IN THIS ISSUE
News Tips
Steve Nash Boot Camp
Like Us Contest
Construction has begun
- Two new groups
Contact Us
Adolescents in 12 Step meetings
- Are they safe?
Therapist Self-Disclosure Affects
Family Fun Day Notice
Alumni of the Month
Last Door's certified for
Co-Occurring Disorders
Kelowna Campout
Fraser Health's New Name
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8th Place!

2011Sunrun

 

April 22, 2011  New Westminster, BC --    27 New Westminster residents of the Last Door complete the Sun Run in 8th Place as a team in the Health & Medical category.  Running for recovery involved the clients of the "local" treatment centre in a community event that promotes health and renewal of a sense of adventure. 

 

Team coach, Phil Bodenbender said, "Being part of the collective energy of 50,000 people was an experience that each team member will remember!"  The team practiced three times each week for three months and the result was an astonishing finish in a category of 74 teams.  Their courage, dedication and commitment is an extension of their choice to make a complete life change.  Residents of the Last Door participate in an extensive program of recovery from addictions.  This non-smoking program promotes wellness, community participation and a sense of service.

 

Bodenbender says that "the team as a whole came back from active addiction and was blessed by the opportunity to participate in this event."   This is the third year the Last Door has entered a team and proudly represented the community of recovering persons.  The team was joined at this event by their peers from Westminster House making this the largest contingent of recovering persons ever entered from New Westminster.

PhilB

Team Coach Phil Bodenbender

  
NEWS TIPS 
ccsa

Addiction Daily News

Addiction News Daily is CCSA's news service; a compilation of stories pulled from various sources and focusing on topics concerning alcohol, drugs and their related harms (including alcohol and drug prevention, treatment, recovery and addiction, and substance abuse policy and political dialogue). The stories are chosen for their potential interest to Canadians and are of national significance

 

FEATURED LINKS
xperiment
substance

 

Upcoming 2011 Events
VOLUNTEERS WANTED!
  • Family Fun Day - June 11
  • Kelowna Annual Retreat - June 17, 18 & 19
  • DoorSlam Recovery Slo Pitch Tournament, August 26, 27 & 28

Please email pr@lastdoor.org or call 604-525-9771 for more details or to Volunteer.

STEVE NASH BOOT CAMP

 
stevenash

Last Door LIfeStyles Group

Participants of Last Door's LifeStyles Group were invited to BOOT CAMP CLASS by the Steve Nash Fitness Clubs.

 

The Lifestyles Group educates and supports clients in making healthy and informed lifestyle choices. Topics covered include nutrition, money management and over working through to dental care.

 

stevenash

 

PLANNED GIVING
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Are you thinking about Planned Giving? 
Everyone benefits from the power of a Planned Gift- you, your family and your charity. Of course, we want to ensure that each of these groups receives the maximum benefit possible; this is why Last Door Recovery Society offers a wide range of  arrangements. 
Please call 604-525-9771 to organize your gift giving or  learn more about Planned Giving by
CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS
be part of

Last Door's first book of memoirs will feature letters of life stories from people affected by Last Door. 

 

Do you have a letter or wish to write a letter you would like to have considered published?  if yes please mail, fax, or email your letter to us.  A selection committee will determine which letters get published.  

 

learn more here

 

"LIKE US" CONTEST

LIke Us 

and WIN a

ZipLine Adventure

Weekend in Victoria

 Line2 

keg 

 

 vi 

facebook is changing group settings, therefore the old Last Door facebook Group will auto-archive,
losing all of its members.

"Like" our new page:

facebook.com/NewWestRecovery

and WIN

Contest Closes June 30th

click here for full details

 

 

Two New Group Rooms

set to be built!

stairs 

The Great Escape

 

To facilitate the construction of our new community meeting space/ group room/ dinning area the City requested the relocation of the emergency exit stairs on the heritage house.  This week a crane and hard hated crew of clients, alumni and friends of the society hoisted a  few tons of steel into place so that the construction can commence.

 

Blair has his summer work laid out.  The Society, with your help hopes to complete the meeting space at the Adult Door and at the Youth Door before the rains start!  Okay they need to stop first.  Speaking of rain, we are still looking for donations of goods, services, old-fashioned cash and email gifts to help get this project into fourth gear.  The Great Escape could use your support.  Thanks for considering.

 


side bar

 

Contact us
crest new

 

Last Door Adult Program

323 8th Street

New Westminster, BC

V3M 3R3

t: 604-525-9771

f: 604-525-3896

toll free: 1-888-525-9771

adult@lastdoor.org 

  

 

Last Door Youth Program 

109 Ash St.

New Westminster, BC

V3M 3M2

t: 604-520-3587

f: 604-521-1889

youth@lastdoor.org 

 

 

 Last Door Family Program

327 8th Street

New Westminster, BC

V3M 3R3

t: 604-516-0060

adult@lastdoor.org 

 

 

www.lastdoor.org 

 

 


JOIN OUR LIST

Join Our Mailing List

 

Monthly Newsletter Vol#23

May/2011

Clear logo

Greetings!

 

Professionals are being introduced to abstinence based addiction recovery and the "recovery capital" of Canada.

 

nickr

Nick Ringma, Addiction and Concurrent Disorders Counsellor

May 4, 2011  New Westminster, BC --   In one week five major trade shows from Las Vegas to Toronto hosted the Last Door staff and their travelling recovery exhibit. New Westminster, BC was labelled the recovery capital of Canada by Dr. Jackie Sieppert in Calgary, AB and from Las Vegas Daniel Marks, Certified Addictions Counsellor said that, "walking into a city filled with people trapped in their addiction generated new gratitude and enthusiasm to present long-term treatment as a solution to the participants at the Employee Assistance Convention."  Members of the staff team of the Last Door hit the road laid out by Giuseppe Ganci, Director of Community Development in an effort to both promote abstinence based treatment and to avail interventionists, counsellors, doctors and case workers of the opportunities for recovery that long-term treatment provides their clients.

 

 

In an era of instant cures Last Door offers a seasoned and practical approach to recovery.  Clients are encouraged to have fun!  Live and Enjoy life!  Residents of the Last Door participate in an extensive program of recovery from addictions.  This non-smoking program promotes wellness, community-participation and a sense of service.  Over the past year Last Door provides leading edge treatment for addiction delivering 40,000 hours of counselling, serving 10,800 meals and shovelling snow in the neighbourhood.

 

For the first time in our 28 year history Last Door staff presented simultaneously to professionals in the USA and Canada and were well received for both the content and effectiveness of our programs.  Darren Galer, Certified Addictions Counsellor said that "The reception in Las Vegas of our gambling and substance programs was welcomed by EAP workers from Newfoundland to Minnesota and for each of them this was one conference that will continue to build recovery connections."

 

Meetings with peers and colleagues provides Last Door Staff with an opportunity for growth and an opportunity to promote New Westminster as "recovery central" in Canada.  People we spoke to were continually amazed at the standards of recovery and the number of young people.

 

Participating in a diverse schedule of events ranging from Social Workers Conventions,  Addiction Conferences, Workplace wellness Conferences, and EAP workers conventions; these  continuing education sessions will expose Last Door to peers, clients and employers.

 

Nick Ringma ICADC, ICCDP

Senior Counsellor

Last Door Recovery Society

nick@lastdoor.org

 

booth11

 

Above: Last Door Exhibitor Booth will travel to over 25 conferences in 2011 reaching over 30,000 health professionals and occupational health professionals.

 

Below: Nick Ringma, Senior Counsellor presenting at the BC Human Resources Conference at the Vancouver Convention Centre and Youth Facility Counsellor, Don Presland in Saskatoon at the Youth Conference.

 

          booth4booth3

How safe are adolescents at 12 Step Meetings?

 

Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) and Narcotics Anonymous (NA) have proven to be cost-effective recovery resources for adults and also appear helpful for youth. However, anecdotal concerns about adolescents' safety at meetings have dampened enthusiasm regarding youth participation. Unfortunately, little information exists to evaluate such concerns. Outpatients (N = 127; 24% female) were assessed at intake and at 3, 6, and 12 months regarding perceived safety at AA/NA, experience of negative incidents, and reasons for nonattendance/ discontinuation.

 

By 12-month follow-up, 57.5% reported some AA/NA attendance with a combined lifetime exposure of 5,340 meetings. Of these, 21.9% reported at least one negative experience, which was more common among NA than AA attendees. Overall, youth reported feeling very safe at meetings, and ratings did not differ by age or gender. Reasons for discontinuation or nonattendance were unrelated to safety or negative incidents. Weighing risks against documented benefits, these preliminary findings suggest that referral to AA/NA should not be discouraged, but, similar to adults, youth experiences at meetings should be monitored.

 

© 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

 

 

To read the Journal of Abuse Treatment
Article please click here

Does Therapist Self-Disclosure Affect the Relationship between the Therapeutic Alliance and Dropout?

 

There are competing views from Freudian, humanistic, and feminist theorists regarding whether therapist self-disclosure affects the relationship between the therapeutic alliance (the bond that therapists and clients build through working towards therapeutic goals in a collaborative way) and dropout. However, there is little research regarding these areas. Therefore, clinicians need clear empirical support for the use of Therapist Self-Disclosure in enhancing the Therapeutic Alliance such that dropout can be avoided.

 

This study investigated whether or not Therapist Self-Disclosure affected the relationship between the Therapeutic Alliance and dropout. The therapist self disclosure used in this study was a statement regarding that the therapist had struggled with drinking too much, that the drinking caused problems at work and at home, and that he got treatment and got things sorted out for himself.  The research participants were 132 men attending residential substance abuse treatment from three facilities.

 

Four groups of men were randomly assigned to 1 of 4 experimental conditions which were:

 

1)            Therapist Self-Disclosure and strong therapeutic alliance

2)            Therapist Self-Disclosure and weak therapeutic alliance

3)            No Therapist Self-Disclosure and strong therapeutic alliance

4)            No Therapist Self-Disclosure and weak therapeutic alliance

 

After reading a statement that described the therapeutic alliance as weak or strong, participants watched one of two DVDs (7 minutes each). The DVDs depicted 2 males role playing an intake session. One DVD included Therapist Self-Disclosure and the Therapist Self-Disclosure was edited out of the other DVD. After watching the DVD, participants responded to the question of whether or not they would continue treatment with the depicted therapist.

 

Results from hierarchical logistic regression indicated that weak Therapeutic Alliance was a good predictor of dropout. Therapist Self-Disclosure did not significantly affect research participants' opinions regarding whether or not they would continue treatment with the depicted therapist. Therefore, Freudian therapists' views that Self-Disclosure should be avoided to prevent a negative impact and humanists' and feminists' views that Therapist Self-Disclosure should have a positive effect on the Therapeutic Alliance -dropout relationship was not supported by this research.

 

Therefore, in terms of social change, therapist training should focus on skills that build the therapeutic alliance while not expecting Therapist Self-Disclosure to significantly affect this process.  

 

To read the study please contact us 


Last Door Family Program Presents.......

Family Fun Day 

Time to RSVP Call 604-535-9771

 

 

Participants & Alumni of Parent's Group, Women's Group, Co-Parenting Group, Residents and their Families and Alumni, are ALL INVITED!

 

June 11, 2011

 

 PROGRAM:

 

 Noon - 4:30pm:

 

Registration

·         Kids Zone, Korki the Clown, Face Painting,

·         Play-Day games for the Grown Ups

·         WIN Prizes! Last Door Merchandise, Gift Certificates, 

·         Grand Prize "a trip to Whistler"          

 4:30 - 6 pm:

·         Last Door BBQ, Pot Luck Buffet Table Opens

 6:00pm:

·         Speaker Meeting and Entertainment

POT LUCK:

·         Please bring your own sides, salads or desserts and Lawn Chair, Last Door will provide the main course Meat & Chicken

·         Ample Parking available

RSVP:

·         Please RSVP your family with the main office before June 3rd by calling: 604-525-9771

·         RSVP includes Main Course BBQ and Beverages

·          

Would you like to volunteer? email pr@lastdoor.org

 

Last year was a huge SUCCESS!

 

Ryall Park is behind Queensborough Community Centre

920 Ewen Ave, New Westminster, BC

 

Alumni of the Month

Donm

Alumni, Don M in Akron Ohio, home of Chrissie Hynde, Devo and the birthplace of Alcoholics Anonymous which we give some kudos to .....and the annual place of the Todd Rundgren world convention held in Akron partly because of it's proximity to the Rock and Roll hall of fame down the road in Cleveland OH!

 

I started using drugs at 12 and entered detox for what I have every expectation will have been the last time at 37. That's a quarter century of suffering for myself and my family members. I sometimes say that drugs seemed to be the solution for a while ..... and that while was all of about two weeks ! Everything I did in all those years, what I considered accomplishments, were lessened because everything was tainted by drug abuse. Relationships, parenting of my children, scholastic and professional achievements, all underscored and eventually destroyed by my use of drugs. By the end I was in a revolving cycle of detox, treatment, relapse, seemingly over and over.... I always thought I could study from a book as to how to be a person in recovery. I was good at studying and ended up with a reputation within Narcotics Anonymous as one of those guys who could quote you the book at length but never seemed to achieve any clean time. The cliché was "paralysis by analysis". The last few months of my active addiction, I lived as a homeless person in Vancouver downtown eastside. The memory of my children coming to visit me down in that neighbourhood is a memory I choose not to forget.

 

While I was in detox that last time, I was surrounded by staff who insisted that if I loved my children as I professed I would take a more drastic step and kept mentioning the Last Door. It had long been on my list of things not to do, I had seen those guys in meetings over the years looking happy and was intimidated by it. They certainly looked like they would mess with my misery if I ever got involved with that. Eventually, I had that proverbial moment of surrender and made that phone call. After what seemed like a dozen of those calls, the late Michael Pesut came down to the old Maple Cottage detox to interview me. As he was packing my luggage (garbage bags) into his car he told me "we've been waiting years for you to show up"

 

 

My life of course changed from that moment. I spent the better part of a year at Last Door and learned a completely new way of experiencing recovery through the 12 steps of Narcotics Anonymous. Instead of just book knowledge, I was shown how to live and apply spiritual principles into my life and to lighten up a bit. Ok...a lot ! For a period of time I wasn't allowed any writing or reading material until I learned to lift my head and draw actual people into my life and to ask for what I needed. They asked in group once what I liked to do for fun and when I replied I didn't know how to have fun, I was on a jet ski up Indian Arm, literally within an hour ! Things like that didn't happen at other places I tried to get clean at. I ended up building relationships with other recovering addicts in the house that I still depend on today. We had and still have a pact amongst ourselves to not be the weakest link and turn our back on each other by returning to ways of old.

 

My life today is better than it has ever been. Freedom stopped being just a concept and it now feels like a way of life. I always say that recovery allows us to find our passions and I've found a few of my own. When I lived in an alley, my favourite band could be playing around the corner and I couldn't seem to be there. Now, if that band is playing anywhere on the planet and I want to be there, I'm there. Those kids of mine who suffered along with me, know where I am at all times and a day doesn't go by where I don't take the opportunity to tell them I love them. I have 3 grandkids who have never seen me loaded and perceive me, not as an addict but only as Grandpa (or the old guy with the wallet!) I'm able to at long last be a son that my Dad says he's proud to know. Being 13 years without a cigarette, I was able to show my Dad how to do something! I returned to the downtown eastside at a couple of years clean to work professionally within the addictions field and those emotional rewards are beyond compare or words.

 

Whenever I think it can't get better, it does. I continue as an active member of Narcotics Anonymous and I stay connected to Last Door in all kinds of manner. I still drop in for direction, both personally and professionally. My sponsor of 14 years still works there and there is always a new guy willing to go for coffee or hit a late night NA meeting. My gratitude to what the Last Door has done for me and my family never ceases to amaze me as I live this life without limits.

 

 

Don M. clean date May 20th 1997 

 

Certified Co-Occurring Disorders Professional

Last Door Staff,  Nick Ringma receives his ICCDP Certificate

 

The Board of Directors, the Membership and the Administrative Staff of the Canadian Addiction Counsellors Certification Federation welcomes the newest group of professionals to its membership. They wish to congratulate Nick Ringma on achieving the status of Internationally Certified Co-Occurring Disorders Professional (ICCDP) or Diplomate.

 

As we are all aware many people are presenting with a variety if interrelated and complex issues, having specialized training to deal with these issues allows better and more comprehensive care for those affected.  The CACCF continues to expand to better represent those affected by addiction.

 

For a complete list of requirements please see our website: 

www.caccf.ca

 

 

Annual Kelowna Campout June 17, 18 & 19

  

Two Perimeter Transportation buses have been booked!

 

The annual Serenity by the Lake Recovery Campout is always a great way for residents and alumni to get together and enjoy a weekend of fellowship and sunshine.

 

Join the expected Last Door crowd of 150 by clicking here and registering.  click here   

  

A new name for Fraser Health's Mental Health and Addiction Services

 

Fraser Health's Mental Health and Addiction Services is changing its name to Mental Health and Substance Use Services, effective April 1, 2011.

 

The new name better reflects the scope of care/treatment offered for individuals affected by substance use, but not necessarily addicted to a substance.  All clients seeking treatment and support are substance-affected, but not always 'addicted'.

 

While many programs across Canada commonly refer to their services as 'substance use services' Fraser Health is among the first to formally change its name.

 

Fraser Health offers a broad range of 'addictions' care and services across the lifespan from health promotion and prevention, early intervention, through treatment of a variety of substance use issues up to and including addiction (chronic dependent use). The new name is consistent with the continuum of clinical services available, the individuals supported, and the vision and mission of the program - to build an integrated recovery-oriented system of care.

 

For more details click here  

 

Last Door Adult Program and Youth Program are licensed by Fraser Health

Victoria Day Weekend Campout

"fun in recovery"

fire 

Wow! 52 days into my recovery and it just keeps getting better. 

 

Being from the interior I've always had a good connection with the outdoors; camping and fishing are big parts my life.  Last Door's annual Victoria Day Weekend camping trip was a life changing event for me. 

 

Having fun in recovery to me seemed limited, especially having fun while in treatment.  This weekend something clicked inside me and I noticed the change in the other residents as well.  I learned you can take recovery with you anywhere - twenty one of us; living the principles of recovery!

 

I had a chance to build relationships with my new friends as we hiked a mountain and did a reading at the top, did some fishing, dirt biking and laughing, with the highlight of the whole trip being our camp-fire NA meeting.  The energy was unbelievable and I can't wait to do it again.

 

Kevin C

Revelstoke, BC

Current Resident of Last Door

 

hat

Thank you,

Thank you for taking the time to read our monthly emailed newsletter. 

 

Please forward this newsletter on to people you may  think would be happy to hear from Last Door.

Sincerely,

Giuseppe Ganci
Last Door
Director of Community Development
1-888-525-9771