Healing through our pain

When we are asked why do we do what we do, and answer it from our hearts, we do this work because we have experienced pain in our own lives, and have experienced healing. Many people say that we work from our brokenness, but we disagree at Oasis Recovery Centre, we work from our healing, and in that, we know that there is hope for change, hope for recovery.

We do not see our clients as problems that need fixing, we see humans that have become stuck in destructive or maladaptive ways of surviving their worlds, and their lives. This pattern of behaviour has usually started at a young age, as a child starts learning about the world, their world. Is their world safe, secure, consistent, are there appropriate boundaries, do they have autonomy, are they able to express themselves and build a sense of self esteem? These are the questions that are asked as we begin the journey of healing with our clients, because understanding their world and the way they have adapted to survive is imperative in building a comprehensive treatment plan for healing.

Addiction treatment has changed dramatically over the years, and we strive to be ahead of the curve in the way that we treat each individual who comes through our doors. Understanding their defences as a means of protection, whether armed with high security fences, or hiding under a frozen mass of ice, we try see the person, their pain, them.

What does each client need to find hope in their lives?

The most important thing is safety.

What do we need, what do we as professionals need to do this work?

The most important thing is safety.

The reason why we do what we do, resonates throughout Oasis.

We provide safety and healing because we have been able to cultivate, nurture and grow safety in our own lives and the team that works with our clients.

Safety for families who send their clients across the globe for healing, safety for the clinicians based on trusted relationships, built through years of working together, safety in knowing, we will hold each and every client's heart, as safely as we have held our own.

To create safety we need to do the following as each of our clients come through our doors:

1. Establish empathic holding.
2. Establish trust.
3. Provide containment and boundaries.
4. View our client's individual signals(verbal/non-verbal; physical/non-physical) as a means of understanding the way they engage with their world because that is the only way they know how.
5. Create opportunities for changing behaviour by eliminating the perceived or real threats in our clients lives.
6. Validate the emotional experience of our clients, no matter their story.
7. Provide tools to empower our clients to change the way they live their lives in this world.
8. Provide avenues for change.