In the news: Peer mentoring for parolees

"I'm only looking forward," - Michael Everett

The Bronx Free Press covered our new peer mentoring program for parolees in its January 21st edition. Reporter Gregg McQueen visited our outpatient clinic in the Bronx to speak with Mary Callahan, senior manager, director of Outpatient Services, and Michael Everett, a certified recovery coach, about this innovative program and how it will help reduce recidivism in participants. Check out the full article here.

Our Winter 2015 newsletter is now available!

The Winter 2015 edition of Odyssey House News is now available! Read about our expanded peer mentoring programs, recovery month celebrations, new board members, and more. Check it out and let us know what you think in the comments or on our Facebook wall. If you'd like to receive a copy in the mail, please email your contact information to info(at)odysseyhouseinc.org.

New peer mentoring program targets parolee recidivism

OdysseyHouse has been awarded a two-year, $300,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) to implement a pre- and post-release mentoring and recovery program for parolees at the Edgecombe Correctional Facility (ECF) in Northern Manhattan. The program builds on the successful peer-mentoring model Odyssey House provides as part of its outpatient services and the intensive 45-day in-prison treatment program it currently operates at ECF for technical violators of parole.

The new mentoring program will provide services for up to 200 parolees and create a bridge from prison to community living during the critical re-entry period when many inmates are at risk of relapse.

Since the ECF program was established in 2008 through a joint effort with New York State Office of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Services (OASAS), New York State Department of Corrections (DOCS), New York State Division of Parole, and Odyssey House, more than 3,660 inmates have participated in a holistic program designed to reduce recidivism and dependence on alcohol and/or drugs. An estimated 80 percent of state prison inmates have histories of drug or alcohol abuse, and approximately two-thirds of offenders in re-entry are re-arrested within three years of release, with 52 percent returning to prison for a technical violation or a new crime. 

As part of the Edgecombe Peer Mentoring Program (EPMP), Odyssey House counseling advocates, who are Credentialed Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Counselors, will work on-site at the prison to provide group recovery services. These groups will enhance treatment services currently offered by Odyssey House to assist inmates in creating a crucial support network that will be in place as they leave prison. This approach will provide a seamless continuum of service for parolees by linking them to a network of peer mentors who will serve as their recovery coaches as they adjust to sober lifestyles in their communities. The post-release component will be provided by volunteer recovery coaches consisting of individuals who have completed treatment and are in sustained recovery. All peer mentors will have received training in evidence-based programs including: Recovery Coaching; Thinking for Change; and Motivational Enhancement Therapy.

Dr. Peter Provet, president and CEO of Odyssey House, said he was excited to be partnering with the Department of Justice and NYS agencies in this innovative program that directs resources at reducing recidivism. “We know we can break the cycle of addiction and incarceration when treatment, law enforcement, and criminal justice agencies work together to provide real alternatives that help people with substance use disorders find a new way of living that supports recovery, offers work and life skills, and protects against relapse and recidivism.” 

Recovery and the holidays

This article by Dr. Peter Provet, president and CEO of Odyssey House, originally appeared as a guest post on the Office of National Drug Control Policy's "Pushing Back" blog in 2009.

For individuals with substance use disorders, the Holiday Season brings ambivalent feelings, at best. Memories of past disappointment, pain, and emptiness – and the self-destructive attempts at self-medicating them – are close at hand. Anger towards others and guilt for one’s own failures drive the addict to try to forget. The “party,” followed by subsequent “runs” and “binges,” are largely the addict’s attempt to forget, to erase a painful past, while pretending that momentary intoxication will cure years of emotional and physical suffering.

Like so many psychological defenses, however, “forgetting” the past – sweeping it under the rug – is ineffective. Without insight, resolution, and closure, the addict’s destiny is to repeat: to repeat patterns of maladaptive behaviors fueled by wish fulfillment and the press for instant gratification.

The addict in treatment learns and relearns this day after day. At Odyssey House, we liken treatment to constantly holding a mirror up to the addict’s face. It is through seeing oneself deeply – one’s attitudes, personality style, motives, social skills, work ethic, family responsibilities – that renewed memories can be evolved, a new sense of self forged, and hope for the future restored.

Treatment does work, though it is hard work. First and foremost it takes commitment, as recovery is a lifelong task.

Just as the Holidays are a time of increased relapse, they can also be a time of resolution and resolve. Individual addicts can commit or recommit to a sober life and families can participate in that commitment. Just as every addict has gone through a long course of struggle and compromise, so has the family.

The family has experienced great hardship and tried so many approaches to help their addicted loved one. Love, support, encouragement, anger, limit-setting and separation are just some of the common familial reactions to the addict. And just as the individual addict has lived on an emotional roller coaster, so too has the family. And just as the individual can not simply forget – obliterate – the past, neither can the family.

Families need to go through their own healing process and should, whenever feasible, be involved in their loved one’s treatment. Analogous to the addict’s process, the family must also seek resolution and closure. Respect for the addict’s commitment to sobriety and the recovery process is essential – however, it must be tempered with moderate expectations, where understandable skepticism only slowly gives way to optimism and confidence.

Throughout the Holiday Season at Odyssey House, we try our best to be mindful of these complex individual and family issues, all the while staying diligently hopeful. Celebrating the redemptive nature of the human spirit is as important in the world of recovery as it is anywhere.

Happy Holidays from Odyssey House!