Therapeutic Structure

At Park View, clients are taken through the steps and each represents a different challenge. Likewise, the completion of each step will yield another advance towards freedom from addiction and a growing inner strength. The therapeutic structure is as follows:

Primary Stage

This takes place at The Havens, which is a 29 bed unit in Stoneycroft, staffed 24/7, 365 days per year. A client’s stay here normally lasts from between 12 -18 weeks, during which time clients are expected to attend 12 Step meetings on 5 evenings per week.

Group Therapy runs Monday-Thursday, mornings and afternoons and Friday, mornings only.

During this time, clients are taken through Steps 1-5 and asked to complete a written introduction of who you are. All the step work is written and is presented to the person’s peers and staff members in a group setting and there is assistance available for people without the necessary literacy skills. Clients also benefit from a Peer Evaluation in a group setting during the later stages of this period. Sometimes called “Blocks and Resources” (to a person’s recovery), this is an effective intervention which allows the person being evaluated to see their strengths and weaknesses, and allows the person’s peers to be contributors to a collective voice of positive peer pressure.

Other groups also run during the primary stage, such as Anger Management and specifically themed, solution-based seminars and workshops related to recovery. All clients can also benefit from Family Conferences throughout their stay at Park View, which for some people is critical to the whole recovery process.

All clients have a Recovery Plan (care/support plan) which they will be encouraged to direct through a process of empathic negotiation with their own individual Key Worker and other members of staff. All clients benefit from Weekly Key Working Sessions, during which they can discuss their own plan for their own recovery. Responsibility is encouraged; and if accepted, solutions to problems will emerge during the course of the primary stage. A client’s recovery plan, their file, can remain open for as long as the client wishes after graduating from Park View, during which time recovery check-ups can be made and progress monitored and assisted with on a regular basis.

During the primary stage, clients also benefit from a 2 week Home Economics course based in the kitchen. Here, people are taught how to cook a wide variety of meals by a qualified cook, for which they will be rotared to cook for the community when they move on to second stage, being further preparation for independent living. Clients are also taught the key features of nutrition, food hygiene, budgeting and health and safety in the kitchen.

Second Stage

This takes place at Unity House, which is a 17 bed unit in Newsham Park, staffed 24/7, 365 days per year. A client’s stay here can last up to 6 months and they are expected to attend 12 Step meetings on 5 evenings per week. Group Therapy runs Mon-Fri, mornings only. During this time, clients are taken through Steps 6-12 of the 12 Steps programme and engage weekly with their key worker in relation to their recovery plan. Clients can also benefit from psychodynamic counselling during second stage and continue the process of reintegration with the family. 2-4 weeks prior to graduation from primary stage, clients are assessed again formally with regards to their resettlement; housing, jobs, education, training, voluntary work etc, which is the focus of the support in second stage. Park View Project places a very strong emphasis on reintegration and we have forged excellent links with providers of services in Liverpool which assist with a person’s recovery. Therefore, during the afternoons at second stage, all clients are expected to be engaged with those services of their choice which we refer to, or indeed be meaningfully occupied by some other means. The best form of relapse prevention is self esteem and that comes with achievement and having a comfortable sense of who you are in groups and communities.

Third Stage

Currently, Park View Project operates from 3 third stage sites, comprising 19 units and further sourcing of properties is underway. A person’s stay in third stage may last for up to 1 year, meaning that the total length of time a person can reside within Park View Project properties is 2 years. Third stage properties are available to people who have successfully graduated from both primary and second stage or are deemed eligible to enter third stage after the primary stage. Third stage properties are un-staffed, but clients can benefit from floating support from Park View Project staff and/or external agencies. Third stage is for persons with a clear direction and who are embedded within our aftercare system, but do not feel they are ready for independent living. As with all Park View Project properties, third stage is strictly abstinence based.