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Addiction Recovery Retreat

How we see Drug & Alcohol Addiction

The Bay Approach™ to drug and alcohol addiction sees destructive patterns of thought and behaviour, such as drug and other dependencies, as an individual's changeable creative adaptation for survival in the face of life events.

The Bay holds the view that dependencies are not necessarily embedded for life and that these creative adaptations can change.

We support you to explore and understand the underlying issues related to your addiction or dependency on drugs or alcohol or other behaviour patterns. We help you to come to terms with and integrate your past, as well as learning new strategies to deal with any current or future pain and stress. With this approach you can learn to live without dependence on drugs, alcohol or other addictions such as work, food, sex, gambling and so on.

The Search for Wholeness

We see drug or other addictions as a direct response to an unmet spiritual need: a misguided search for inner peace, for connection, for wholeness and as a diversion from pain.

Dr Elliott S. Dacher, author of "Integral Health: The Path to Human Flourishing" writes that "Jung understood that the driving force and root cause of addictive behaviour was the addict's unrecognized and unmet spiritual need. In order to heal addiction at its source this natural and unmet spiritual need must be responded to and satisfied in an appropriate and authentic manner." (Jungian Theory, www.eliottdacher.org/addiction/theories/jung, retrieved 5th September 2008)

Drug & Alcohol Addiction Treatment at The Bay Retreat

The Bay Approach to healing and rehabilitation has been developed in order to meet the search for wholeness. Once an inner peace and sense of fulfilment become more accessible, drugs, alcohol or other dependencies, that once served a purpose, are no longer viable coping strategies. The Bay Approach™ is grounded in a deep understanding of the human psyche that integrates evidence-based western psychology with ancient eastern wisdom, the science of the soul and meditation.

Therapy in Addiction Treatment for Drugs & Alcohol

The role of therapy in the treatment of chemical or other dependencies is to explore, uncover and integrate issues underlying your addiction. Addictive behaviours are often used to mask or avoid the experience of certain feelings such as loneliness, anxiety, depression, pain, traumatic memories and challenging situations. We do not see these issues or the resulting feelings as the original source of addiction, but as indicators that point to deeper, sometimes unconscious, wounds.

Once these underlying issues are understood and new coping skills are adopted, you have the opportunity to choose alternative, less harmful means of dealing with internal conflict and pain. The aim is to effectively resolve unconscious wounds and make space for a meditative depth, where your authentic healing can occur.

Meditation in Addiction Treatment for Drugs & Alcohol

Meditation, or mindfulness, can develop your ability to be present with uncomfortable feelings and situations in your life, to be with your current reality, right here, right now. By developing the ability to be present, meditation can have transformative effects directly on the choices you make.

Meditation, tailored for the western mind, provides an antidote to addiction or dependency on alcohol, a drug or behaviour. It challenges the misguided search at the root of addiction by facilitating an authentic connection with your true self. Meditation can free you from being bound to the habitual pathways of your mind that feed the cycle of dependency: desire, craving and use.

Drugs or alcohol can eventually lose their power to govern your way of being.

Your Rehabilitation Program Structure

Medical and psychological assessments form the basis of your rehabilitation treatment plan. Detoxification is required prior to commencing the therapeutic program. We recommend you undertake your detoxification process at The Bay in our medically supervised program that focuses on your safety and comfort.

Your rehabilitation program is completely one-to-one. There are no groups or meetings to attend. An entire treatment team, attuned to your needs, delivers your program in the comfort of your private luxury accomodation.

Your therapeutic program evolves with you. Throughout your stay our Clinical Director develops and adapts your rehabilitation treatment plan for optimal results. This plan will reflect your needs and preferences and the varying levels of intensity required for your healing.

The Core Elements of your Treatment:

• Physical - healing and rejuvenating the body: detoxification, medical and nursing services, body-oriented natural therapies such as acupuncture and naturopathy, shiatsu, massage, nutrition, chi kung, yoga, fitness training...

• Behavioural - learning new skills: Cognitive behavioural Therapy (CBT), dependency counselling, psycho-education, psychophysiology of dependency, relapse prevention, management strategies for anxiety and depression...

• Psychological - addressing underlying issues: psychotherapy, trauma resolution (Somatic Experiencing ™), relationship counselling, family of origin work, CBT, EMDR, Hypnotherapy, NLP, psychiatry...

• Meditation: helping you find the way that works for you: mindfulness in daily life, movement meditation, self enquiry, guided meditation, zen meditation, vipassana techniques, meditation instruction...

• After Care: planning for your rehabilitation from alcohol or drug dependency includes your personalised After Care program to support your sustainable recovery.