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In Partnership with:

9 Oxford Road Acohol Project

9 Oxford Road originally started life as a residential project, so when we started planning the introduction of a Day Care Programme there were, inevitably, several new challenges for us to face.

We were aware that our new clientèle would be very different albeit their main problem, i.e. that of problematic alcohol use, remained the same. Instead of a small group of residents aiming for total abstinence and working to a compulsory intensive programme, we would be seeking to help large numbers of day clients at various stages of their drinking careers, with different aims regarding their drinking and requiring varying levels of intervention. We visited several day units and read lots of literature but I think it fair to say that we were unable to gather a great deal of inspiration from the models we looked at. We did not want a standard, time-limited programme or one which would exclude those unable or unwilling to engage at a prescribed therapeutic level.

We were anxious for our programme to be client-friendly and to be tailored to client-need rather than the other way round.

The programme we originally devised has naturally evolved over the years; we have worried needlessly about some things and not worried enough about others, but our experiences have only served to reinforce our long-held beliefs summarised in the three main concepts:

Group work works best. Most dependent drinkers become increasingly isolated, lose trust in themselves and others, their self-confidence and self-esteem plummets, hence they need to rejoin the human race. In groups, both formal and informal, these issues can be addressed. However, when particular circumstances demand it, individual sessions can be arranged.

Recovery is a process that implies that peoples' needs change over time and consequently a treatment programme needs to reflect this. We offer a wide variety of therapies and activities ranging from Drop-ins, Relaxation, Art Therapy and mutual support groups, through to structured groups such as Relapse Awareness, Anxiety Management, Assertiveness, etc. We do not discharge anyone as long as they continue to use the project constructively. We assumed originally that people would start by using lots of groups and then reduce over time but this is not always the pattern. Some need to first get used to being comfortable in the drop-in before feeling confident enough to share much of themselves in groups and others just don't know what they want or need until they have been dry for a while.

A resource such as ours needs, crucially, to have a strong sense of safety and stability which is often in direct contrast to the chaos engendered by drinking. To foster this we have very clear conditions of attendance the principal of which being that everyone has to be alcohol-free on any day of attendance (with the exception of Wednesdays*). We do not compromise on this and will breathalyse if necessary. We also endeavour to keep our staff team as small (in numbers!) and stable as possible to maintain an optimum level of consistency.

We are also aware of and extremely grateful for the contribution made by an ever-growing number of long-term clients who serve as friends, supporters and positive role-models for those at an earlier stage of recovery and thus possibly more fragile.

By incorporating these three elements of group-work, flexibility and stability we feel we are able to provide an effective and essentially client-centred service which we hope will continue to flourish with the ongoing support of funding agencies, colleagues and clients old and new.

Objectives


We aim to:

Help clients to become more aware of the detrimental physical and mental effects that alcohol misuse may have and assist them in limiting harm by reducing or discontinuing their use of alcohol.

Encourage and assist our clients in the development of more constructive coping skills in order that they may avoid alcohol misuse and improve or stabilise their social environments.

Reduce incidences of alcohol-related physical and mental illness among our client group.

Reduce alcohol-related crime among our client group.

Reduce alcohol-related violence (toward self or others) among our client group.

Our objectives with regard to existing services are to ensure appropriate links and to maintain ongoing communication in an effort to assist with the provision of effective care planning.

Philosophy

We do not adhere to the disease based theory of alcoholism, but rather to the Social Learning Theory. We believe that people use alcohol for a variety of reasons - initially it may make them feel good, perform some tasks better and give the illusion of coping with difficult emotions in a less painful way.

Dependency and misuse ensues when alcohol is relied upon to the extent that an individual fails to use or develop his/her own resources to deal with tasks, problems and emotions.

We recognise that not only do alcohol problems differ greatly regarding severity and complexity but that peoples needs are not static and varying types and degrees of intervention are indicated over time. To this end we believe that a programme needs to be as creative and flexible as possible whilst maintaining much needed structure and boundaries.

The programme we are offering ranges from 'low-key' social support to structured closed groups but we feel it crucial that it is used appropriately by those committed to improving their awareness and making a positive change. Anyone attending the project will be required to comply with the "Conditions of Attendance".