Features

Type of Property

The facilities of Houses of Santiago meet all conditions of Hygiene and Security, established by the Office for Drugs and Drug Addiction (IDT) and Ministry of Health, having been inspected and approved in March 2006. The facilities have capacity for 20 residents, there are two separate wings for male users (14 individuals) and female (6). The house has 5 bedrooms, 5 bathrooms, an art room, that also can be used to do some written works and listen to music, a living room, a group therapy room, the administration and medical wing, the cousellors room, for individual therapies, a meal room with kitchen and suplies room and a swimmingpool area. All surrended by beautifull and peacefull mountains.

Description

Houses of Santiago

The Filosophy
No social problem has a simplistic, generic or schematic resolution. It was on the idea of "alternative" that the project “Houses of Santiago” was built.
Knowing, analyze, diagnose and intervene on the phenomenon are central goals, but do it in an innovative, creative and versatile way, takes equal centrality and is characteristic of our institution. Therefore, it is an institutional strategy to provide alternative spaces that motivate the choice for our program, but mainly to stay within the same, with a view to enhance the work that is developed. However, since the problem of dependence does not only affects the dependent on his own, but all its surroundings, both at the micro level (family, friends) and macro (society in general), we must extend our assistance to all these networks of belonging.
In all social problems, the population for whom and which we work determines the way we do it. In our case, since intervening on multiple addictions, from drugs, alcohol, gambling, emotional (co-dependence) and other compulsive behaviors, submitted by different individuals, from the most varied socio-economic contexts we need to diversify the possibility of answers, adapting them to various needs of those who seek us.

Therapeutic Model

In concern to the Therapeutic level, our intervention is based on the Minnesota Model, commonly known as 12 Step Programme. This model calls for total abstinence from any substance that modifies the mind and/or behavior, and not only the one that the individual considers problematic. It is suggested that the person becomes abstinent from all substances even though they're not the drug of their choice, as it is also recomended that a gambler, for exemple, should not drink or take drugs.
Promoting total abstinence is also recognizing that one characteristic of addiction is to relapse, that the Houses of Santiago try to prevent by having available some extra support through after-cares, the pacient can return to the house once a month for about 12 months to have some monotoring.
Therefore, our therapeutic approach has as primal goals:
Motivate the total abstinence;
Raise awareness of the need to maintain care for the prevention of relapse;
Encourage networks of belonging and identification, a links-sharing and support among dependent on recovery (eg: frequency of meetings of AA or NA); Empowering the spirit of group and inter-help, through support in crisis, but also a confrontation aimed at a constructive change of behavior;
Encouraging the strengthening and capitalization of the individual, with a view to their autonomy; Analyze and act on the same process of change and consequent implications / barriers;
Supporting the entire family, with a view to balance;
Show that you can break with the situations of dependency, living without the substance or behavior-problem.
But these are general goals, only likely to achieve if individuals are likely to change in their situation and involved / participating in the process.

In this sense, the technicians take on a role of guiding and driving forces of behavior, to work individually, but also in the group, extends to the experiences of the whole.

Services

Working in a multidisciplinary team, due to the dynamic of the dependencies phenomenon which demands a versatile and complex work, we have available the following services:
* Individual Therapy
* Group Therapy
* Psychological Support
* Family Therapy
* Art Therapy
* Sports
* Medical Support
* Lectures/Workshops
* Help with Social-Professional Reintegration
* After Care Support

Please follow the website button above for further information. Also you can use the e,mail button to ask Houses of Santiago any questions directly.