IT was in November of last year that I set out from SELF to pursue my education in Communication Arts at the University of De La Salle Canlubang, the school I had attended before being admitted to SELF. It was both an exciting and daunting step for my recovery. The prospect of going back to my old stomping ground stirred up all kinds of emotions and thoughts.
Would I be successful? Would my old friends (positive and negative) still be there? Would I fit in? I had never been the “popular kid” on all levels of schooling. These were but a few of my anxieties, but I steeled my resolve and strode “into the fray”, so to speak.
As I had somewhat expected, things were awkward for me at the beginning. But my expecting it didn’t make it any less hard. I had no friends, a bad reputation stemming from my past, and the uncomfortable feeling of not really knowing my place. It was just as it had been before my rehabilitation. People seemed to look at me with suspicion and what might be described as a mixture of fear and doubt.
“Oh, great!” I thought. What a welcome. Even some of the old faculty members cast a skeptical eye on me. In fact the only people who seemed like they were happy to see me were my negative friends. The temptation to take up their welcome was there, but I knew better. I’ve been down that road before and I know where it leads. So, I was left asking myself: What now?
Then it hit me. I realized that I need not really focus on my anxieties. My main concern should be what to do about them. My perspective was all wrong. So I took a more proactive approach to the matter. Kuya Martin once taught me that if I took care of what I needed to do, things would fall into place. Hence the expression: If you take care of today, tomorrow will take care of itself.
All I needed was to set a goal, which turned out to be a simple task. My first priority was to do well in school. I went about my business, that is, I never missed a class, did my homework, and participated actively during class time. These were things I would never do before. Skipping class used to be habitual, doing homework was an option, and participating in class was something to be avoided.
But now accomplishing these things came naturally to me. And what do I owe it to? The discipline imparted to me by the program and the sound advice of my counselor. There is a sense of responsibility and purpose in me now. I even help out around the house: I do my part with the garden (agro work), I take care of my own room (housekeeping), and I even keep my closet according to TC standards. It’s by sticking to what I know that I take care of “today”.
And, lo and behold, the pieces of the puzzle did in fact fall into place. This “take care of today” attitude has gotten me places I never thought I could or ever would go. Imagine: people began approaching me for help with their homework or to ask me about certain concepts in class, teachers began to praise me for my work, and my reputation as the no-good drug addict slowly began to fade and was replaced with a healthy respect.
It was a turn-around: from reviled to respected, from aloof to friendly, from apathetic to driven, and from failure to moderate success. All of this added up to earn me a spot on the Dean’s List, first honors no less.
I guess the learning to be derived from my experience is simple to summarize: Don’t dwell on anxiety; do something about it. Stick to what you know to be right — and the way to do that is to take care of today so you can watch tomorrow fall into place.

AFTER our son’s entry into the SELF program in October 2009, we have met with him twice. The first was for a Family Encounter on May 17, and the second for our 1st Family Dialogue on June 23.
When Tony walked into the room for our Family Encounter, I was surprised and pleased. He had a self-confidence and poise that I had never seen before. As he talked with us, he did not have the twitchiness and the ers and ahs that we were accustomed to.
He began by speaking about his feelings and what he had expected in a family, and went on to admit that we had not met many of his expectations. My wife Luz spoke about the family atmosphere that, ironically, she felt she was proud to have established. I began by saying to Tony that we seemed to have three different sets of expectations of what a family would be like: mine, his, and his mother’s.
I admitted that there had been times when I was not as present to him and Luz as he would have wanted. I had many demands upon my time and energy because of my work at St. Louis University. Looking back, I wondered whether Tony would have turned out better with a different set of parents.
I was a missionary in Jamaica for 11 years. Luz was a religious missionary for eight years. Being missionaries, our commitment to the underprivileged has been very much part of our married life. Perhaps in our attempt to inculcate the values of a simple life style, Tony felt deprived of the extras that his peers enjoyed.
But I believe that God’s grace has been operative from the very beginning. And while we had parted ways with religious life, we continued to believe that life is a sacred journey and that there are signs along the way for us to discern as best we can. Tony was one beautiful sign.
The decision to adopt him was two years in the making. To start with, I wanted a Filipino child and our decision to adopt a boy was influenced by a sad event. Luz’s Dad was dying of cancer and we wanted to honor him by giving Tony the middle name Enrique as a tribute to this great man.
We were very lucky because it took only one year to process the adoption papers and Luz was able to pick him up from the orphanage around Christmas time. Little Tony was to ask later: Was I in a box?
By then we were older. I was 49 years old and Luz was 42 — a little too old for the physical challenge of parenting a very lovable and very active growing boy. Tony had two speeds: Stop and Goooo!
At the Family Intervention, I felt that Tony’s memory of how the three of us had related with each other was somewhat lacking, but I chose not to verbalize that. Upon the advice of Tony’s counselor, we had brought several photo albums containing pictures of his childhood and years in school.
I felt that it was preferable to accept Tony’s feelings for now and let the albums correct his memory. In his letter to us at the end of May, he said that he took out two pictures that had really struck him. He also said that he told his counselor that he wanted to have that Happy Family again, and not the Stress Family.
At our Family Dialogue, Tony told us about a behavior he discovered that led to his demotion. He had covered over the messy part of his foot-locker with two layers of neatness, rather than making it all neat! I did not think of it then, but this is another manifestation of a basic fault he had — lying. This is non-verbal lying! He told us that it was good that it had happened now so that he could improve. I was again impressed by the new Tony, now a man, not a boy.
We discussed with him some events of the past, the good times, and the very recent poor behavior. Luz and I both said that we were sorry that he had covered over the mess, and yet happy that it had happened now. Thus, he was well aware that he needed to focus on this behavior pattern, and learn how to live with it, creatively and positively.
Towards the end of our discussion, Luz asked him if he wanted to come home with us now. After a little reflection, he said, No, I’m not ready yet. If I went home now, I would be throwing away all that I have achieved over the last several months. I need time to learn how to live with myself. That response made me very happy!

Program Director

In 2005 Jay was an active member of the Family Association (FAM)as the guardian of his eldest brother, a dual diagnosed resident at SELF. Three years later, on January 18, 2008, Jay was admitted for drug abuse and excessive gambling, joining his brother in the facility.

Background

Jay is the second child of his mother’s first marriage. When he was seven years old his father passed away while working as a seaman. This loss created numerous changes in his life.

His father’s siblings snatched the insurance money and his family was left only with their house to live in. His mother struggled financially and had to work hard to support the family.

As a student, Jay experienced hardships since his mom had difficulty providing for his necessities. Eventually, he started stealing money from his mother and uncle. When he was inevitably caught stealing by his mother, she physically beat him. Consumed with shame, he vowed that he would cease to care.

His mother’s rejection and neglect affected his schooling. At age 13 he started drinking and gambling. On his graduating year in high school he was expelled and transferred to another school due to his misconduct. He started smoking marijuana around this time. He ran away from home, but was picked up by the police.

A time came when Jay’s mom sought and obtained employment overseas. With this he got more time and space to drown himself in vices. Prior to entering college his girlfriend introduced him to shabu, and he sank deeper into the world of alcohol, drugs, and gambling.

Eventually Jay wound up marrying his girlfriend. Without a job to support his habit and his family, he resorted to selling everything he could possibly steal inside their house. As a result he was evicted and landed in a squatter’s colony, where he engaged in drug dealing.

After some time he attempted to mend his relationship with his mother. She gave him another chance and he tried to straighten out. But unknown to him his wife continued selling drugs and eventually developed an intimate relationship with their drug supplier. His futile efforts to fix their marriage failed.

Enraged with life’s pains, he attempted suicide but was able to stop himself. He continued to pursue his addictions, which now included women. Then his wife’s best friend came into his life and became his live-in partner.

At this point Jay’s mother accepted him back home to manage the household and attend to his eldest brother. He enrolled in a vocational school and was selected to go to Japan for further training, but he blew the opportunity because his vices once more took over his life. He became so physically abusive to his son and partner that his mother decided to bring him to SELF out of sheer desperation.

Initial Intervention

Upon admission, Jay was in denial and claimed he did not need treatment. His anger towards his family intensified because he once again felt alone, rejected, and now humiliated. He was ashamed that he was once a FAM member and now wound up being a resident.

At the Evaluation & Motivation Unit, he underwent the standard medical and clinical assessments. Along with substance dependency, Jay was also diagnosed as having an anti-social personality disorder. He was not prescribed any medications and was deemed psychologically fit to undergo the therapeutic community (TC) behavior modification program.

Jay was exposed to the TC confrontation process which unearthed his maladaptive behaviors. He would lie when confronted and displayed a non-caring attitude. He always found ways to avoid responsibility and refused to confront inappropriate behavior in others. When confronted, he claimed that his lack of interest to change was coming from feelings of anger and rejection from his own mother.

Jay obviously needed to deal with such issues as rejection, anger, hatred, and sibling rivalry. Little did he know that these unpleasant emotions were already manifesting in his excessive joking around in the program. He would always get into trouble and find himself getting sanctioned constantly.

Taking note of these intense feelings the clinical team proceeded with the cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) approach. Jay’s feelings towards his family were first affirmed but through counseling he was encouraged to consider changing his faulty thoughts that were only exacerbating his feelings.

Breakthrough

After a battery of behavior shaping tools and counseling, he soon responded to group therapy sessions and confrontations. This gave light to the possibility that he would respond further to encounter sessions with his family, which transpired successfully. Jay realized that his thoughts about them were rooted in some deeper source and expressed willingness to be further helped.

With this development, towards his senior phase the staff felt that it was time to shift and utilize rational emotive behavior therapy (REBT), which focuses on uncovering irrational beliefs which may lead to unhealthy negative emotions and replacing them with more productive rational alternatives. This clinical approach eventually aided him in discovering the faulty core beliefs that kept leading him to think irrationally, thus making him feel very negative and propelling him towards his addictive behavior.

Through the REBT counseling process, Jay identified the following faulty core beliefs: 1) I must not sacrifice for I am not the eldest; 2) I must be given freedom because the world owes me; 3) I should not care because my mom never cared anyway when she would beat me up.

Slowly, he learned how to use the TC Unwritten Philosophies and a few other enlightening affirmations to help him dispute his faulty core beliefs. Thus, he learned to accept his problem, found forgiveness, and began to focus on sustaining a positive disposition. In this way he learned to be a good follower, which paved the way to his becoming a good leader. Towards the latter stages of his stay in SELF, he fulfilled the dream of establishing renew ties with his family.

Currently in Aftercare, Jay now serves as one of the staff of the program. Through his continued trust in the process, he surpassed several impediments and found comfort in his faith in God.

Conclusion

REBT is a powerful tool that can be successfully administered to clients in treatment. It can be taught to clients with the end goal of having them develop a self-monitoring and facilitation habit. Clients in therapy who address core beliefs can emerge fully resolved about their past. They can take root in a newfound existence or life in recovery and continue to grow emotionally and spiritually.

FOR several years now SELF has been satisfied, even happy, with one or two admissions every month. This has given rise to a continuing challenge to provide high quality service within a really tight budget.
Well, since the second half of 2009 and continuing into 2010 SELF has finally experienced a turnaround. Admissions have flown off the charts and we have surpassed all our targets. The phones have not stopped ringing as inquiries about our treatment program have been coming in at a rate we have never experienced before.
This sudden surge of calls, many of which have resulted in admissions, is a phenomenon we cannot explain and has caught the Foundation off guard. Taal View House has run out of unused bed capacity and we now have to build more dormitories. It’s a welcome development but nevertheless a stressful challenge.
At this point it is proper to acknowledge SELF’s Director of Admissions, Sockie Averilla, who was first to rise to the challenge as she tirelessly attended to the inquiries, providing them much needed counseling in their most trying moments, and helping them get their loved ones into recovery.

New Buildings

As early as March 2010 plans to increase bed capacity and office space had been made.
The first was a Female Reentry & Aftercare dormitory to accommodate the growing female population. Thanks to the recently concluded golf tournament fund raiser, this project was completed in June.
The second, a 60 sqm pavilion that will serve as the future Audio Visual Room (AVR), is currently being built.
The third project involves converting the existing female dormitory wing that currently houses the AVR into a two-storey edifice to further increase bed capacity. Due to its high cost, however, this has been put off until more funds are realized.

Marketing Efforts

As a private, non-profit foundation that receives no financial support from the government, SELF operates much like a hospital and survives on the funds raised from treatment fees to sustain its operations. To make facility improvements, it depends on annual fund raising events. Thus, the continuing increase in admissions is a welcome development.
What brought about this sea change? Well, apart from constant prayer, we did exert effort to improve SELF’s general visibility in the past years. Like any organization, we are concerned with being visible to the public, both nationally and internationally.
But how does one market an endeavor like drug rehabilitation? We have tried all sorts of marketing approaches in the past, including posters and ads in broadsheets. We even sought the advice of professionals who drew up media plans for our organization but for some reason they have all failed to deliver on our expectations.

Quality Comes First

In the mean time, we kept our focus on continuously developing our best practices. We have professionalized our treatment approaches to meet the demands of the changing times and concentrated on sustaining the core values of the organization. Whether we were doing financially well or not, we delivered our services to the best of our abilities, never compromising quality. Through the difficult times, we kept our faith and trusted that our efforts would pay off in due time.

Increased Internet Visibility

But there was one thing we have ignored for many years and that was our website. In 2008 we reconstructed our site, gave it a totally new look, and increased the information offered. This included the entire story of my drug addiction and recovery, in which I shared all my personal struggles and those of the SELF organization.
Last February 20 the Media Team once again ran a website write shop at the office, this time including not only officers and staff but other key players like graduates and FAM members.
We divided the tasks such that some participants undertook a photo review and archive selection while others focused on research and content editing. Our webmaster was on the floor and uploaded the new data as they were completed.
Apart from remodeling the Photo Gallery, we reached out further by entrusting our success stories to the viewing public. In a blog I featured my lecture papers drawn from my extensive years of developing the SELF TC and Family Programs.
For more than eight hours, everyone put out their best with hopes that we would increase the informative value of the SELF website. Since March the upgraded site has been up and running and, yes, delivering the goods! Visit www.selfoundation.com.
With the improved ALEXA and Google rating of our site we have continued to receive an increased number of inquiries from interested visitors. For this, we commend the painstaking work and dedication of our webmaster, Media Head Kit Molina.

TC Convention

The SELF Family greeted 2010 with an attitude of optimism. To prevent the crash that is usually experienced by residents after the Yuletide festivities, we planned an activity that would instead get everyone focused on making improvements in TC. Moreover, this directly addressed the pressure exerted on the program by the burgeoning resident population.
On January 6 we ran a Rules and Systems Workshop aptly themed, Innovating Systems to Keep the SELF TC Alive. That morning the entire Family including directors and staff gathered in the Sacred Heart Auditorium (SHA) to challenge current systems and policies.
I began with a presentation of our 2009 Performance Overview and pointed out a few of the targets we set for 2010. Then the Rules of Engagement were laid out.
The process was to be conducted in Parliamentary style with the staff having equal voting rights as residents in the Senior and Reentry phases. Those in the Junior phase could join the discussions but would not be allowed to vote. Those undergoing Reflection could only listen.
Everyone was also reminded that all policies adopted would have to conform with SELF’s basic threefold principle: any and all modifications need to be 1) Respectful, 2) Logical, and 3) Practical.

Challenging Existing Practices

After the session was called to order, Phase I began with the following policies tabled for discussion: Walk Around Incentives, Occupational Therapy Activities, Personal Belongings, Sports Schedule, and Food Menu, to name a few.
In the afternoon, the family was divided into groups that would brainstorm on each assigned issue. Led by their respective proponents, each group was duly supported by staff members. The ultimate objective was to identify challenges and potential solutions and report them back to the plenary.
I encouraged everyone to think outside the box — to consider the possibility of changing the routines we had all been accustomed to while bearing in mind the growing population.
As the minutes turned into hours, thoughts were transformed into practicable changes that were presented to the plenary, discussed, and made part of the TC Rules and Regulations.
On January 13, after road testing the new policies and systems, the entire Family assembled again to examine the effect of the changes. Based on reports by the residents, some resolutions were modified and others remained unchanged.

Reinventing the Units

The second part of the symposium was dedicated to analyzing Unit operations. Attended this time by the major stakeholders of the community — i.e., coordinators, facilitators, and staff — workshops were once again conducted to improve systems.
The workshop results were consolidated the following day and presented in a plenary session. Innovations that passed muster were immediately implemented, starting with seminars and teaching sessions by senior officers. A reassignment of tasks complemented the new systems adopted.
As expected the introduction of new systems and procedures met with some resistance. Many of the staff were observed to be tentative about the changes. But when they were reminded of the importance of learning to embrace new experiences, they set aside their hesitations and gave their whole-hearted cooperation.
As the saying goes, “A rolling stone gathers no moss.”

The SELF TC program is where it is today because we have made an effort to continuously evaluate and reform it.

The REBT Approach

So much for facilities and organizational improvements. It was time to address the rehab program so we reintroduced rational emotive behavior therapy (REBT), an in-depth method of confrontation to help residents discover their faulty core beliefs that give rise to their deep-seated anger. This simple yet powerful probing technique has proven to be an effective tool in helping subjects carefully review their past and thereby lead them to understand their issues more clearly.
On April 22 I led the clinical staff in practicing REBT with some selected residents. They were paired in dyads and encouraged to use a set of guide questions as they took turns in confronting each other. Questions like, “Where do you think that feeling is coming from? What is the thinking that’s behind that feeling? Is that thinking rational? Having identified this thinking distortion, what are you going to do to dispute that thought?” echoed within the SHA where we held the training. We ended with a feedback process to elicit learning insights from the staff.
The results were gratifying. The staff were one in saying that experiencing actual implementation of REBT greatly increased their grasp of the method. The residents, on the other hand, said they discovered more about each other in those 15 minutes they shared than they ever did in their entire stay at SELF. They also claimed to have broken through barriers and help each other identify crucial points for resolution.

In Closing

Faced once more with challenges, albeit more agreeable ones, SELF acted swiftly, determining a plan of action and implementing the necessary changes. Indeed, across the years we have learned to transform problems into opportunities for growth. For this we thank God for continuously showering us with blessings that shore up our fortitude, courage, and determination. We also thank our family, friends, and supporters who have constantly stood with us and have served as bulwark and our strength.

FAM MEMBER

Have you ever felt the desire to say “Stop! I want to get off!” when riding a roller coaster? Of course you never say it out loud because: first, it would be foolish (no one ever gets off the roller coaster); second, it would be too embarrassing (after all, no one forced you to ride).

Life can be a roller coaster ride, and sometimes it is a whopper of a ride! I had been on this up and down ride for many years … ever since my son started to take drugs. I was coasting pretty well when it all began, thinking the ride was a bit bumpy at times, but pretty bearable. Of course I was going to get off at some point and the ride was going to be over … Well not quite.

This ride never stopped and I never got off … It just kept on going and the bumpy ride was getting bumpier and bumpier. There were spins and corkscrews, sudden dips and breathless falls. I could scream all I wanted but there was no stopping it. Exhaustion was wearing me thin, but the end of the ride seemed almost there and if I could just hold on a bit longer, everything would come to a stop and I could get off … And everything was going to be okay … Well not quite.

The turning point was about to come and my grip was getting tighter and tighter. I knew this was going to be the final dash to the end of the ride. I would hear the brakes and we would make a big stop … I was getting off the roller coaster … finally.

This was the day I called SELF and told them my son was coming in. I reached the end of the ride and I was too tired. Today, I am still riding a roller coaster, but this one is different. I can see that the ride has an end and I know I can say “Stop!” and no one is going to think I am foolish. This time I want to ride the roller coaster and know that I can enjoy the ride because the bumps and dips are there to make the ride worthwhile.

I am no longer afraid and don’t want to get off. I am here for the entire ride! When I turned over my son’s care to SELF, I swore it would be a commitment I planned to keep. I wanted to be there for the long haul, for as long as my son needed me. We’ve had our ups and downs since, but there is a stronger feeling of determination and a plan to succeed.

The kindness and the understanding of the people at SELF have given the word “quality” a clearer meaning. It is something you see every day and in every way. The quality of life my son has been experiencing is giving him the chance for change. I hope to keep on riding a kinder roller coaster in the future … one with mini-bumps, lots of smooth flat stretches, a gasp here and there, but no screams, please!

President, SELF

November 2008

EDITOR’S NOTE: The following article is a paper Martin presented at the Plenary Scientific Session entitled From Sobriety to Success at the 3rd Asian Recovery Symposium held at Taal View Hotel in Tagaytay City, Philippines on November 4-6, 2008

Over the last two decades, much has been discussed about how to make treatment programs a more effective tool in getting drug dependents to reach their goal of sobriety. Programs have been developed and redeveloped over the years and, in some cases, new and unique forms of intervention have also been added to improve the delivery of rehab services worldwide. It has been my privilege to be a part of some of these developments and an honor to have worked closely with many experts in this field.

One such great development that has been added to the rehab process was the concept of Aftercare, which was developed to support the recovering drug dependent’s new found sobriety. I remember, it was in the 90s when this took center stage in the discussions in many international fora. I say “great” because 20 years onward, all of us here are living testaments to the way Aftercare has boosted a dependent’s chances of sustaining success.

Today, to my knowledge, very little is known about how to measure the quality of success in recovery. Have some people recovered more than others? Are there recovery stories that are greater than others? Are there program techniques that yield a stronger and more successful recovery process than others?

We may say “no” because we know that getting into recovery is a decision made by an individual and not by anyone else. To paraphrase an old adage: We can only take the horse to the water but the drinking will have to be decided by the horse.

However, in my long experience in running a therapeutic community (TC), I have discovered that if we improve the way we invite people into recovery, chances are we could also increase the number of those who will want it. At SELF, we considered this possibility and, in 2004, we reinvented our culture and made numerous changes in the way we did things in the TC program.

In a recent review of our five year implementation, we have noted a marked increase in our retention rate, a substantial decrease in resident turmoil and unrest and an encouraging increase in graduate success stories. So, yes, I believe there are things a program can do to improve the quality of success in recovery and it doesn’t really matter what type of program is being run.

In the end, we are all looking for the same two ends: 1) to help dependents find sobriety and 2) to help them so that they can improve the quality of their life after treatment.

Two types of success

To address the subject of success in sobriety, allow me to present two types of success: 1) the Dry Drunk Syndrome and 2) the Clean & Sober Lifestyle.

1. The Dry Drunk Syndrome — Is it enough to simply achieve sobriety for many years? There have been some discussions I have heard in the past that talk about people achieving sobriety but whose quality of sobriety is considered a “dry drunk” syndrome. This is when former druggies or alcoholics go through the grieving process of losing their substance but never get past the anger stage.The drink or drug has been their friend for many years. It was something they always counted upon. It was always there ready for the good times, the celebrations, the parties, as well as the sad, mad, and lonely times, too.

When finally this “old friend” let them down and it was time to let it go, some were able to begin and complete the process of grieving, from the denial stage to anger, bargaining and acceptance. But some, despite having abstained, remain stuck in their anger, bitterness and resentment at having to change their lives. Ergo, the adage: They haven’t had a drink in years, but they have also never had a “sober” day.

2. The Clean & Sober Lifestyle — There is more to recovery than meets the eye and we at SELF have learned that success cannot merely mean abstinence. The Clean & Sober Lifestyle refers to a state of recovery where a person has been able to complete the grieving process, resolved deep-set anger and resentment issues, achieved full acceptance of the dependency problem and is open to new challenges in life.

The 3 Pillars of Success

The following are three pillars that have served as guides to our graduates in their quest for a successful life in recovery: 1) Re-Shaping One’s Environment; 2) Re-Inventing Oneself; and 3) Becoming Purpose-Driven. They are the Key Result Areas we use to measure their success.

1.  Re-Shaping One’s Environment — A recovering dependent must proactively create a new structure or one’s own “nest” built around a family-life consciousness. This includes: a) Making new friends; b) Accepting the family status quo; c) A readiness to change one’s domicile (if needed for sobriety); d) Steadfast adherence to the “ground rules” of recovery; e) Willingness to live independently and pay own rent, bills, groceries, etc.; f) Commitment to a steady job and schedule of activities (exercise regimen, etc.)

2.  Re-Inventing Oneself — A recovering dependent should allow the process of self-discovery or self-peeling to take place. In this way one is able to unfold new energies and talents that lead one to achieve the unbelievable or unimaginable. This can involve: a) Trying out new sports and hobbies (like learning how to dance); b) Trying out a new occupation or profession; c.) Moving from being a “shadow” to being a leader; d) Maintaining an excited disposition in everything one does; e) Achieving an honest contentment in a sober lifestyle.

3.  Becoming Purpose-Driven — A recovering dependent must strive to live a life that is principle-centered, where one’s day-to-day decisions are always based on the “greater good”. One should practice: a) Resolving inner conflicts (self-forgiveness, deeper sense of self-awareness); b) Peace seeking with a desire to make things right; c) Taking paths of self-denial; d) Being part of a greater cause (joining civic or religious groups); e) Sharing openly the inspiration that helped you recover; f) A continuing commitment to participate in Aftercare groups.

The SELF Approach

What has SELF been doing to inspire and guide its residents to achieve this quality of recovery?

1. Instilling a Sense of Alma Mater — a) By improving the program culture to make residents feel safe and proud of their roots; and b) By providing complete amenities necessary for training.

2. Promoting Trust in the Program — a) By ensuring that all things done in the program conform with being Respectful, Logical and Practical; b) By making available a complete record of their recovery process with a system of clinical documentation; and c) By providing a complement of professional staff that oversee case management.

3. Developing a Sense of Self-worth & Esteem — a) By involving them in reviewing and revising the policies and rules compiled in the Manual of Operations; b) By developing their skills and talents (computer, media and other technical training); c) By processing “real time” TC experiences leading to the development of life skills; and d) By providing Supervised Practicum Internship courses that develop professional skills.

4. Promoting a Sense of Independence and Responsibility — By integrating a “Continuing Care” Program in Aftercare that teaches recovering dependents how to attain independent living through the establishment of practical and logical program methods within their new structure and environment.

5. Promoting Family Wellness — a) By educating families about co-dependency; b) By teaching them how to establish Continuing Care principles at home; c) By aiding them to resolve family conflicts.

In Closing

Every resident in treatment deserves the best quality of care possible. Achieving a Clean and Sober Lifestyle is possible and must be consistently promoted in both treatment and Aftercare programs.

I hope that discussions on this matter will continue to propagate and a fruitful dialogue among rehab practitioners will ensue. For I hold that it is our duty to continually explore and come up with developments with the end goal of giving our clients the rewarding experience of true success in sobriety.

President, SELF

December 2006

EDITOR’S NOTE: The following is an excerpt of the paper Martin presented at the 23rd World Federation of Therapeutic Communities (WFTC) conference held in New York on September 1-5, 2006. It discusses the challenges TC’s face regarding the preservation of Professional Integrity in the work place. Martin is the Vice-Chairman of the Standards & Goals Committee of the WFTC Executive Council.

Professional Integrity

…In today’s world of drug rehabilitation and treatment, there exist numerous modes of intervention that have been developed over time and have provided hope to thousands of drug users worldwide. Perhaps the most important challenge that centers face is how to sustain professional integrity in the administration of their rehab program.

As with many other TC programs worldwide, we at SELF have become accustomed to training residents to run the program and eventually hiring those who demonstrate the requisite willingness and potential to become staff. As it has been said that the “addict knows the addict best”, he/she would be the best teacher and role model. We do know that TCs around the world have practiced this for years and, for all practical purposes, it has worked well for some time.

However, we take this opportunity to note and share some of the counterproductive experiences we have had when recovering addicts were left alone to run the TC program over long periods of time without proper supervision and external evaluation:

1) Recovering addicts tend to base decisions on their own experience. This worked just fine with many cases, but not for those where professional intervention was required, particularly for clients with special needs that needed to be addressed in special ways.

2) At times, I have observed that when recovering addicts mirror their own negative attitudes with other residents, they can react more intensely than necessary. In the same manner, when they encounter situations that trigger their people-pleaser attitude, they can become unduly sympathetic. Without continuing guidance and proper supervision, they tend to lose their objectivity.

3) Giving a newly recovering addict too much responsibility too soon often results in their wanting to change tried and tested systems and do things their own way. When not carefully guarded, this could lead to a very real danger of abuse of authority.

Program Culture Changes

Given these observations, three years ago we began changing the way we do things at SELF. We embarked on a purposeful reexamination of the very ground of our organization and processes — our Culture. We tasked ourselves to examine and challenge the way we had been doing things over the last 12 years. The goal was to instill a refreshed culture with ways of doing things that are life-giving to all concerned. The target was to ensure that our leaders and role models became bearers of this new culture and ultimately lead in its propagation. To this end, we reorganized the program administration, assigning our most trained professional to head the program. We then instituted a clinical department composed of professionals who would handle case management while a complement of ex-addicts staffed the behavioral modification program. For this to work effectively, however, we got both departments to work closely together through daily conferences.

As a result, a new mindset has been incorporated that has dramatically minimized internal crises in our facility and organization in general.

Three Way Test

In order to sustain this attempt towards professional integrity and ensure that we continually provide the fertile ground on which members of our TC community could sink roots and grow, we searched for and succeeded in identifying and establishing three guiding principles that would serve as benchmarks. We established that any practice or tool of the house had to be: 1) Respectful, 2) Logical, and 3) Practical.

Respectful — The first criterion was Respect. The TC seeks to promote the full realization of each individual’s potential based on the belief in the infinite worth of each human being. Any practice or procedure that violates this tenet and that shows disrespect for a person has no place in the TC. Through my years of experience, I have learned about the different obscure ways in which residents have been treated by their community. Under the pretense of providing discipline when it was due, many were maltreated to teach a lesson and often­times, residents suffered not only from physical abuse but also from emotional shame and embarrassment.

The problem was that since some of these practices have proven to be effective in teaching residents never to do it again, they have gained acceptability. One tends to wonder whether residents, in cases like these, actually pick up a learning insight or merely hide their resentment. Thus, at SELF we continually remind ourselves to always give concerns and consequences respectfully. Treating people with respect should always be at the core of every program.

In essence, even if you have an effective approach that is logical and practical, if you want to develop character, you must model respect. When living up to the motto “strict yet caring”, it is important that one remains strict but not abusive.

Logical — Practices must proceed from a coherent understanding of the rehabilitation process. This means that they must conform to each other and hang together. Each practice or procedure must be logically connected with all the rest. It is also important that everything that is done in the program must have a logical connection or relation to what needs to be learned in standing up against relapse. When giving learning experiences to residents, it is important to ensure that the learning experience is related to the failure. Conversely, when providing understanding to the resident, in living up once again to the motto “strict yet caring”, it is important that one is caring but not enabling.

Practical — Finally, we arrive at the question of practicality. Mere conformity with theory is not enough. It is also necessary that any proposed practice or procedure must meet the test of application in the real world. It is not enough to simply formulate practices and procedures that are theoretically sound. These must actually achieve the intended effect. Moreover, all procedures and practices must also be employable in the world beyond the TC.

Today, with this ongoing process of reviving the TC culture at SELF, we feel we are on the road to providing both our residents and staff the fertile ground we all need to discover and to grow.

President, SELF

December 2005

As with a number of other juvenile problems, family members are usually the last to know that a son, daughter, or sibling is hooked on drugs. Young people experimenting with prohibited substances will always attempt to hide such activities, and parents often find out about them only by accident, like when a youngster fails random drug testing at school and they get informed about it.

After 13 years of dealing with juvenile and chronic users, SELF has identified a number of telltale signs that can warn parents about the presence of a serious situation. The primary indicator of this is the loss of focus on or interest in studies or work. Other symptoms include lying and manipulative behavior, abnormal schedules, low frustration tolerance, impulsiveness, and withdrawal from family activities. In more advanced levels of drug dependence, the family can experience the loss of household valuables, unwholesome and troubled friends, and even violent behavior.

When a youngster exhibits a number of these symptoms, the parents must seek help early. Parents often hold back hoping they have made a wrong assessment, but their gut-feel is seldom wrong. A good way to start is finding out all they can about addiction. Even if their suspicion turns out to be unfounded, they would have gained valuable knowledge about this social menace.

The involvement of the entire family in this type of intervention is ideal. But much too often the parents themselves do not agree with each other about their child’s drug-taking condition. However, all it takes is for one parent or any adult member of the family to confront the problem and set the ball rolling.

Confront the Problem

Indeed, the best way is to confront a suspected drug dependence head on. As SELF’s philosophy says: “The only way out is the way through.” When parents try to keep their child’s drug habit hush-hush, they often only worsen the situation and buy into the manipulative behavior of the young offender. Forcing the problem out into the open compels the drug user to deal with his/her condition.

It is also important that parents learn to make a big issue out of a developing drug problem. The child concerned should be tested for drugs. Drug test kits are available at pharmaceutical suppliers or at a drug rehab center near you. Then parents should take it a step further. They should find out who among their child’s friends are users and convey their concern to the parents.

In addition to exposing the problem, parents need to set up new systems within the family that will help inhibit any more use of and experimentation with prohibited substances. For example, parents could forge agreements with their children on how to track and place limits on their activities and movements. These must be accompanied by corresponding consequences for violations and parents must never falter in the application of such sanctions.

New Evaluation Program

As noted earlier, parents can be expected to lean toward denial at the start. However, if there is really a problem they will eventually have no choice but to acknowledge it. What to do at this point becomes the daunting question, especially whether or not a long term rehab program is needed. At any rate what is always important is to obtain a professional assessment of the user’s condition—the earlier, the better—so parents as well as the affected child can make the proper choice of how to go about addressing the problem.

In this regard SELF now offers the Assessment/Awakening Program to help families evaluate the drug-taking habit of young offenders. This 20-day live-in process is conducted in the Pre-admission Building at SELF’s Taal View House treatment facility in Talisay, Batangas.

Clients undergo psychological tests, basic psychiatric assessment, and various therapeutic activities and counseling sessions. All these seek not only to evaluate how substance abuse has affected a clients’s physical, mental, emotional, and social well-being but also to give the youngster a beginning understanding of the grave consequences of substance abuse and various ways of how to get away from it.

At the end of the term, SELF furnishes parents with a report on its findings and recommends an appropriate treatment method best suited to a client’s particular needs.

Possible interventions range from a home-based program like the one discussed above involving clear guidelines and strict house rules with corresponding sanctions for violations that SELF can help facilitate through a short formal program of counseling and group therapy sessions to a full course of rehabilitation with the commitment of the client to SELF’s Therapeutic Community (TC) program.

The TC Approach

Widely acknowledged as one of the best treatment approaches in the world, the TC is a residential program in a familial setting that utilizes confrontational methods of intervention geared to the recovery of basic human values toward the formation of new and effective habits to fend off the drug-taking lifestyle.

Through especially formulated behavior shaping tools (BST), SELF motivates residents to correct deviant attitudes that gained prominence in the course of their immersion in the culture of substance abuse.

There is a point when the level of drug abuse and collateral damage arising from antisocial behavior leaves no recourse but to send the offender to a rehabilitation program. Despite this it has been SELF’s experience that parents are still wont to ignore the untenable situation.

They choose to ignore the problem and sweep it under the rug or apply palliative measures like locking up the child in the house for several months or sending them abroad for a change of environment.

Others would go as far as confining the child in a hospital for detoxification but stop short of seeking proper follow-up treatment and rehabilitation. There are even some parents who go to the extent of allowing the child to use drugs at home. Needless to say, such measures are by and large inutile.

Act Immediately

When a child develops a curiosity for drugs, parents should nip it in the bud. The earlier a substance abuser gets treatment, the better the chances of achieving recovery. The problem only gets compounded when the parents procrastinate.

Prolonged substance abuse ultimately leads to an overall degeneration, not only physically but, more important, emotionally and spiritually. Indeed, it is far easier to restore the physical well-being of a person ravaged by drug abuse than to reverse and recover the psychosocial stunting it has wrought.

When all is said and done the most important thing to remember about substance abuse is that it is never too late to address this problem. Whether a youngster is experimenting or has already progressed to full-blown addiction, simply summoning the courage to confront the situation is half the battle won.

By: MARTIN R. INFANTE

President, SELF

May 2008

It just dawned on me the other day that this coming June, I will have achieved 17 solid years of sobriety. With all these years spent in Therapeutic Community (TC) development, I felt it was time that I contributed some of my experience towards the cause of the TC. This article is dedicated to all my colleagues who are either starting a TC program or have been running one for some time now. I hope that you will be able to relate to some of my experiences and I trust that it will help validate your noble endeavors.

The TC Phenomenon

Establishing a new TC program is the easy part. Sustaining its culture through the years, however, is another story. During its initial years, the program structure can get refined and systems undergo improvement. Within the first few years, one can claim that a program’s culture is finally working well. The trouble is, down the road, things can change radically if you’re not careful.

If you’ve been running your TC program for some time now and you’re noticing that it doesn’t feel like the one you’ve set up a long time ago, you might want to look into some of the areas described below.

Over time, TC systems and rules have a way of getting altered without you knowing about it when you don’t have a systems check program. When this happens, you can lose the very heart of your TC and the integrity of your program could be put in question. The thing is these developments have a way of creeping up on you without warning and one day, you’ll just wake up and wonder what happened.

This retrogressive process is something you’ll notice you can’t hang on anybody. By the time you discover this, you’ll find out it’s been there for months or even years. Its so ghostly that I’ve decided to call it a TC phenomenon.

We at SELF have had to face this predicament at least three times over the last 16 years. We have had to review our organization’s culture repeatedly to maintain the goodness of the program. Though our efforts were rewarding, they were time consuming and we decided it was time to develop a system that checks systems.

No Available Model

Numerous training programs on the TC were held in Asia in the last two decades. In the 90s, a sudden slew of training opportunities on the TC program were made available to operators from all over Asia. During this period, the aftercare program was conceived followed by the development of family programs.

The new millennium saw a rapid increase of rehab centers in Asia and, consequently, everyone got concerned about the quality of service being provided by many. Towards this end, training programs began focusing their efforts on the establishment of minimum standards for running programs.

In the Philippines, it was around this time when our government’s Department of Health (DOH) came out with a comprehensive manual that regulated rehab centers. Because of this, treatment centers from all over the country began to reevaluate their respective programs in order to comply with regulations and get accredited by the government. But to this day no one has created a suitable program that automatically checks and balances the systems and culture of a program.

Last year, we took the challenge to develop a check and balance mechanism that will prevent the decay of our TC program. Today, we seem to have a better grip on things and our program feels like it never faded a day. Here are four most common symptoms we’ve discovered along with a few ideas you might want to try in order to prevent your TC from falling apart:

1) The Pendulum Syndrome

Part of the phenomenon we observed about TCs is that some practices tend to swing from strict to lenient, or from always to never. One day you’re making a rule a bit stricter and later discover that the community has taken the rule to the hilt. Now, you’re wondering why the rule is so unreasonably strict.

So you’ll try and fix the problem by flexing the rule a bit only to discover that after many months, the community had unwittingly become too relaxed. I call it a phenomenon because, somehow, there’s never a middle ground. Like a pendulum, practices have a way of swinging from one end to the other.

2)      Rules Get Invented

Would you believe it if I told you that rules get invented unofficially over time? Well, they do. If you look carefully into every rule, habit or tradition in your program, you’ll notice that someone in your community has inadvertently invented certain rules that, in fact, have never passed the scrutiny of management.

Some months ago, we discovered that two out of six toilets were designated for urinating only. When confronted, most residents claimed the rule had been there since they arrived.

Here’s why we think this happens. Residents normally like to avoid confrontation and in order to lessen the chances of such discussions on the proper use of toilets, they’d rather make rules or agreements to make life easier in the TC. Off the bat, there’s nothing wrong with that except for two things.

One is that they fail to communicate the initiative and instead allowed a rule to be established arbitrarily. The second is that they end up disregarding the therapeutic purpose behind learning how to discuss toilet use issues among peers.

3)      LEs Turn into Practices

Another phenomenon we observed is that Learning Experiences (LE) get turned into practices or even policies—again without the approval of management. A funny thing happened when we ran our last workshop on Rules, Habits and Traditions. We discovered that residents were being made to finish their share of the food allocation. That meant that if the Kitchen was serving two packs of biscuits, you’d have to finish them, no ifs and buts. During meals, everyone had to consume their allocation of say, one chicken leg, a cup of rice and vegetables. If you were not hungry, well … it could be trouble for you. This was the understood rule.

When I began investigating this development, I was once again stumped because I found out it had been existing for over a year. After extensive discussion, we discovered that long ago the Kitchen Department was seriously sanctioned for throwing away a whole bowl of spaghetti. Their LE: to make sure they calculated the food that was going to be consumed everyday for the next four weeks. Their guideline: no leftovers. Evidently, this LE was never lifted.

4)      Change from Staff to Staff

This fourth observation, though last, is I think the most important one. If rules are not clearly written and made available for everyone to see and understand, who’s to know what could happen when the TC was under the watch of someone other than your most trusted staff?

Managing a TC is not easy. Staff members are highly prone to burnout. Their effectiveness is limited by their strengths as human beings. No training in the world can prepare a person to take the helm of a TC and remain objective without monitoring and review. That is why it is imperative that a Procedure Manual be constructed that contains every single rule, habit or tradition together with all possible forms of consequences and interventions.

At the start of each year, we at SELF review this manual in plenary to prevent opportunities for abusive practices by staff.

Suggested Solutions:

If you can relate to some of the examples above, here are some of the things you might want to do:

1) Conduct a complete culture review of your organization. Get into a healthy discussion on the objectives and core values of your organization.

2) Establish a motto that best describes your culture. In our case, it is Strict yet Caring.

3) Compose easy guiding principles that will govern the way you do things in the entire organization. We at SELF have created a three-way test. Anything we do in the organization must conform with being Respectful, Logical & Practical.

4) Conduct a series of workshops aimed at reviewing all the program and admin protocols. Examine each and every rule, habit, tradition, guideline and procedure. Include some of the residents. This is usually very educational for them.

5) Compose a Procedure Manual that contains not only the rules and policies but the protocols in handling situations as well.

Expand your House Rules guidelines. Every TC today usually has the same basic House Rules as inherited through generations. It is time that you learn to develop your own to suit your facility and program.

Sustaining the Culture

Once you’ve established the new culture and your systems and procedures are in place, you’ll want to find a way to sustain it. Otherwise, you might see yourself doing this process all over again in the next few years. Here are some helpful hints:

1) Conduct positive surveys. You want to get direct and anonymous feedback about your program in all facets. Make one for your primary, secondary and aftercare programs. Ensure that the residents are kept safe in answering the info sheets.

Conduct one for families and include the entire inquiry and admission process as well. Study the results objectively and make recommendations.

2) Create a Key Result Area (KRA) monitoring system. But before this, you must first arrive at KRAs that best indicate whether your program is on track or not. These indicators are not easy to develop and therefore you must convene a group of your most experienced staff. Meeting at regular intervals, you can discuss and review. Are you meeting the deliverables?

3) Create a Behavior Tracking Sheet (BTS) or consequence recording form. Make sure every resident has one and knows the progress of his/her sanctions and LEs. Devise a Rule of Thumb system of reducing consequences when positive behavior is achieved.

4) Develop a methodical procedure for amending the rules and policies in your Procedure Manual. Include regular House Meetings in the annual schedule with the aim of thoroughly discussing your rules, habits and traditions.

5) Do actual sit-ins on the daily activities and group sessions of the TC program. You’ll be surprised how much you can discover when you’re closely in touch with your residents.

In Closing

Getting down and dirty, as they say, is the only way through these challenges. I’ve been doing this work for nearly 17 years now and, surprisingly, my passion is continously growing. I’ve got 24 staff members in the organization, more than 70% of whom are assigned to the facility. Still, I spend an average of two to three days a week conducting meetings, seminars, workshops and discussion groups there. And when I’m done, I try to strike simple conversations with some troubled residents.

When was the last time you even sat in the Morning Meeting?

By: MARTIN R. INFANTE

President, SELF

May 2009

The SELF Foundation turns 17 this year and as I look back on “the old days” I see that we’ve come a long way since we began this crusade of providing substance dependents a new lease on life. I remember how much of an achievement it already was then just being able to convince cynical and untrusting individuals to give the rehab program a chance at helping them regain sobriety. Those days, there was no talk of major life accomplishments. We simply counted the days, weeks, and months that we kept sober.

In 1992 when SELF first started, knowledge about the therapeutic community (TC) mode of treatment was quite limited. Most of the practices were simply inherited and practitioners had insufficient understanding of its foundations and principles. Professionals, in general, were skeptical about recovering addicts left alone to run treatment programs.

Today, much has changed as knowledge of the TC approach has become more available. Over the last two decades numerous training opportunities on the TC were made accessible in the Asian region. In addition a broad exchange of information among participating agencies worldwide provided a wide variety of best practices from which to choose. All these developments have helped enhance the quality of life in recovery.

I am proud to say that SELF has been at the forefront of this evolution. Through my continuous participation in local and international conventions and training workshops — as well as in my articles here in The SELF Journal — I have had the privilege of sharing many of our best practices including some of the innovative interventions that we pioneered to improve the quality of life in recovery.

This time I would like to share yet another approach that we have been working on for the past few years at SELF. It’s a practice I call “Championing Sobriety” and its purpose is to maximize the growth potential of people in a recovery program.

Beyond Sobriety

At SELF we persevere to develop our program so that it will offer our residents the best possible chance of recovery. But we want more than just sobriety for those entrusted to our care. There has to be more than just the counting of days, weeks, and months of successful abstinence. Somehow there has to be a celebration of life in its fullness.

Looking back, that is what my own process demonstrates. As I achieved a few good years of sobriety, I began to feel that I could build more on my growth. I was driven to reach for new heights, particularly in areas that for me was unchartered territory. Eventually this drive became a passion that sustained me and helped me achieve a number of successes. It is a passion that I hope will last for the rest of my life.

I began my recovery at the age of 37 with nothing in my pockets. I was the epitome of a drug dependent who had wasted all his wealth on drugs and had to face a newfound life without a cent to his name. On top of that, I had sustained a major vascular injury during my drugging years that will handicap me for the rest of my life. Despite these, I overcame formidable obstacles and achieved some rather remarkable goals in my recovery.

In 1992 I founded SELF and managed to sustain its operations in the early years, notwithstanding a fair share of trials that included a fire that gutted our first facility in 1996. SELF survived the following years by moving from place to place. Then in 1999 with next to no experience I ventured into becoming a construction contractor and proceeded to build SELF’s very own treatment facility, what is now a six-building compound we call Taal View House. And since we also had next to no capital I also became chief fund-raiser and learned how to generate funds for the project. In 2000 SELF’s dream of a permanent home became a reality.

Years later, as I looked back on that accomplishment, the lesson became clear to me. Whatever led me to push hard for and attain those goals had to be identified and included in SELF’s TC program. Each resident should get a similar “dose of treatment” so that they too could strive for and reach boundless heights.

In studying my path of recovery the first thing that stood out was my unrelenting determination to redefine what recovery should be. I was simply not content with the status quo that said: “You’re a recovering addict. Be thankful and accept your situation. Behave yourself and lead a sober lifestyle.” That prevailing wisdom of the day was simply too grim a prospect for me and I refused to accept it. ­I needed to stay sober and was committed to doing so. But I refused to accept that a life in recovery would simply be one long, grim, gray existence. If I am going to live in sobriety I may as well make it the best of all possible worlds. I am going to do the best that I can do to be the best that I can be even as I live a life of recovery.

Pride in Quality

With this insight, the thrust of our treatment program was modified. The mere attainment of sobriety was no longer enough. We sought to take recovery to that next level — of living life to the fullest with passion, with integrity, with grace. If we do succeed the immediate benefit is that it makes the question of relapse moot and academic.

So, in preparing residents for their trial-filled journey outside the facility, we placed emphasis on instilling in them a sense of “Pride in Quality” — a TC philosophy that for me has not been explored nor given much importance by many.

At SELF we train residents to discharge an array of duties and responsibilities. But, no matter what they do — whether they sweep floors and clean toilets or complete department reports and do program documentation — they all have to meet one standard: excellence.

And what is excellence? It is not perfection for if it were such we would all be doomed to failure right from the start. Rather, excellence is to do to the best of one’s ability. That is all that can be asked of anyone and at SELF we ask for each one’s all.

Though quite demanding for others, most residents have expressed wanting to be pushed towards excellence. For them, it was a good preparation for handling real-life crisis situations, difficult relationship problems, school assignments, work obligations or even the corruption of the world, without being defeated.

Amazingly, after some years of implementation, we noticed remarkable results in their professional attainments, particularly with the last few batches of young graduates who achieved academic excellence by earning themselves a spot on the Dean’s List in various prestigious colleges.

Four Stages of Growth

In our desire to determine the building blocks of success, we identified four stages of growth that a person must take to achieve self-actualization. Kurt Goldstein defines self-actualization as a driving life force that will ultimately lead to maximizing one’s abilities and determine the path of one’s life. Self-actualization is growth-motivated and cannot be achieved without first attaining the lower order of needs. Each step is a prerequisite to the next as follows: The first stage is Self-awareness; the second is Empowerment; the third is to Act Proactively; and the fourth to Reinvent Oneself.

1) Self Awareness – In order to begin the process of growth, one needs to first become aware of his/her behavior. Self-awareness is an inherent capability of mankind. We are all endowed with this gift from birth. But since we are also endowed with the gift of free will, the act of self-awareness becomes a choice we all have to make.

At the onset of treatment, every resident is exposed to a wide variety of activities that promote awareness. Under the initial thrust of self-discovery, the SELF TC aids residents to discover their deviant behavior through experience, reflection, group feedback, and individual confrontation. Once the behavior is brought to the conscious level and one has accepted it, the resident can move to the next stage.

2) Empowerment – Having accepted one’s behavior, residents can now be invited to view life from a different perspective or paradigm. This ability to make paradigm shifts is another inherent gift from birth we call conscience and imagination. Everyone knows what is right and wrong and imagination empowers an individual to think responsibly or proactively.

Unlike any other creature on this planet, humans can learn and understand situations without having experienced them before. They can think themselves into other people’s minds and imagine themselves into other people’s places.

3) Acting Proactively – It is not enough to think and imagine responsible behavior. One needs to put this thought into action. Acting a new behavior may be difficult at first but that is why, in a TC, the community shares the responsibility of supporting an individual through changes. The TC philosophy “Act As If” reminds us that if you act as if you are responsible, chances are you will become responsible.

Being proactive means assessing the situation and developing a positive response to it. We can choose to use difficult situations to build our character and develop the ability to better handle similar situations in the future. Proactive people use their resourcefulness and initiative to find solutions rather than just react to problems and wait for other people to solve them.

4) Reinventing Oneself – People in recovery often think that they have finally achieved their goal having learned to be proactive. Discovering how to be proactive can be very liberating. But it is a step shy from reinventing one’s self. You’re sober but you still don’t like to dance or try new things. Reinventing one’s self takes acting proactively to the next level. It is the act of building an entirely new person instead of just modifying one’s behavior.

All my life I was a self-taught auto mechanic. I had no social skills, nor did I have the ability to maintain fruitful relationships. After treatment I decided to take my recovery to new heights and, together with a stronger spiritual connection, I explored “unchartered territories”. I went from being a seasoned auto mechanic of 20 years to becoming a lecturer, trainor, coach, motivator and manager of this foundation. Much later I reinvented myself to become a writer, editor, publisher and even a dance instructor (mind you I had never danced before in my life). Indeed, it is often the very thing that people shun that becomes the portal that can lead them to reinvent themselves.

People who have reinvented themselves are characterized by certain behaviors: 1) They embrace reality and facts rather than deny truth. 2) They are spontaneous. 3) They are interested in solving problems. 4) They are accepting of themselves and others.

When a person becomes enlightened on how to break free from the bondage of his/her old personality, the possibilities of achieving great successes are endless. Before residents leave as graduates, SELF wants them to reinvent themselves. SELF wants them not only to remain sober but to be champions of their sobriety, to become passionate about becoming whoever they want to be and to be the best of what they can be. With this the possibility of relapsing into old habits, behaviors and addictions disappears completely.

In Closing

To me championing one’s sobriety is the ultimate goal in the life of a recovering individual. Happily, the ability to do so is God’s gift to individuals who have experienced failure in their lives.

JK Rowling, author of the famous Harry Potter books, talked about this in her speech at the Harvard commencement exercises in 2008: “On this wonderful day when we are gathered together to celebrate your academic success, I have decided to talk to you about the benefits of failure.” With humor and poise she went on to speak of the challenges she had overcome on the way to her success, and she extolled the power of imagination to help make things right.

So, if you’re a person with a few years into your recovery and I have managed to inspire you with this article, try taking your recovery to the next level. You’ll be surprised at how much potential is actually within you. Take that risk with God in your heart and soar to heights you’ve never before dreamed of. One thing I can I promise you, it’s going to be a fantastic high!