It’s summer time and London can be a bit quiet at the weekends for people in recovery so we are organising BBQs for the weekends right through the summer now for our ex patients. We will open our doors at 11am and turf people out about 4pm. We would simply ask that people bring a sausage or some soda pop to drink, to contribute to the day. As people seem to keep touch in different ways would you please let any other ex patients know this is on? Do call us in Kendrick for the address…

The Fellowships started many years ago in the Netherlands. This year Alcoholics Anonymous is celebrating their 60th year anniversary and Narcotics Anonymous their 20th, however, the 12 Step Treatment is quite new. Only three years ago PROMIS opened an office at the Keizersgracht in Amsterdam. Today PROMIS is situated in a beautiful 17^th century canal house on the Herengracht.

PROMIS is one of the first private treatment centres in Holland where addiction is treated as an illness. Until 2 years ago addiction was not treated at all by the 12 Steps in Holland. The Dutch approach was, and to a certain extent still is, substituting one habit for another. People with a heroin dependency were given methadone, alcoholics were taught how to limit their consumption of alcohol and sometimes even recommended to smoke hashish or marijuana, which are not illegal in Holland. Needless to say, very few people recovered. Many addicts faced a future without a job or a place to live or a steady relationship. Read the rest of this entry »

People with addiction problems find themselves constantly stigmatised by society. None more so that celebrities. Each time celebrities seek help they appear to be scorned and ridiculed just at the time they need the most help.

I recall the news last year that Robbie Williams had been admitted to a clinic in the US. I was horrified to see that the media had the gall to suggest that this was a stunt to improve album sales. Shame on them!

This inappropriate treatment of a suffering person may finally be changing. I think this change started to happen after Britney Spears was paraded before the press in a wretched state. Finally the public couldn’t help but see the terrible pain that lies behind the lurid tabloid headlines. Now in the UK, the public are beginning to see the pain behind the behaviour of some of our stars who feature in the tabloids day after day.

Maybe the pain of these stars is trailblazing a path to make it easier for others to seek help. Maybe the time has finally come where people can ask for help and get the full support they deserve while making such difficult changes in their lives. Certainly here at PROMIS our aim is to give all patients our full support and understanding. Maybe now is the time to take these first steps.

True recovery is seen rather than heard. It shows itself in the way people live their lives, rather than in what they say.

Extract from A New Life (healing depression) by Dr Robert Lefever

Step 1 for Mood-altering Substances, Behaviours and Relationships

I admit that I am powerless over my addiction and that my life has become unmanageable.

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Russel McVitie is our Activities Co-coordinator. We asked him a few questions:

What consists of a typical day’s work at PROMIS?

I have a duel role, I am primarily here as a Twelve Step Counsellor but I am also responsible for the patients’ Health and Fitness wellbeing during their time here. My day is comprised of facilitating groups, writing up notes, spending time and being available for any of the patients (not just my focal patients) going through all the administrative processes connected with managing my focal patients. I am also responsible for monitoring the patients’ weights during their time here and I am involved with contolling how much exercise is appropriate for them. Read the rest of this entry »

We are constantly striving to improve our facilities, programmes, and any other aspect of our service that will give people a better recovery experience. The internet is increasingly becoming a place people turn to for help. As part of these efforts, we have recently launched a new layout and structure to our website.

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Recent results from a study by Norwich Union Health Care show that a large number of employees admit to being drunk or hung-over at their desks. Long hours, stress and high expectations of employees has led to a culture where drinking is considered the norm and one in three admit to being hung-over at work and one in ten being drunk.

Alcoholism is one of the most common addictions treated at PROMIS. If you as an employer are concerned about any of your staff or you as a employee are worried about the level of your drinking and require advice on what is best to do then please do not hesitate to contact us and we will be more than happy to help, we pride ourselves on discretion and are able to offer various treatment programmes for the treatment of alcoholism.

For more information view the article by the BBC

It is not the first time that we are collaborating with a University. In the UK, our ties with the University of Kent are long established. In addition, the London South Bank University is our partner in the delivery of the MSc in Addiction Psychology and Counselling. Yet, it is always with great pleasure that we welcome researchers from universities abroad. We invited Dr Joseph Madacsy from the University of Pecs in Hungary to stay with us for three weeks. We were particularly interested in the work of Dr Madacsy because he is investigating the impact of culture on 12 Step Programmes. During his stay, Dr Madascy joined forces with our research team. The resulting study will give us key insights for the future development of our Clinics abroad.

PROMIS Patients have encouraged us to start a facebook page. You can see this here:

http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1066087484

We have also created a private group for ex patients. If you are an ex patient and would like to join this group please email us here at PROMIS or a the facebook page and we will send you an invitation to join.

I have just been reading Clarissa Dickson Wright’s excellent book, “Spilling The Beans” and I must say it is a superb book! Clarissa has a chapter dealing with her getting into recovery and does a fantastic job of explaining the whole process in her clear and straight forward language.

I have heard Clarissa talking publicly a few times about being in recovery and I am really grateful to her, and other celebrities, for being prepared to stand up and talk about recovery. I am grateful because I want my children to grow up in a society which understands this illness a lot better than it did when I was growing up. Through people like Clarissa standing up and showing the quality of their recoveries and the amazing things they have done with them, I hope others will see the potential in the alcoholics who are still unwell and realise that recovery is possible for them too.

If you are still short of a Christmas present the I can assure you this book will make an excellent gift!