A Three to Six Month Rehabilitation Program Tailored to Youths’ Needs

Portage has been tailoring its addiction rehabilitation programs to the specific needs of young people and their families for many years now. Its residential centres offer variable-length therapy programs that can last anywhere from three to six months, depending on each youth’s journey towards sobriety.

Condensed program phases

At Portage, therapy includes six phases that follow up on the objectives set by a youth and their counsellor in order to break free from drug or alcohol dependency. Since the rehabilitation program takes place in a therapeutic community environment, it is the residents who work together, under a counsellor’s supervision, to assess whether or not the objectives have been met.     With the support of their peers, youth learn about responsibility for their behaviour and their fellow residents.

Family involvement is the key to success

Portage firmly believes in the importance of helping a resident’s loved ones during therapy because they play a vital role in the rehabilitation process. Whether the purpose is to re-establish trust with their child or to work on the root causes of the dependency, parents must be fully invested in their child’s journey. Portage organizes group meetings for the families of young people receiving therapy.  Supervised by a counsellor, these meetings give families an opportunity to discuss any problems they may be encountering and to realize they are not alone facing these situations.

As part of its youth program, Portage has implemented a 12-week workshop designed for the parents of young people receiving therapy. The purpose of the workshop is to promote parents’ involvement as well as their understanding of the challenges that lie ahead, and to help youth advance more quickly along the road to sobriety.

Enhanced external support

Once they’ve completed the residential phase, youth enter an aftercare program that includes weekly follow-ups with peers and counsellors during group and individual meetings. This social reintegration phase is a vital part of the youth’s journey because this is when they will face many temptations to start using again.

In order to prevent relapses, Portage has intensified aftercare follow-up for youth who complete their residential program in under six months, by offering more individual meetings for graduates and additional support for parents.

All these program adjustments and additional features help provide follow-ups that are tailored to each youth’s needs so they can progress according to their own rhythm and return to their family and academic environment sooner if they are ready. Starting a therapy program is never easy, but throughout the last 50 years Portage has made every effort to provide the very best care to those in need.