Alcohol and drug problems are complex conditions, particularly if they are co-exiting with each other or other issues. That's why a detailed pre-admission assessment is required for us to construct a full picture of a client’s history, current situation and treatment goals. This also acts as a basis for creating a client’s bespoke treatment plan and advising on the best plan of action.
The pre-admission assessment is completed by one of our qualified team, and can be done face-to-face, by secure video conferencing or over the phone. It will include collecting contact details, next of kin, GP, drug and alcohol use, current and past issues with depression and anxiety as well as a number of other factors.
Once the assessment is completed, and we've answered any of your questions we'll discuss and agree treatment options. Once dates and times of attendance have been decided on we'll agree an admission date, issue the financial contract and discuss how payment will be made.
At Help Me Stop we employ highly qualified, experienced professionals who integrate evidenced-based practises and therapies to provide the most effective treatment that's accessible, affordable and can fit around work, study or family commitments.
Not only are many of our trained therapists qualified psychotherapists and counsellors, they also have many years of recovery in a 12-Step Fellowship. This means they can both relate to, and support our clients from a point of personal, as well as professional experience.
We make sure all our clients, families and friends are treated with dignity and respect. And we provide a modern, comfortable environment that's safe, boundaried and comfortable to be in.
What does the programme involve?
Different clients with different needs require different approaches at different times. So we use a range of psychotherapeutic approaches.
Help Me Stops integrative approach draws on different schools of thought and ways of working to produce the most effective therapy for each individual client. We apply these therapeutic approaches alongside the 12-Step model to give clients the best opportunity for lasting recovery.
Our model is predominately group work but each client will have a personal one-to-one with their named therapist each week or two a week if on the online programme.
The face to face and online programmes includes most of the following elements, although some activities will take place outside of these hours, in the client's own time.
Our clients' days will be different according to their personalised timetables, but all clients will experience a range of one-to-one sessions and group work focused around a number of topics. They will also watch and take part in presentations by group members and the staff team. Drug and alcohol testing will be carried out randomly throughout the programme.
Clients will get breaks in-between sessions and will have use of our self-service kitchen facilities, which include a microwave and fridge for clients to bring, store and heat their own food. Help Me Stop will also provide a range of refreshments.
In short, all the staff will. Our team of Psychotherapists and Recovery Support Volunteers are there to help with our clients' psychological and programme needs.
Our therapy and support team has been put together based on their qualifications, experience and commitment to Help Me Stop's mission, vision and values. All our therapists are accredited by the British Association of Counselling Psychotherapy or similar regulatory body and are members of the Federation of Drug and Alcohol Professionals. They are specialists in the field of addiction, with many years of work in this field.
Many of our psychotherapists hold master’s degrees in psychotherapy and are expert in their fields. Most have also been active in their own recovery through a 12-Step Fellowship for a number of years.
Many of our recovery support workers are also in long-term recovery and are also trained in health and social care, with many also holding or study for counselling qualifications.
Help Me Stop is an employer dedicated to the development of the service and to the care it provides. We have a robust continued professional development training commitment to staff at all levels.
Help Me Stop is committed to the fundamental standards laid out by the Care Quality Commission (CQC), the ethics of National Association of Addiction Treatment Providers (NAATP), Federation of Drug and Alcohol Professional, (FDAP), British Association for Counselling & Psychotherapy (BACP) and as such every client has the right to expect treatment to these standards.
Through its governance and audit procedures we are committed to:
Family support is included as part of each client's Help Me Stop Programme through inclusive conjoint family sessions between the client and their significnat others and our stand alone family programme for just the clients significant others.
The Family Programme helps significant others understand what the client is going through and gives them strategies to help support them in their recovery.
Studies have shown that involving family members in treatment:
The Help Me Stop family programme gives friends and relatives the opportunity to:
Even in the best of circumstances, families can find it difficult to adjust to their relative's changing behaviour. Each family member will adjust in different ways, and our. Our Family Programme helps each member of the family make positive changes that will benefit the whole family.
Our family programme helps families learn to communicate again. Rebuilding trust, friendship and the lines of communication. By providing a safe place to share, we help families rebuild relationships and establish new ways of relating to one another.The family programme enables our clients to create support network that will help them long after treatment has been completed.
We offer an opportunity for family members, friends and colleagues that are concerned about their friend or relative's drinking or drug taking to call in for free. Our aim is to
The Help Me Stop programmes are undertaken over 6 weeks, be that face to face or online.
At Help Me Stop we address more than just alcohol and drug problems. Most of the time there are underlying reasons for a client's drinking and/or drug use, these include stress, anxiety, anger, grief, trauma and other problems. All these things impact on relationships, careers, health, and psychological well-being, as well as alcohol and drug use. If left untreated, these issues will lead to relapse. Our programme focuses on addressing all these issues and developing a new way of thinking and behaving.
Research shows it takes between 18-66 days to turn a new behaviour into an ingrained habit, indicating a considerable variation based on the individual. The problem is that behavioural change is not something that a person just suddenly chooses to adopt or happens overnight. Clients have to replace old habits with new ones, and this takes time, repetition and support. Something our programme and the 12-Step approach addresses.
The simple answer is no. Help Me Stop does not take any client that is mandated to stay by a court order or mental health section. However, we are aware that despite agreeing to treatment, maintaining change and addressing difficult issues is not easy. We do our best to motivate our clients to stay and complete their treatment as we know success is achievable.
We know, and evidence and research support this, that completing and staying in treatment, leads to much higher chances of long term recovery, so we motivate our clients to complete their full treatment programme.
Once a client has agreed to a start date and is happy with their personal programme, a contract will be drawn up and signed. We then take payment for the whole 6 week programme. You can pay by cash, bank transfer, cheque or debit/credit card.
Help Me Stop is a no smoking environment, however we do provide a smoking area outside our building.
Aftercare is an essential part of the treatment programme. Our therapists work with our clients to develop a relapse prevention and aftercare plan. This includes helping them maintain a dependable support system, for at least the first year of recovery.
Aftercare is essential because the longstanding issues clients present with, alter the normal functioning of the brain. Some of these changes don't instantly reverse once the behaviour ends. Aftercare and relapse prevention are vital to make sure recovery continue, for this reason, aftercare includes:
The 12 Steps of recovery were originally part of the programme devised by Alcoholic Anonymous. There are now 12-Steps groups for drugs, gambling, eating disorders and many other addictions. The premise is that that individuals admit their inability to control their drug or alcohol use work through a series of steps that help them face and address their issues. The idea is to make lasting changes to the way they live their lives and to maintain these changes by attending regular support groups called 'meetings'.There are 12-Step meetings in most major towns and cities throughout the world. Members are encouraged to find a mentor, also known as a 'sponsor'. A sponsor is someone with long-term recovery who guides the newcomer through the steps and helps them through any difficulties.
A study published in the American Journal on Addictions showed that individuals who worked through all 12 Steps were more secure in themselves than those who didn’t. Studies evaluated in the Journal of Addictive Diseases published that individuals who attended 12 Step meetings regularly were twice as likely to remain abstinent than those who didn’t. Those who attended more meetings for longer also had higher abstinence rates. All of these peer-based support groups expect complete abstinence as this is proven to predict long-term recovery. Studies published in Psychology Today show that individuals who remain drug- and alcohol-free for five years remain clean and sober and do not relapse about 85 percent of the time.
Unlike clients in residential treatment, our clients must make the daily decision not to drink or use and to return to treatment for their sessions. We appreciate that clients often live and work in environments in which substance use is prevalent and that as they leave our centres, they may encounter environmental cues that trigger their addiction and increase their risk for relapse.
We also appreciate that there may well be other factors that may affect their attendance such as sickness or work issues.
If clients do have a lapse then we need to know. They will be temporally suspended from the main group programme while we support them in other ways with the goal to get things back on track. This is for the safety and benefit of them and others that are in treatment with them.
If clients are sick or have emergency work or childcare issues, we can work around this. We have a detailed policy that underpins all things relating to attendance so please ask for further information.
