PRIVATE FACILITY OFFERS RESIDENTIAL TREATMENT IN RURAL SETTING

Much like a romantic getaway, Cedars is a cozy cluster of buildings
nestled in among 26 hectares of rolling treed landscape.

But this is not a place to go to escape. People here are doing the
opposite -they are facing their troubles head on.

Cedars is a private residential facility that has been treating
people for addictions for five years. It's one of two residential
treatment facilities on Vancouver Island.

At any given time, about 30 recovering drug addicts, alcoholics,
gamblers and people with eating disorders are calling Cedars home.
Their average length of stay is six to seven weeks. The average cost
of treatment is between $18,000 and $20,000.

Their chances of long-term recovery depends on what happens after
they leave Cedars.

"We don't have success in a treatment centre. Success happens out
there," Cedars executive director Neal Berger tells a group of
patients and family members at an orientation session.

Berger uses the analogy of a patient leaving the hospital after heart surgery.

"They leave with a one-page sheet of paper and it will say: 'Every
day, initially walk this much. Eat these foods. Don't eat those
foods. Do this, don't do that.' ... The people who say 'This is my
paper, I must do that,' most of them six months later are in the best
physical condition they've been in for years," Berger says.

"Some people go home, park their butt on the couch, put the piece of
paper on the table, grab a bag of chips, turn on the TV and that's
it. Six months later, they're sicker than they ever were," Berger says.

"We do the best job we can to get someone re-channelled and do
everything we can to get them reconnected so they can identify who
they are emotionally and meet all those goals," he says. "But still
what happens when they leave here is more important."

Key to treatment, says Dr. Eric Olson, one of the physicians at
Cedars, is convincing a patient that he or she is ill.

"This is the convincing argument: You're not a bad person trying to
get good. You've actually got an illness you're trying to get well
from. That thinking in the person you're trying to treat is critical."

About 85 per cent of people who begin a program at Cedars will
complete it. Up to 50 per cent could relapse within the first two
years. But if people are sober two years after treatment and
following the after-care program, their chances of long-term recovery
increase astronomically, Berger says.

About 75 per cent of Cedars' staff, from the support workers through
to the senior administration and the medical staff, are recovering
alcoholics or addicts, Berger says. They understand what the patients
are going through.

Cedars tries to do three things with every patient.

The first step is to detox them and stabilize them physically,
emotionally and cognitively.

The second is to get them to understand that addiction/alcoholism is
a disease and they have it. "It can be a very difficult process for
someone to really accept that they can no longer successfully use
alcohol and drugs," says DeClark.

The third is to transition the patient home with as much support as
possible. There will be a minimum of two years with Cedars involvement.

"Our goal here at Cedars is to get people into recovery -not just to
get people abstinent," DeClark says.

"We believe in order to get into recovery you have to be abstinent.
However, we want people to have more fulfilling relationships. We
want people to have more fulfilling jobs, careers, purposes in life
and be better fathers, husbands, better wives, better brothers and
sisters, better friends."

GETTING HELP

Three local private treatment centres:

Cedars at Cobble Hill: 18667162006; 250-733-2006; infor@cedarscobblehill.com

Edgewood (Nanaimo): 18006830111; 250-751-0111; info@edgewood.ca

The Orchard Recovery and Addiction Treatment Centre (Bowen Island):
1-866-233-2299; 604-947-0420; info3@orchardrecovery.com