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DEH CHO
Dehcho Health and Social Services Authority is launching a pilot project that will give people seeking treatment for drug and alcohol addictions a new option.

The Matrix program began in Fort Providence on Aug. 15 and will start in Fort Simpson on Sept. 26. The Matrix is a highly structured outpatient drug and alcohol treatment program, said Carolyn Wilkes, the clinical supervisor for Dehcho Health and Social Services.

Previously, the most common option for people struggling with drug and alcohol addictions in the Deh Cho was to attend the 28-day in-patient residential treatment program at the Nats'ejee K'eh Treatment Centre in Hay River. The Matrix differs from this because it will allow residents to say in their home community while getting help, said Wilkes.

In Fort Providence, the program will run for 16 weeks. Participants are required to attend two-hour sessions daily from Monday to Friday.

The program involves group sessions, individual therapy, a 12-step component as well as family sessions on Wednesdays. In Fort Simpson, the program will follow a similar model but will be compressed into 10 weeks.

Wilkes said the program has a number of benefits including the fact that participants don't have to travel elsewhere to take it. Some people can't leave because of work or family commitments, she said.

By offering the Matrix, Dehcho Health and Social Services is also providing a greater level of services and support to the communities, said Wilkes. Clients may still go to Hay River if their counsellors determine that is the best option for them, but once they return, they will be able to take advantage of the Matrix for additional support, she said.

"We don't like to set people up for failure so we want to set up as effective a treatment plan as possible," said Wilkes.

The Matrix program originated in the United States in the late 1980s and has since been modified to other locations. The Fort Smith Health and Social Services Authority began offering it a number of years ago.

After hearing positive news about the program and its graduates in Fort Smith, Wilkes sought and received approval to do a pilot project in the Deh Cho. Two existing staff members in each community will be running the program.

The project will be evaluated after the first session is finished.

"We anticipate it will become a regular part of our services," Wilkes said. "We feel pretty positive about it."

She said there is a large need for a program like this in the Deh Cho and she expects the demand to grow as people learn about it.

In its first year, three people graduated from the program in Fort Smith. Wilkes said she is hoping for similar numbers in the pilot project for both Fort Providence and Fort Simpson.

Pierre Morais, a mental health and addictions counsellor who will be one of two staff running the Matrix in Fort Simpson, said he is looking forward to the start of the program.

"I think there is a big need for a new way of offering addiction treatment to the people in the Deh Cho and I think this goes a long way to accomplishing that," he said.

Morais said in his experience, going to treatment centres is not always a good solution because it is an artificial environment. It's relatively easy to stay clean at the centre but not when you come home, he said.

With the Matrix, clients will be able to practise establishing a recovery lifestyle while staying in their home community and resisting temptations that their habits and environment provide.

"In a way, it's a more powerful treatment program," he said.

Morais added that there's no easy solution to deal with addictions and that there are varying degrees of success for any program but the Matrix will be a valuable option for people in the Deh Cho.

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