Oldham Recovery Community (From Oldham Chronicle)
From tiny acorns, addiction can be conquered...
Date published: 19/08/2008
ADDICTION can be expensive not only to the purse, but to the things we value most. Relationships can be destroyed, jobs and homes can be lost, health can suffer, and the secrecy which surrounds addiction can wreck trust and lead to a life of crime to fund the habit. Reporter Marina Berry took a look at a new service which has just started in Oldham to support those who want to beat an addiction.
OLDHAM drug and alcohol addicts determined to kick the habit can take part in a national pilot scheme to give them the best help money can buy — and it’s all free. The town has been chosen for a 12-month Government-funded trial to test the success of treatment akin to that offered by The Priory and the Betty Ford Centre. A 90-day treatment package is based on a time-tested 12-step model used for more than 60 years to battle addiction. And it is the same type of treatment which high-profile celebrities fork out up to £4,500 a week to take advantage of — although theirs is residential and Oldham’s is run on a day care basis.
The service operates from an un-signed town centre office, in Church Lane in a bid to aid anonymity. It houses a team of three top counsellors, chosen for their reputation in helping people battle addiction, and Terry Maddocks, who has the title of group facilitator. Entitled Acorn Recovery Communities, it works alongside Oldham’s Drug Action Team and social landlords Threshold Housing. Help is open to anyone with an Oldham post code, and starts with a four-week RAMP (reduction and motivation programme) course. By the end of the course, people have to be completely drug or alcohol-free to move on to the 12-step programme, known as primary treatment. That involves intensive group therapy, under the guidance of counsellors such as Nick Mercer (pictured), who also has a private practice in Kensington, London. He was head-hunted for his reputation in the field, to help the service get under way.
Nick explained how the centre treats people with any addiction, and is based on a model developed by the founders of Alcoholics Anonymous because, he said, it works. “When we speak about a problem honestly it takes the weight out of it. The idea is that one addict helps another,” he added. “We create a space where men and women can come and be honest about their problems. “There are a lot of people who drink heavily or take drugs but it doesn’t impinge on their quality of life. “But if it stops them going to work repeatedly on a Monday morning, if they lose their marriage or health, or they need a drink just to ‘feel normal’ then there’s a problem,” said Nick. He explained why sessions are held in groups. “Addicts are masters at defusing situations which threaten their denial — that is how they live in the world. “They will tell me things in a one-to-one situation, then say it’s just our secret, which means they are still in denial. “But if they walk through that door prepared to speak in front of a group, then there is a part of them that wants to get well. “It’s not our expertise as consultants that matters, it’s them feeling safe enough to start to ‘get real’ and speak the unspeakable in front of a group. “Every single one of us has something we find difficult or embarrassing to say. “By speaking about it, it won’t go away, but the ghosts get more ghostly and the voices get fainter. It almost becomes an asset to recognise and accept our history instead of denying it.” Nick added: “Our clients have hit rock bottom, they have endured harsh conditions and, up until then, their illness has been a secret. Only they can beat the addiction — not us, and to join the programme they have to be totally abstinent. People who come here are clean and sober. “Various research has shown that if you can keep people in treatment for 12 weeks, their level of success is greater. “They leave the programme with an understanding of what they do, rather than having something foisted upon them by us,” said Nick.
The programme involves a structured daily session from 9am until 4.30pm, with recommended weekend meetings to offer support to others on the course. Nick has lived through the problems of addiction himself. He signed up to the same type of programme to help kick a heroin addiction at the age of 37, then embarked on a journey which took him through university to gain an MA in English before training as a counsellor. He said his experience as an addict help him understand what his clients were going through. “You can’t persuade, compel or coerce anyone into treatment. “They are only there because they want to be. If that’s the case, there’s no ceiling to what they can achieve.”
Date published: 19/08/2008
ADDICTION can be expensive not only to the purse, but to the things we value most. Relationships can be destroyed, jobs and homes can be lost, health can suffer, and the secrecy which surrounds addiction can wreck trust and lead to a life of crime to fund the habit. Reporter Marina Berry took a look at a new service which has just started in Oldham to support those who want to beat an addiction.
OLDHAM drug and alcohol addicts determined to kick the habit can take part in a national pilot scheme to give them the best help money can buy — and it’s all free. The town has been chosen for a 12-month Government-funded trial to test the success of treatment akin to that offered by The Priory and the Betty Ford Centre. A 90-day treatment package is based on a time-tested 12-step model used for more than 60 years to battle addiction. And it is the same type of treatment which high-profile celebrities fork out up to £4,500 a week to take advantage of — although theirs is residential and Oldham’s is run on a day care basis.
The service operates from an un-signed town centre office, in Church Lane in a bid to aid anonymity. It houses a team of three top counsellors, chosen for their reputation in helping people battle addiction, and Terry Maddocks, who has the title of group facilitator. Entitled Acorn Recovery Communities, it works alongside Oldham’s Drug Action Team and social landlords Threshold Housing. Help is open to anyone with an Oldham post code, and starts with a four-week RAMP (reduction and motivation programme) course. By the end of the course, people have to be completely drug or alcohol-free to move on to the 12-step programme, known as primary treatment. That involves intensive group therapy, under the guidance of counsellors such as Nick Mercer (pictured), who also has a private practice in Kensington, London. He was head-hunted for his reputation in the field, to help the service get under way.
Nick explained how the centre treats people with any addiction, and is based on a model developed by the founders of Alcoholics Anonymous because, he said, it works. “When we speak about a problem honestly it takes the weight out of it. The idea is that one addict helps another,” he added. “We create a space where men and women can come and be honest about their problems. “There are a lot of people who drink heavily or take drugs but it doesn’t impinge on their quality of life. “But if it stops them going to work repeatedly on a Monday morning, if they lose their marriage or health, or they need a drink just to ‘feel normal’ then there’s a problem,” said Nick. He explained why sessions are held in groups. “Addicts are masters at defusing situations which threaten their denial — that is how they live in the world. “They will tell me things in a one-to-one situation, then say it’s just our secret, which means they are still in denial. “But if they walk through that door prepared to speak in front of a group, then there is a part of them that wants to get well. “It’s not our expertise as consultants that matters, it’s them feeling safe enough to start to ‘get real’ and speak the unspeakable in front of a group. “Every single one of us has something we find difficult or embarrassing to say. “By speaking about it, it won’t go away, but the ghosts get more ghostly and the voices get fainter. It almost becomes an asset to recognise and accept our history instead of denying it.” Nick added: “Our clients have hit rock bottom, they have endured harsh conditions and, up until then, their illness has been a secret. Only they can beat the addiction — not us, and to join the programme they have to be totally abstinent. People who come here are clean and sober. “Various research has shown that if you can keep people in treatment for 12 weeks, their level of success is greater. “They leave the programme with an understanding of what they do, rather than having something foisted upon them by us,” said Nick.
The programme involves a structured daily session from 9am until 4.30pm, with recommended weekend meetings to offer support to others on the course. Nick has lived through the problems of addiction himself. He signed up to the same type of programme to help kick a heroin addiction at the age of 37, then embarked on a journey which took him through university to gain an MA in English before training as a counsellor. He said his experience as an addict help him understand what his clients were going through. “You can’t persuade, compel or coerce anyone into treatment. “They are only there because they want to be. If that’s the case, there’s no ceiling to what they can achieve.”
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