Can AARC help your family?

AARC’s exceptional program

The AARC treatment program is specially designed for adolescents 12 to 21 years of age who are diagnosed with substance use disorder (DSM-5). The exceptional circumstances of adolescent addiction demand an exceptional treatment program. AARC recognizes addiction as a complex interaction between the biological, psychological, social, and spiritual. Our treatment model, widely endorsed by researchers, can most adequately explain the multidimensional nature of addiction.

Peer counsellors

Since AARC treatment is based on the 12 Step Model, peer counselling is required. For adolescents, that means other young people.

Counsellors are aged 18 and over, sober for at least 18 months as graduates of the program and trained for over 57 hours each year. They share their personal experience, providing a positive role model for clients.

Supervised by AARC’s clinical staff, peer counsellors are crucial in connecting with clients through their ability to relate to the client’s struggles with addiction and road to recovery. Many clinical studies confirm this:

Peer counsellors use their personal experience to help others suffering from the same mental illness, and provide a positive role model for clients to identify with. Smith-Merry, Freeman & Sturdy, 2011

Family involvement

AARC believes strongly that the emotional dynamic within families can both be a barrier and an aid to recovery. Parents, siblings and other family members should be prepared to participate in the client’s treatment from beginning to end, as Family Systems Theory is integral to AARC’s treatment model.

Recovery Homes

One of the unique strengths of AARC’s model is its semi-residential component which is implemented through its use of Recovery Homes. While they spend the majority of their day at the centre, clients do not spend the night within the facility. Instead they go to the homes of client families further along in the program. This is critical to restoring the relationship between adolescents and their families, while at the same time offering a safe and caring environment for the new client being supervised in the home. This reintegration and building of a healthy home environment is monitored under the close supervision of AARC clinical staff and is incorporated into the ongoing therapy sessions for families and clients.

AARC’s Recovery Homes are private residences but are accredited by the Canadian Accreditation Council of Human Services. Parents are trained to deal with clients in their care. Additionally AARC supports the safety of recovery homes by being on call 24 hours a day to support any clinical issues or emergencies that may arise.

Although the concept of recovery homes seems counterintuitive to families whose homes in many cases have been out of control before entering AARC, it is largely considered one of the most profound and rewarding components of the program by families upon graduation.

“Recovery homes are an amazing component of the AARC treatment model. When it became time for us to open our host home, AARC provided us with thorough training and checked our house with the utmost care to ensure safety for all. Never once did we feel at risk over the several months that we operated a host home, yet we knew we had the immediate assistance of AARC if any problems did arise, something we never had before coming to AARC. Our daughter was trained as a host home old-comer so she could provide leadership to the new-comer and we all followed very strict rules and protocols. Not only did this provide our daughter with an opportunity to take responsibility, regain health boundaries, and give back to other young people, it once again modelled to new clients that there is a way out of the disease of addiction.”

[Wendy Frisby, Ph.D., AARC Graduate Parent; Professor, University of British Columbia, Chair Women’s and Gender Studies]

Recovery homes also give clients a break from the scheduled therapy which happens throughout the day. These breaks at the end of the night allow clients to have a period of time where they can relax away from the AARC facility.

12 Step Treatment Model

Treatment at AARC uses the 12 Steps (Alcoholics Anonymous), leading to total abstinence. This model recognizes that drug and alcohol addiction is a chronic disease requiring lifelong recovery. Clients are taught to apply the spiritual principles of Alcoholics Anonymous to their daily lives, as they establish a healthy network of sober friends and are able to move forward without the need to use drugs or alcohol.

Comorbidity

AARC acknowledges that addiction is often accompanied by concurrent mental health disorders such as depression, anxiety, or schizophrenia. AARC treats adolescents in a way that addresses both addiction and mental health through the consulting services of Dr. Lori Hogg, AARC ‘s pediatric psychiatrist, who assesses and follows all clients suffering from concurrent disorders.

Cost-effectiveness

AARC has a core principle that treatment is available to all, and that nobody should be turned away for financial reasons.

To achieve this goal, subsidized treatment is always available — families only pay what they can afford. Families with high net income are required to pay full fees, but fees are reduced based on need for those on lower incomes. In 2020, fees paid by clients accounted for a fraction of the actual cost of operating the program, roughly 10% of revenues.

• AARC's daily cost to treat a family exceeds the maximum daily treatment fee, so every family is subsidized to some degree. We work with each family to determine an affordable fee on a case-by-case basis. 

Aftercare services for clients and families

After completing the AARC program, clients are encouraged to attend weekly aftercare group sessions for six months. This provides new graduates with support as they transition from treatment back into the community. Aftercare also helps to keep graduates connected with one another, effectively maintaining positive peer relationships. Peer Counsellors continue to be available to AARC graduates for 1:1 support as needed. AARC also has a monthly aftercare program for graduate parents as a way to support healthy connections, wellness practices, and sustained recovery. Research into the success of post-treatment support can be found here.

Strong Alumni Community

AARC has an open-door policy for graduates and their families who want to attend group counseling sessions or support clients and families still in treatment. Many Alumni families volunteer their time to assist with AARC events and fundraising activities. For graduates, AARC becomes a safe community and a recovery-oriented environment for supportive relationships. Clients and families show their gratitude to AARC by returning to share their experience in hope of helping new clients and families in treatment.

Health & Nutrition

Addiction’s impact on adolescents often compromises both physical health and spiritual well-being. Throughout their treatment, medical doctors consult with clients at AARC, and an onsite Licensed Practical Nurse is available to support their health needs. AARC’s full-time chef provides balanced and nutritional meals. Daily physical exercise is incorporated into each client’s treatment plan, and a trainer from Mission Fitness helps clients with their fitness program.

Education and Work 

All clients on higher levels must attend classes or work during their time at AARC. 

Community Education and Prevention

Recognizing the devastating impact of addiction on individuals, families, and communities, AARC is very involved in numerous educational initiatives to support awareness, education, and prevention of drug and alcohol abuse. Our partnership with several public services opens up numerous opportunities for community education including: in-house community workshops; school presentations for students, parents and teachers; post-secondary presentations for nursing programs; and addiction certificate programs; as well as practicum placements for post-secondary counselling and addiction studies students. During the COVID-19 pandemic, AARC has continued this initiative with online presentations.

Biological, psychological, social and spiritual treatment

AARC recognizes addiction as a complex interaction between the Biological, Psychological, Social, and Spiritual. Our treatment model, widely endorsed by treatment researchers can most adequately explain the multidimensional nature of addiction.

The AARC Model

AARC provides hope for those who are facing the worst crisis of their young lives. AARC takes an exceptional approach that treats young people in a way that reflects the exceptional challenges of youth. We call our model bio-psycho-socio-spiritual because it takes into account the totality of teenage experience.

BIOLOGICAL: Abstinence is integral to the program.

AARC makes it clear to all would-be clients, parents and guardians that our treatment goal is lifelong abstinence. Clearly, it’s not possible to be 90% abstinent. In our view abstinence is the only risk-free option of chemically dependent adolescents, given the vulnerable nature of the maturing brain. Abstinence drives our direct approach and mandates our semi-residential program limiting the client’s access to their former lifestyle.

PSYCHO-SOCIAL: AARC does what’s best for kids.

AARC is authorized by a parent or guardian to take the adolescent into residential care until that individual is capable of staying sober. The decision to graduate, leaving the residential component of the program, is shared by the client, their clinical supervisor and an independent addiction expert.

SPIRITUAL: AA’s 12 Steps involve a spiritual component, but not a specific religion or faith.

As part of the 12 steps that are the foundation of AARC’s program, clients are expected to adopt a spiritual way of living that is built around the principles of honesty, open-mindedness and willingness to help others. They are never asked to join a religious community, nor are they asked to take any oaths or perform any ceremonies.

Taking the first steps

Clients seldom admit themselves to AARC; most of the time they are brought to us by concerned parents or guardians. This can be one of the most traumatic decisions your family will ever face — how do you know if your loved one really needs AARC’s help?

The vital first step is to make contact with us so that we can make an assessment of addictive behaviour, so that AARC can give expert advice on next steps.

Pre-assessment

Pre-assessment provides an opportunity for families to learn about AARC’s program first-hand, to visit our community, and to ask questions. AARC asks questions too at the meeting. The outcome could be a formal assessment, an introduction to members of the alumni community for further discussion, or referral to alternative specialists or treatment centres. 

If you are concerned about an adolescent’s behaviour and or use of drugs and alcohol we recommend that you take some time to review this section in detail. Here you will find AARC’s criteria for admission to the program, our assessment process and some tools about the signs of adolescent addiction.

If you would like to speak to someone about our assessment process or to set up a pre-assessment, please call 403-253-5250 and request a callback from a pre-assessment coordinator or contact us here.

Strict admission criteria

Clients must be between 12 and 21 years of age.

Clients must have substance dependence, causing substantial familial, social, individual, and academic impairment so that they meet DSM-5 diagnostic criteria. Read more about DSM-5 here.

AARC’s assessment process determines if an adolescent shows the persistent and pervasive patterns of dependency that would benefit from AARC’s long-term, intensive treatment, or if an alternate publicly funded treatment would be more appropriate. 

AARC utilizes three pre-assessment tools, the Substance Abuse Subtle Screening Inventory (SASSI-A2), the Adolescent Diagnostic Inventory (ADI) and the Drugs, Behaviours and Feelings (DBF) Checklist.

Using SASSI-A2, ASDI and DBF in combination, AARC can establish if a client may have a substance dependence disorder (SDD) or a substance abuse disorder (SAD) under the terms set out by the American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (1994), the recognized authority in this area of psychiatry.

Medical criteria for diagnosis – DSM-5

The prospective client and parents are interviewed and collateral information is collected from all possible sources, i.e., hospitals, physicians, psychologists, social workers, case workers, schools, courts and probation officers. All clients who are admitted to treatment are independently assessed.

DSM-5 criteria for the assessment of Substance Use Disorders are as follows:

Experiencing the following over the past 12-month period:

• Taking the substance in larger amounts or over a longer period than was intended.
• There is a persistent desire or unsuccessful efforts to cut down or control use of the substance.
• A great deal of time is spent in activities necessary to obtain, use, or recover from the effects of the substance.
• Cravings or strong urges to use the substance.
• Recurrent use of the substance resulting in a failure to fulfill major role obligations at work, school, or home.
• Continued substance use despite having persistent or recurrent social or interpersonal problems caused or exacerbated by the effects of the substance.
• Important social, occupational, or recreational activities are given up or reduced because of substance use.
• Recurrent use of the substance in situation in which it is physically hazardous.
• Substance use is continued despite knowledge of having a persistent or recurrent physical or psychological problem that is likely to have been caused or exacerbated by the substance.
• Tolerance, as defined by either of the following:
  • A need for markedly increased amounts of substance to achieve desired effect.
  • A markedly diminished effect with continued use of the same amount of substance.
• Withdrawal

Severity of SUD

Mild: The presence of 2 to 3 symptoms

Moderate: The presence of 4 to 5 symptoms

Severe: The presence of 6 or more symptoms

The typical AARC client assesses at the moderate to severe range of SUD.

You can read more about DSM 5 here.

Prior to admission to AARC, it is almost always the case that the client will have been seen by another professional, independent of AARC.

PChAD Act

The client may also be considered on legal grounds, especially the Protection of Children Using Drugs Act (PChAD) which states that an a client could be confined for 10 days by their guardian if their condition ‘has caused or is likely to cause significant psychological or social harm to the child or physical harm to the child or others.’ Find out more about PChAD here.

Admission to AARC

Clients are most often admitted to AARC by concerned parents or guardians. Many are facing the desperate impacts of addiction in their family and addressing those impacts quickly is our goal. That said, thorough assessment criteria and standards are paramount to our admission procedures. AARC sets out a detailed process for families seeking information and, if necessary, admission to the program.

Phase two: Assessment — Can AARC help your family?

A formal assessment is a well-planned and highly structured session attended by the family and adolescent, and led members of AARC’s clinical team. The intent is to determine the level of addiction faced by the adolescent and suitability of AARC’s program for treatment. The outcome of the assessment could result in admission to AARC’s program or referral to more appropriate resources.

Phase three: External Assessment — Peace of Mind

External assessment of the client is carried out by an independent addiction expert to provide an objective opinion of a substance dependence disorder and, where applicable, to confirm or further identify any comorbidity issues. The outcome of this assessment determines whether the client meets the criteria for AARC’s long-term treatment program.

Four levels required to complete the 12 Steps

The first contact a client has with AARC is in the admission phase. There are then four levels of progress as client’s complete the 12 steps. On graduation, clients may continue their relationship with AARC indefinitely, through aftercare programs of up to 12 months, but also through participation in the alumni community. Here is an overview of a typical client experience, lasting approximately 10 months.

Self-Determination

As clients progress through the stages of treatment, the capacity and the opportunity for self-determination grows. It is anticipated that as the client nears graduation, the client will be making significant decisions about education, work, leisure, AA community, and key relationships. Clients strategize the support necessary for their aftercare and continued success.

Aftercare

Aftercare provides access to support recovery groups for graduates and all family members. The focus of groups is on relapse prevention and allows the client and/or his/her family long-term access to support and assistance in the maintenance of a recovery program.

The average length of stay in aftercare is six months to a year and includes regularly scheduled recovery groups, family therapy and individual therapy. Additionally, it may include six months of access to help in managing his/her recovery and relapse prevention plan. After this period, the client may attend aftercare groups for continued support.The goal of aftercare is integration into the community support network.

Treatment Duration

Client families should expect to be in treatment for 8 to 12 months; the average is 10 months, but there is no such thing as the ‘average client.’

Consistent with AA and the disease model of addiction, AARC is an abstinence program. Given the pattern of high-risk use exhibited by clients admitted into the program, as well as their age and stage of physical and emotional development, there is no alternative.

Treatment Timetable

Clients work through the 12 steps of Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) at their own speed. It takes several months to get through the first three steps. AARC recognizes four levels of recovery, as clients regain control of their lives. Levels 1 and 2 are Primary Recovery, Level 3 is Intermediate, and 4 is Advanced, prior to graduation.

Six days a week, the client receives peer and clinical counselling, and attends treatment at the centre. In the evening, they stay at a Recovery Home with a sober client’s family. Families visit on Tuesdays and Fridays for rap sessions (group sessions), with additional visits on special occasions, such as Easter and Christmas. This is what we call Level 1.

At Level 2, the client takes on more responsibility. They attend the centre for peer counselling but go home at night with their own family. Rap sessions continue for family members.

At Level 3, clients are now taking newcomers home, a role reversal from Level 1. They attend full-time education and peer counselling at the centre, including family group therapy.

At Level 4, clients are attending school or are back at work from 8am til 5pm every day. They are acting as recovery supporters and taking newcomers home, and are learning to enjoy leisure time and family life without drugs.

Rarely do clients complete treatment in 29 weeks. On average, clients admitted into AARC complete treatment in a period of about 9-10 months. Things that may cause delay in client advancement through treatment include:

1. Frequent behavioral issues
2. Non compliance
3. Conflict with other clients
4. Relapse while in treatment
5. Failure to complete assigned paperwork within allotted time
6. Clinical assessment that the client requires additional time to fully grasp the fundamental ideas of their current step
7. Reduced hours due to statutory holidays
8. AWOL attempt

Some steps take extra time because there is a higher volume of paperwork required, and also clients often need to adjust to the responsibilities associated with their new levels.

Programming

AARC programming varies throughout the week but generally has similar treatment components from day to day. These are identified specifically on the Daily Schedules. All components of the day-to-day programming – including raps — are mandatory for every client. Should a client and/or family member have concerns with programming and attendance requirements, they should review the Grievance Procedure.

Meet the clinical care team

AARC’s clinical team are responsible for the well-being of clients at all times, whether they are at the centre or staying in a Recovery Home with a host family.

Since non-clinical peer counsellors are an exceptional feature of AARC’s treatment program, the clinical team is also responsible for the performance of peer staff in overseeing client caseloads. The competency for hire is based on individual experience with addiction and maintained abstinence through active 12 step recovery.

Clinical Directors

Responsible for the leadership and guidance of the AARC treatment team, provide ongoing supervision and evaluation of peer counsellors and clinical support staff, and manage clinical staff meetings with each level of staff four times weekly.

The clinical directors also facilitate group therapy sessions for clients, parents, and families, complete client assessments and admissions, and facilitate individual therapy sessions with parents, siblings, and the client in treatment.

Most importantly, the clinical directors manage a clinical caseload where each client’s treatment planning and progress is monitored including the review of any critical incidents or adaptations to treatment planning.