Hache says there are concerns that the co-ed environment at the centre is detrimental to its clients
Kirsten Larsen
Northern News Services
NNSL (Feb 19/99) - The Yellowknife Women's Centre has launched a formal complaint against Northern Addiction Services, and is calling on the territorial government to shut down the Dettah treatment centre and the Yellowknife detox centre until their complaint can be dealt with.
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Expanding methods of addictions treatment
Although Northern Addictions Services mandate is to treat chemical dependency, it is working towards expanding treatment into broader, related areas.
Dr. Ross Wheeler who specializes in psychiatric care as well as drug and alcohol treatment in Yellowknife, has been assisting NAS to develop and evaluate strategies to deal with post-traumatic stress disorder. Dr. Wheeler explains that addictions are often either accompanied by, or a result of traumatic experiences such as an abusive relationship, cultural loss or a dysfunctional lifestyle.
"I have been working about a year-and-a-half looking at these issues with NAS," said Dr. Wheeler.
"Trauma is an issue we are dealing with because it is so often the pain that is driving the addiction."
Karen Sullivan, NAS intake after-care co-ordinator, said since NAS is bound by its mission statement to put its funding towards chemical dependency programming, no NAS funding is going towards the extra treatment work that Dr. Wheeler is offering. The trauma treatment being offered is not formally part of the NAS programming, but with the assistance of Dr. Wheeler, it has given clients more of the kind of treatment that is needed specifically in the North.
"What we are trying right now (treating trauma simultaneously with an addiction) is what no one is doing down south," said Wheeler. "In the south what they are doing is a person has to have four to six months sobriety before they go into treatment for (post-traumatic stress disorders). What's recognized here is it is a great difficulty for people in the North to do that because there are so few services back in their home communities."
NAS is exploring other centres and treatment methods that could be useful in developing future directions of NAS.
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The complaint, addressed to Health Minister Kelvin Ng, is based mainly on concerns that the co-ed environment at the centre is detrimental to its clients.
Arlene Hache, who runs the Yellowknife Women's Centre, said that she has not referred clients to NAS for several years and has informally advocated for changes within NAS. Hache said one of her biggest concerns about the NAS environment is the fact that male inmates are admitted into the treatment program and offered living accommodations at the centre.
Hache says she is concerned because many of her clients are victims of spousal abuse, sexual assault and child abuse, and would be extremely vulnerable and susceptible to forming unhealthy relationships while in the co-ed treatment centre.
Karen Sullivan, NAS intake after-care co-ordinator said that Hache's concerns regarding the vulnerability of clients in addictions treatment are not unfounded. The dramatic transition clients go through while working toward sobriety leaves them susceptible to acquiring other addictions.
"Any kind of change produces...a sort of hypersexuality," said Sullivan. "It's an exchange of one addiction for another."
Sullivan explained that NAS is aware of the vulnerability of its clients and should a problem be identified it is dealt with in the course of a client's addiction treatment.
In the complaint, the women's centre makes reference to implications of inappropriate sexual relationships which allegedly took place within a NAS facility.
Sullivan said that studies and directions developed within the last five years included investigations of NAS, the revising of a sexual harassment policy and the familiarizing of the board and staff members with the policy.
Although the treatment centre is co-ed, it has separate living accommodations for men and women as well as separate social areas available. There is a common games room for both genders and all meals and general assemblies are jointly-attended by men and women in the centre.
Another issue brought up in the formal complaint to the minister outlined a concern that addictions treatment programs in the NWT focus on treating chemical dependency without dealing with the personal issues in a client's life which create or encourage the addiction. Criticism about the lack of co-operation between treatment facilities in the North is also mentioned in the complaint.
Sullivan said the NAS is in full agreement with the complaint regarding the lack of co-operation and the narrow scope of addictions treatment in the North. She said NAS is working on expanding treatment to include the treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder and other issues surrounding client's addiction problems. Sullivan also said that addictions services in the North have to work together to accomplish the common goal of improving services available to clients.
"In the future we would want an alliance with the women's centre rather than the airing dirty laundry approach and work together," said Sullivan.
A spokesperson for the Department of Health said a review of the complaint will be conducted by the minister, Kelvin Ng.
"Generally speaking once a complaint is in, the minister gets someone in the department to investigate the complaint," said Aly Valli, acting director of the department.
"With every complaint we need to look at the complaint and the complainant to see what issues are involved and sometimes the best way is to get both sides at the table."
