Madeira will have a therapeutic community in which drug addicts and alcoholics will be treated in a “protected environment” through psychotherapy sessions and a set of activities for the purpose of social reintegration.
The project is an initiative of Regressar a C, the Association for the Support of Drug Addicts and Alcoholics, created in 2021 and focused on building this community.
“What is happening here in Madeira is that we had a good detox phase. What we do not have is the next stage, which is the treatment itself, consisting of the biopsychosocial rehabilitation of the person, ”explains the president. Agency Luz Association, Rubina Sequeira.
The creation of a therapeutic community in the region, with the support of the Government of Madeira and the Municipality of Funchal, aims to cater to the “niche of people who, wanting to receive treatment, do not have the financial means”.
“We have people who have some kind of financial support who manage to leave the region and go abroad for treatment. […]but since this is a very expensive treatment, the cheapest is about 3,000 euros per month, most people cannot actually afford such expenses,” notes the person in charge.
Understanding “addiction as a symptom of the problem, not the problem itself”, the therapeutic community “serves precisely to ensure that a multidisciplinary team in a protected environment, in fact, a mini-society, can rehabilitate a person.”
“It’s basically based on psychotherapy. They have intensive, individual, group therapy, they have work that is inspired by the 12 step program, and most of the time is devoted to this. The rest of the time they have sports, creative activities. , “yoga”, cleaning the room, and some of them can even help in the kitchen,” he emphasizes.
The president of the Reressar a Si association adds that a partnership will be created so that users can be trained in organic farming.
“This is a treatment that is based not only on psychotherapy, on the treatment of trauma, on the cause that leads to hearing, but also directs them to the future, to this very visible component of social reintegration,” he emphasizes.
The association points to 30 beds, although it cannot yet name a specific number. The duration of treatment depends on each user, but not less than six months, assures Rubina Sequeira.
The therapeutic community will consist of about 15 professionals, including psychologists, social workers, doctors, nurses, cooks and supervisors.
The goal, says the president of the association, is that in the future, users who have completed treatment can keep track of who is being treated.
The premises planned to house the community at the former Madeira Education Center are being discussed between the Regional Secretariat for Citizenship and Social Inclusion and the Ministry of Justice, the owner of the premises, according to Regressar Xi.
In response to Lusa’s question, the Regional Secretariat for Citizenship and Social Inclusion indicated that it had expressed its intention to the Minister of the Interior to use this space for the therapeutic community, which had agreed with the Ministry of Justice, to await a response. .
Author: Portuguese
Source: CM Jornal
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