and communication with the family in order to facilitate a mutual learning and recovery process.
  • To assess care plan objective outcomes, for example, physical and psychological health, social functioning, life context and so on.
  • To provide ongoing support in the form of aftercare meetings for 6 months following graduation from the programme. In addition clients will be encouraged to develop support systems in the community.

 

The Clinical Programme

The Special and Different SDP offers a 12 step model community based support and treatment programme for people recovering from alcohol addiction and dependency. The programme includes one to one counselling with qualified professionals, group work and complementary therapies. The treatment that clients receive at The Special and Different SDP is of a clinical standard comparable with residential treatment centres but at a fraction of the cost. In addition, the benefits that the clients experience by being with their families and communities as they go through the programme, informs their recovery and reduces their chances of relapse.

The Special and Different SDP is based on a core programme called The Twelve Step Facilitation Outpatient Programme by Joseph Nowinski Ph.D. (TSF). The TSF programme is for use as a guide in the clinical treatment of individuals who manifest significant symptoms of alcohol or other drug abuse or dependence according to the DSM-IV. The material for this programme was originally developed for Project MATCH , a collaborative study of alcoholism treatment. The TSF manual was also used in a study of treatment of concurrent alcohol and cocaine abuse sponsored by the National Institute on Drug Abuse in the U.S.A. Both studies employed a patient-treatment matching design, intended to assess what kind of treatment works best with which kind of patient. The founder of the Special and Different Programme, Rachel Young, who is a qualified Gestalt trained psychotherapist, has developed additional assignments and workshops to reinforce and deepen the clinical treatment of the core structure. Her experience in being a part of the team that developed and delivered the first ever alcohol treatment programme in UK prisons has been critical in developing this programme.

Project MATCH reported one year post treatment outcome results on 90% of its 1726 subjects. The data showed that TSF was effective in significantly reducing drinking behaviour and that this improvement was sustained at the time of the 12 month follow-up assessment.
TSF was found to be equally effective with moderate and severe problem drinkers. Overall, the Project MATCH results suggest that 12 Step oriented, manual guided intervention for alcohol abuse and alcoholism can be an effective treatment across a range of patient demographics, personality variables and problem severity. Longer-term follow-up studies of Project MATCH patients suggest that TSF has the best long-term outcome of the three treatments included in that study. 

Research Evidence for Twelve Step Facilitation

How Effective is the Special and Different SDP?

  •  
    Project MATCH reported one year post treatment outcome results on 90% of its 1726 subjects. The data showed that TSF was effective in significantly reducing drinking behaviour and that this improvement was sustained at the time of the 12 month follow-up assessment.

  • TSF was found to be equally effective with moderate and severe problem drinkers. Overall, the Project MATCH results suggest that 12 Step oriented, manual guided intervention for alcohol abuse and alcoholism can be an effective treatment across a range of patient demographics, personality variables and problem severity. Longer-term follow-up studies of Project MATCH patients suggest that TSF has the best long-term outcome of the three treatments included in that study.
  • Project MATCH Research Group. (1998). Matching alcoholism treatments to client heterogeneity: Project MATCH three year drinking outcomes. Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research. Vol. 22. No. 6.

  • “At three years follow-up, . . . , a significantly higher abstinence rate was found with TSF clients. Among TSF clients 36% were abstinent, compared with 27% of Motivational Enhancement Therapy and 24% of Cognitive Behavioural Therapy clients
    Patient-Treatment Matching, National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, Alcohol Alert No. 36, April 1997

  • “. . . in the outpatient group, 10 percent more patients who received TSF achieved continuous abstinence compared with those who received the other two treatments (24 percent for TSF as opposed to 15 percent for CBT and 14 percent for MET).”
  • The effectiveness Review (Task Force to review Services for Drug Misusers 1996) identified 3 effective counselling approaches: Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, 12 step counselling & other approaches including Gestalt & family therapy . The Special and Different SDP uses CBT, a 12 Step Core, Gestalt and Family therapy in a unique clinical treatment programme. The Twelve Step Facilitation Outpatient Programme, used as a core structure, was originally developed for Project MATCH, a multi site clinical trial of Alcohol Treatment involving 1726 subjects.  
  • A US study in 1996 found that more frequent counselling by qualified counsellors was associated with lower levels of relapse risk, specifically in relation to individual & group counselling. The Special and Different SDP provides daily group therapy and a minimum of 1 hours one to one counselling per client per week. Our counsellors are fully qualified BACP members with a minimum of 3 years working with this client group. As an organisation Special and Different is committed to ongoing training and development for staff members as well as insisting as a condition of employment that the counsellors have regular outside supervision in line with BACP recommendations.

  • “Involvement in self help/12 step groups meetings in post treatment phase lowered the relapse rates still further (Fiorentine& Anglin 1996)”. The Special and Different SDP actively promotes participation in Alcoholics Anonymous during the programme and as a structured aftercare component.

 The Family

The emphasis of our treatment is to look at the individual in context. This is important as many alcoholics live their lives trapped in the role of scapegoat condemned to repeat old patterns in all areas of their lives. We recognise that the family suffers from the alcoholic's behaviour but also that they unwittingly contribute to it. We intend to help family members to address their own pain and suffering and recognise the part they may have played. An independent study found clients whose families were involved in treatment were 30% more likely to complete treatment and continue ongoing recovery. We intend to maximise the effectiveness of treatment, to minimise relapse, reoffending and harm to the individual and the community. We will include the families in the recovery process by a system of weekly family meetings, as well as lectures and workshops that family members can attend. We are convinced that change for the whole family including the addict is essential for sustained relief from the nightmare of alcoholism.

After Care

Our programme incorporates a relapse prevention module so that towards the end of their treatment, the alcoholic will be preparing for their normal life to commence. Because of the nature of the Structured Day Programme this will be a smoother process than if they had been in Residential Rehabilitation as they will not have the shock of re-entry that people experience when they come out of the protective bubble of the Rehab experience. We will also provide after care for our clients so that they can maintain the relationships they have developed and continue to learn how to live without substances. Our clients will already be attending Alcoholics Anonymous meetings as an obligatory component of their treatment. We will encourage them to continue these meetings and to make use of the encouragement and support they receive there.

Staffing

The Special and Different Alcohol Treatment Programme is staffed by 2 counsellors qualified to Diploma level, who have a minimum of 3 years experience of working with this client group and by 1 counsellors in training who is given robust management support and supervision. There is also a peer supporter who has himself successfully completed a similar programme. We regularly review and assess the training needs of all our staff and volunteers. We conform with good practice guidelines (Dept of Health 2002) in that we are in collaboration with a Clinical Psychologist who provides a consultative service for our programme. In this way we meet the needs of clients with dual diagnosis. From February 2010 The Special and Different Company Ltd will launch the programme. In 2009 there was an initial 6 week pilot, which was subject to stringent monitoring and assessment. The results of the pilot was shared with referring agencies and this ensured that this is a robust and effective treatment programme. The programme will run 4 days a week, from 10am to 4pm. The programme will run on a rolling basis so that participants can join when they are in need, rather than waiting for a new programme to begin. The individual, in conjunction with the referring agency and the Special and Different staff can decide if they wish to participate for 6, 8, or 12 weeks depending on their needs.

Cost and Funding

Funding for the programme will come from the individuals themselves, Community Care funding, or funding from commissioning bodies such as Health Authorities, Probation Service and Drug and Alcohol Agencies. The cost of the treatment is £375 per week which compares very favourably with residential treatment which is often as much as £750 - £2000 per week. Special and Different are building up a funding system which hopefully in the future will allow people to be treated regardless of ability to pay

Contact Us

email, info@specialanddifferentco.com or ring us, 01295 231320 and ask for Val, Juliet or Rachel