Family of 3 needs treatment in Sarnia, Ontario

Every caller’s situation is different and unique. In our blogs we try to highlight the uniqueness of each person’s addiction. This next story is an excellent example of that. The caller, Jeff*, and his girlfriend’s 20-year-old daughter, Amy*, both struggle with addiction and dependency issues. All three live in Sarnia, Ontario.

We began with providing Jeff with a list of assessment offices in Sarnia. We suggested Jeff contact them first to see what resources and services they can provide for him and his girlfriend as an affected loved one (e.g. family support). This way, Jeff can “kill two birds with one stone” because you can also find out what options are available for Amy.

SARNIA OUTPATIENT – Government or Contracted Agencies

Bluewater Health, Lambton County Addiction Services

209 Essex Street 
Sarnia, ON N7T 4S1
Phone: (519) 464-4400ext.5370
 E-Mail: pstebbins@bluewaterhealth.ca
Assessment and outpatient counselling for youth and adults. Bluewater Health also has an intensive outpatient program (typically for one week on a daily basis for several hours each day).

Westover Treatment Centre
350 Indian Road 
Sarnia, ON N7T 3W8
Phone: (519) 692-5110
 E-Mail: homeoffice@westover-fdn.org
Outpatient counselling for youth, adults, and affected family members and significant others.

Here is a link to all the residential treatment program in Ontario: http://www.canadadrugrehab.ca/ON/Ontario-Residential-Alcohol-Drug-Rehab-Programs.html#adult

We suggested Jeff and his girlfiend print off a list of the programs that interest him or he would be willing to help Amy travel, such as a program that is 90+ days, women-only, includes trauma therapy, etc. 
Contact the Ontario Health Insurance hotline (1-800-565-8603) for public addiction treatment and don’t forget to use our “questions to consider asking facilities” when researching treatment options prior to detox and assessment.

GOVERNMENT TREATMENT:

When Jeff calls the Ontario Drug and Alcohol 24-hour hotline, we advised him to ask for the following 4 pieces of information:

1. Initial assessment facilities
– In order to get a referral to a government treatment program you must be assessed first.
2. Available detox facilities
– Depending on how severe the substance dependency is, a medical detox may be needed.
3. Outpatient Treatment
– These programs are typically 6-12 weeks long, once a week, for 1-6 hours at a time.
– They provide more support than meetings, but less than rehab.
– This is sometimes a good interim solution while you or Amy are waiting to get into a rehabilitation program.
4. Residential treatment options available