Therapy

The road to recovery is marked by different stages. Each of these phases corresponds
to a different unit of the therapeutic programme with its specific goals. KETHEA's
programmes also aim at the addicts' close family. In addition, every programme
runs departments, which deal with the education and vocational training of the
programme's members, with research issues, as well as with administration and
financial issues. In this way, the therapeutic programmes are able to offer
comprehensive services to drug addicted persons and their families and maintain
the necessary autonomy and flexibility in order to respond to new needs. During
the last years many of the therapeutic programmes of KETHEA have also established
innovative services aiming at supporting drug addicts with special characteristics
and needs (addicted mothers, working addicts, young offenders etc).

Counselling Centres: Information, motivation and preparation
The therapeutic programme begins at the counselling centre. This first phase
of the programme lasts from 8 to 10 weeks approximately, and involves outpatient
follow-up. While providing a safe environment where the use of substances is
out of bounds, the centres prepare addicted individuals for their admission
to a therapeutic community, by informing them about the community's operation,
strengthening their motivation and encouraging them to reduce or discontinue
drug use. They refer individuals to medical services for tests, provide food
and put forward the opportunity for constructive daily activities.

Therapeutic Communities: Recovery
The second phase of the programme, which takes place within the therapeutic community,
lasts approximately 12 months. This is the central phase of the treatment. Out
of the 10 KETHEA therapeutic communities, ITHAKI, EXODOS, PAREMVASSI, NOSTOS and
the SPECIAL PROGRAMME FOR ADDICTED MOTHERS are live-in facilities, whereas STROFI,
DIAVASSI, ARIADNE, PLEFSI and the EVENING COMMUNITY for working addicts are day
care (open) facilities for outpatients.
Substance abuse by addicted individuals is usually the result of deeper psychological,
personal, or social problems. The person avails himself of these substances
to feel pleasant, or even to simply retain a feeling of normalcy. For addicts,
the need to secure the substances they use makes up the central focus of their
lives and determines their activities and their behaviour.
The organisation and activities of the therapeutic communities have been designed
to lead addicted persons to an understanding of the underlying reasons for their
substance abuse and toward a complete change in their behaviour and overall
lifestyle. In the therapeutic community, former drug users learn to develop
confidence and trust in their selves and others, to deal with stress and difficulties
in a constructive way, and to realise that asking for help does not denote any
weakness on their part.
By discovering their abilities but also the limits of their capabilities, they
learn that they are "neither the giants of their dreams nor the dwarf of
their fears." In order to achieve their goals, therapeutic communities
apply the principle of self-help; each community member learns to help himself
with the support of others. In this way, therapeutic communities can be identified
as an environment where people coexist and connect owing to their common goal:
recovery and reintegration into society.
Although attendance is voluntary, a prerequisite for the programme's success
is the individual's active participation in the common daily programme. The
basic rules forbid the use of alcohol, psychotropic substances or their substitutes,
verbal or physical violence and sexual relations between community members.
No service staff is employed for the daily chores of living and maintenance
of the communities, but rather the principles of self-management are applied,
that is to say personal contribution on the part of members, who are organised
into groups with specific responsibilities (cleaning, cooking, secretarial,
public relations, administration, et cetera) under the supervision of the therapeutic
staff.
Therapeutic communities provide their members with a systematic training programme
with multiple objectives: covering basic educational gaps (writing, reading,
arithmetic, etc.), reconnection with the educational process, career orientation,
vocational training and the development of personal interests. Additionally,
medical and legal problems members may have are dealt with in a systematic way.

Re-entry Centres: Reintegration into society
After completing the therapeutic community programme, the member proceeds to the phase of social reintegration or social activation, which takes place at
the rehabilitation centres. For members of live-in programmes, the rehabilitation
centres have guesthouses to host them until they find employment and their own
living quarters. During this phase the goal is to teach the individual to function
as an equal member of society, with the new identity he/she has acquired during
his stay in the therapeutic community. Special emphasis is placed on vocational
training and vocational rehabilitation, since this is a prerequisite for complete
social integration and a basic factor in relapse prevention. The phase of social
reintegration or social activation usually has duration of approximately 10
to 12 months.

Parallel Family Support Programmes: Family support
The participation of the addict's family in the rehabilitation programme has proven
to be a positive factor on the how the therapy results. All KETHEA treatment programmes
are connected with parallel family support programmes that are aimed at the addict's
close family (parents, siblings, children, partners/spouses) and have approximately
the same duration. When an addicted individual is not a member of a programme,
the members of his family can participate in the independent family support programmes
in which, among other things, they will learn ways to motivate the addicted person
to join the rehabilitation programme.

The basic goals of the KETHEA family support programmes are:

• The provision of information regarding substance abuse, addiction and therapeutic intervention methods employed by KETHEA.
• Support for the addict's family and advice regarding the decisive part the family plays in the outcome of the therapeutic process.
• The creation and maintenance of a therapeutic alliance with the family.
• Intervention targeted at ameliorating dysfunctional ties within the family system.
  
  Intervention in Prisons Settings
  KETHEA programmes for the support of imprisoned substance abusers are applied
  in penal institutions in various areas of Greece. The goal of these programmes
  is to provide information regarding addiction and the possibilities of treatment,
  to motivate individuals to take part in the therapeutic process, and to prepare
  all those who desire to do so, since the law allows imprisoned substance abusers
  to enter a therapeutic community if they successfully complete the programme whilst
  in prison.