The Retreat NZ, one of the country’s only residential treatment centres solely for alcohol, has a programme with a difference – and it’s making a big difference to many alcoholics seeking recovery.
Programme Director, Lisa Chambers, has developed an outstanding foundation for people struggling with their drinking, along with a team that has the lived experience to ensure that guests feel safe, supported and understood right throughout their stay.
“Our role is to ensure that guests settle in, connect with others in the group, and are engaging in the programme as well as they can,” says Lisa. “Recovery can be confronting, and our role is to provide a space where guests feel that it’s okay to be vulnerable, and to start their healing journey.
“It’s our experience that recovery can’t be done alone. We need the help of others that understand, and a network of people to travel alongside them,” she adds.
The 30-day programme separates guests from their drinking environment in a homely, tranquil setting amongst native bush, just 45 minutes north of Auckland. It’s designed to introduce them to the principles of 12-step recovery, and to begin exploring ways to find calmness of the mind.
Recovery can be confronting, and our role is to provide a space where guests feel that it’s okay to be vulnerable, and to start their healing journey.
The programme offers a balance of education, and individual and group counselling, along with wellness classes like meditation and sound bowl journeys. As all of the staff are in recovery, their lived experience uniquely positions them to deliver a very powerful message for guests.
“It’s hard to argue with someone that’s been where you are and has come through that experience,” says Lisa. “Hearing that they’ve recovered gives our guests hope”.
“Studies* show that 12-step recovery rehabilitation programmes are more effective in people staying sober.”
The different aspects of the programme cater to all styles of learning, and add variety to classes and activities. Mindfulness is popular among many guests, some of whom have never tried meditation before. Others particularly enjoy the education sessions, as they appreciate and need to understand the science behind the disease of alcoholism and the solution.
An open mind and a willingness to give things a go is all that’s needed for guests to succeed in the programme.
“They don’t need to know the how and why. They simply have to show up and participate to the best of their ability,” says Lisa.
She wants people to know that that there is a path forward and that they don’t have to walk it alone.
“I love coming to work every day at a place where we love people until they can love themselves again. When the spark in their eyes returns, we know they have the hope they need to recover,” she says.
*Cochrane Library: Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews. Alcoholics Anonymous and other 12-step programs for alcohol use disorder (Review). Kelly, JF, Humphreys K, Ferri M.
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