Paul Bickford
Northern News Services
Published Monday, November 19, 2007

HAY RIVER RESERVE - A woman who went through the 28-day program at the Nats'ejee K'eh Treatment Centre two years ago says honesty is the key to success.

Melvin Larocque is the executive director of the Nats'ejee K'eh Treatment Centre on the Hay River Reserve. - Paul Bickford/NNSL photos

"Just be as honest as you can. It's very important to be honest with yourself and with others," said the woman, who did not wish to be identified.

"You have to admit alcohol is taking over your life and alcohol is destroying your life," she said.

She said some people tend to "clam up" when going to treatment, possibly because they are ashamed.

"But me, I just opened up about my whole life," she said. "I just spilled my guts out."

The former client had been to treatment twice before in Edmonton before going to the Nats'ejee K'eh Treatment Centre on the Hay River Reserve.

Her problem with drinking was mainly caused by the loss of loved ones.

At those times, she said she would turn to alcohol.

"At night, I would pass out with my bottle because I was hurting on the inside," she recalled.

She went to the Nats'ejee K'eh Treatment Centre in early 2006, even though she had not drank for several years and had not used marijuana for about a year.

However, she said she had to deal with her issues, particularly lingering grief from the death of her father, or she would have drifted back to her old habits of alcohol abuse.

The centre offers a good place to heal, she said.

"It was a very nice atmosphere for me."

All the staff make clients feel very comfortable and secure, she said, adding that that is very important. "Otherwise, you can't go on. You'd feel negative."

The centre offers group and one-on-one counselling, seminars, workshops, movies about addictions, Alcoholics Anonymous meetings and advice from elders.

"It's very intense," the former client said.

She said it's important to be at the live-in centre to get away from a person's normal life.

"You need to deal with yourself with no interruption from the outside world," she said.

The Nats'ejee K'eh Treatment Centre is the only such facility of its kind in the NWT.

Each year, the centre helps about 200 adults referred from around the NWT, along with some from Nunavut and northern Alberta.

Melvin Larocque, the program's executive director, said more than 85 per cent of clients have problems with alcohol, as opposed to illegal drugs.

The treatment program focuses on a holistic approach to healing, the physical element of addiction and how it harms the body, and the mental effects of addiction.

Larocque said the program also deals with emotions by addressing how addiction contributes to covering up issues a person should be dealing with.

The final component is the spiritual life of a client.

It is difficult to determine how successful clients are when they return to their communities, he said.

"Our success rate is by word of mouth," Larocque said. "The community workers call back and say this person went and is still doing good and it's been three years. Those things we hear about."