Getting Help: Where Do I Start?

How to find a treatment service?

•    Contact Odyssey House Victoria on (03) 9420 7600 (statewide) or Stepping Up on 1800 828 466 (locations in Pakenham, Cranbourne, Melton & Werribee)
•    For immediate assistance, call Directline on 1800 888 236 for a 24/7 counselling, information and referrals to other services, OR try Online Counselling at www.counsellingonline.org.au or www.eheadspace.org.au (for youth)
•    You can also contact your local Alcohol & Drug or Mental Health service directly
•    For telephone support and advice for families members, contact Family Drug Help - Helpline on 1300 660 068 or www.familydrughelp.org.au

How do I get into treatment?

There are different ways to get help, including:

•    Going to your local doctor/GP to get a referral
•    Calling an ambulance/going to a hospital if it is an emergency
•    Contacting any Drug & Alcohol service directly and making an appointment for an assessment or to see a counsellor

Most public organisations will provide a free service.  However, there may be a waiting list for some services. You may want to try telephone counselling (1800 888 236) or online counselling (counsellingonline.org.au). There are also private services (like psychologists) available at a cost who can be accessed through your local GP.

Assessment

Generally when you go for treatment, they will ask you questions about
•    The drugs you are using and your drug use history
•    The people who support you and your current living/financial arrangements
•    Your mental health now and your mental health history
•    They may also ask you about your family and your past

These questions help the service plan the best treatment options for you. You do not have to tell them anything you don’t want to but the more honest you are about your drug use and mental health, the more useful the treatment plan will be.

Types of Treatment - different treatments are available depending on your needs:

Counselling/Therapy: for both mental health and substance use issues. Counselling can be individual or family inclusive.

Detox (Drug Withdrawal) Services - it should be noted that Odyssey House Victoria does not provide Detox services but we can refer you to another service provider.

•    Home-based: Drug withdrawal happens at home with the help of health care workers who visit you every day, and someone close to you who
is able to support you.
•    Outpatient: You withdraw at home but stay in regular contact with the health care team or your doctor.
•    Community residential: (Adult or Youth) withdrawal occurs in a specialist residential unit, where you receive care and supervision. This can be particularly helpful if you are likely to get very unwell or don’t have someone to support you during detox.

In-house/Residential treatment programs: This can be anything from short stay programs (a few weeks), such as Odyssey House’s Circuit Breaker to long stay services, such as the Odyssey House Therapeutic community (more than a year). Residential treatment may be based on a variety of philosophies.  For example ‘the twelve step model’ (Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous) is common. Odyssey House services are based on a variety of evidence based interventions including peer support, cognitive, family and behavioural approaches.  Each service has its own way of thinking and operating but there can be a lot of overlap.

Supported Accommodation: You live with others who also have alcohol/drug and/or mental health issues, usually in 2 bedroom properties. A support worker keeps in contact with how you are and helps you to sort out what you need including further treatment, social activities, employment and further accommodation.

Medication: This can help with both mental health and substance use issues and is prescribed by a GP or a psychiatrist. Medication can reduce symptoms including alcohol/drug cravings, depression, anxiety and unwanted thoughts or hallucinations.

What treatment comes first?

•    The treatment you have will depend on what you want to get out of it, how you want to live your life and what a healthy life would look like to you.
•    This means that any service you go to will be making sure you have a treatment plan that fits the goals you agree to. This will help to decide what are your best options.
•    Often drug withdrawal is the starting point, because a period of time without drugs will help you and your counsellor better understand what symptoms come from where.

Coming soon

The following is a collection of stories, observations, poems and reflections from people who have undertaken a journey of change through Odyssey House Victoria.  The names of these people have been changed to protect their privacy.

Freedom

“It’s nice to have some freedom from the confines of myself, to let go of negativity and feel the peace flow from within, to be aware and able to move forward, to be happy.
“It’s been a long and hazardous journey from the innocent, ignorant happiness of a child that can still feel the excitement of a new life and world to explore. Through the distress of rejections and resentments of never being good enough, seeing this hell of earth, where good people are tramples in the worldwide race to make it to the top, to be number one and have all the power. Through the numbness of substance addiction into the downward spiral to insanity and the thump as you hit rock bottom and realise that there’s nothing left of the promise that once was, none of it was real anyway.
“There are two options when you first hit bottom. You can lay there and wallow in the pain, waiting for life to end or you can choose to start the journey up and out of the darkness, back into the light that was once seen and felt. I chose the second option after the shock of the fall wore off.
“It wasn’t easy. I had to hold on tight and pull myself up inch by inch. I had to “keep my bum in the seat” as they say, but sure enough, each day that went by, each inch that I gained, it became easier and easier to make that next move. Onward and upward. Back into sanity and back into the warm glowing light at the top of the hole. Now I can feel that light on my skin, now I’ve started to feel that original happiness again, although it’s not so ignorant anymore. I’ve been places and seen things that a lot of people couldn’t imagine. And I’ve survived so far and I wouldn’t change a thing about any of it because it’s proof to me that the good guys can win and without this journey I would never have been able to find the peace and freedom I now have.
“I’m not saying that my journey is over, and I’m not saying that it’s all going to be sunshine and rainbows from here on out, but at least I can enjoy it to some degree now, and at least I made it out of the numbness and insanity. That’s freedom to me. And, in my opinion, that’s all that matters.”

James

Barefoot

by Kirby

Barefoot is a short writing piece by Kirby, a young woman aged 15, who grew up in the chaos of a mother with bipolar disorder and an injecting drug problem. In the midst of this, Kirby finds a secure attachment in a family friend named Barefoot. Barefoot would often bring groceries when there were none, make preparations for Christmas when there were none or ensure Kirby had her birthday acknowledged. Kirby writes of her grief after Barefoot himself succumbed to a drug overdose.

In theory, each individual’s life is a novel.
As I think of my chapters so far,
I always seem to find myself stuck,
In the chapters entailing you.

Despite the long years that have passed by,
I still feel as though it was yesterday,
I was sitting on your knee.
As bad as things were,
As bad as you were,
Everything troubling around me froze when,
Your company was present.

Now it’s all the past though,
I keep revising over old chapters,
I thought the future held more chapters,
My knight in shining armour.

Sometimes I would blame you,
However now I see that it wasn’t out of the regular.
It was the same routine as every other day,
It was probably bad luck,
Maybe it was Karma?
I just keep telling myself,
Everything happens for a reason.
And here’s a secret just for you…

I’ve memorized every detail, every moment,
Every breath you ever took when featured in my life’s novel.
And now I breathe you in,
With your name branded on my heart,
Until my novel is finished,
And I too will be with you.

Kirby is being supported by Odyssey House Victoria’s Youth Team. Kirby has copyright for this work. The work is being used with Kirby’s consent.

Odyssey House Victoria is a specialist drug and alcohol agency that provides opportunities for change and growth by reducing drug use, improving mental health, and reconnecting people to their family and the community.

The first Odyssey House opened in New York in 1966 as a residential rehabilitation program for people with a drug or alcohol addiction. The program was founded on the ancient idea of a therapeutic community. Central to Odyssey House’s philosophy is the conviction that a new, drug-free lifestyle can be created through self-discovery, behavioural change and new relationships. This can be achieved within a supportive environment, based on mutual respect and responsibility.