ADDICTIONS PROGRAM DRAWS INTERNATIONAL NOTICE

An addictions therapy program developed for forensic patients at the
Brockville Mental Health Centre has drawn the interest of an
international organization that provides a free online service for
people with addictive behaviour.

The local program was developed over the past five years by
registered practical nurse Dawn Adamson in consultation with
psychiatrist Dr. A.G. Ahmed, clinical director of forensics at the
local site, formerly known as Brockville Psychiatric Hospital.

Adamson said parts of the program may be incorporated by Smart
Recovery, a self-management program active in the United States,
United Kingdom, Australia and other countries, which she studied
while developing her own program.

She said Ahmed asked her to develop the local program to fill a void
in services provided to forensic patients attempting to recover from
mental illness.

"Everybody was saying there's a problem with drugs but nobody was
doing anything about it."

She said addictive behaviour usually goes hand-in-hand with forensic
patients who are deemed not criminally responsible for their past
altercations, often violent, with the law.

In most cases, neither the Tri-County Addictions Services nor the
Alcoholics Anonymous recovery program are suited to the local patients.

Many are reluctant to attend public meetings or follow a program in
which they relinquish what little control they have over their
behaviour, said Adamson.

"We built a program to meet the needs of our clients," she said.

The 36-week program is divided into three 12-week segments.

In the first segment, clients learn about how the drugs interact with
mental illness and they are encouraged to find the motivation needed
to change their behaviour and self-defeating patterns and work with
staff to address their problems.

A second segment develops skills and establishes new patterns to
replace the addictive behaviour.

Finally, the third segment alternates more skill-building and the
development of practical solutions to help clients remove themselves
from situations that feed their addictive behaviour and introduces
them to the Smart Recovery program.

Adamson said 10 clients have completed the first segment of the
program to date and the results have been encouraging.

"What we're seeing is clients who complete the first 12 weeks remain
motivated to abstain for beyond a year. We can make progress if we
have the client engaged."

Even a couple of clients who slipped back into using drugs "stopped
themselves before a complete relapse," she said.

"It's significantly different than previously where they would deny,
deny, deny. Now they're taking responsibility for themselves."

In most cases, local clients are fighting addictions to alcohol,
marijuana and sometimes to cocaine. Use of methamphetamines is
becoming more common as well, she said.

"When they're diagnosed with mental disorders, even a small amount of
drugs can have a major effect. There may be oversensitivity to the
drug and complications with other medications."

Adamson said the turnover rate of forensic patients is slow and the
average stay is five years.

Those who work through the therapy program may continue their
development online with the Smart Recovery program.

While the program is limited to the forensic patients currently,
Adamson said it can have a broader use for other clients, including
day patients.

Adamson said she is proud of the program and pleased that Smart
Recovery is looking at incorporating aspects into their online operation.

She said it would be useful in many other settings, including the
north to address addiction problems in aboriginal communities.

"I'm very pleased with it. I think it has great potential."

Communications spokesman Kim Kattouw said the program can be expanded
widely using the Internet.

"Having it available in the community is a fantastic opportunity for
our clients to learn how people with addictions problems have a
chance (to recover)," said Kattouw.

Adamson said she hopes to train more facilitators to expand the
program in forensics as well as other areas of the mental health centre.

In recent weeks, she has been approached by mental health authorities
in Montreal and Ottawa interested in offering it in their areas.

"It's a couple of years away, but I think it's going to develop quite well."