Throughout 2019, Sedqa’s rehabilitation programmes were reviewed, and three separate services were integrated into a single programme entitled Kommunita Santa Marija. The basis for this decision was to recognise that Aġenzija Sedqa was working in the field of addiction as a whole and no longer was it accurate to separate the services along the lines of alcohol and drug dependencies. The short-term unit, the Assessment and Stabilisation Unit, was also integrated as phase one of a longer-term programme in recognition of the fact that offering stabilisation without longer-term care was not sufficient.
The programme offers a therapeutic structure with emphasis on living as part of a community for 14 months. This time is divided into three phases which aim to accompany the resident from the initial stages of physical, mental, and emotional recovery to reintegration into society.
Phase 1 - Assessment and Stabilisation phase:
Phase 1 aims to provide a safe environment where clients, who have completed their detoxification at Dar l-Impenn, can find further mental and physical stability. In this phase, the goal is to understand the personal, relational, and environmental barriers that sustain persons caught in addictive patterns. A primary objective is to understand persons holistically, on a biological, psychological, and social level. Once this understanding is achieved, plans are made for admission to phase 2 for the continuation of treatment.
Phase 2 - Therapeutic phase:
At this stage, the purpose is to create an environment for growth in which individuals become part of a group whose members are focussed on personal and interpersonal growth. The entire programme has a structure of therapeutic rules that the residents are expected to follow. In this process, in following or breaking these regulations, they are supported to reflect on them and how their behaviour represents their comportment outside the programme. Through this process, there is a dual intention to achieve a twofold objective of living a cleaner, more structured life, as well as a more in-depth reflection about one’s behaviour.
After the first two months, the residents also start to gradually reintegrate into the community a few hours at a time in order to gauge their recovery process. After each outing, the residents gather their reflections about their time on the outside, and these are processed together with members of staff.
Phase 3 - Reintegration phase:
Upon the successful completion of phase 2, residents are considered to be ready to be able to fulfil significant life objectives, such as being gainfully employed and increasing personal responsibility such as budgeting their own money. This process is framed within the awareness that they are still in the process of recovery. Persons would still be living at the rehab centre and form part of a group who is also at this stage in their recovery process. During phase 3, residents are also expected to contribute to the well-being of their peers and the upkeep of the programme. In order to fulfil these expectations, residents receive individual and group support, which is mainly focussed on the challenges of reintegrating in the community.
As an extension of phase 3, regular support groups are offered to persons who have finished all the phases and are living back in the community. This is done in the spirit of maintaining the commitment to after-care once residents complete the programme.
