Continuing Care Program Overview

Guests who commence from 30 days of immersion in Alcoholics Anonymous 12 steps of recovery at Discovery Place are just beginning to walk a road of freedom toward a lifetime of recovery from drugs and alcohol. We don't want these men to walk this road alone because recovery from drugs and alcohol is not something that should be done alone. Continued rehabilitation and recovery depends upon ongoing participation in an Alcoholics Anonymous 12 step program of recovery. Accordingly, we make every effort to insure that each guest continues to stay deeply committed and actively involved in his own Alcoholics Anonymous 12 step program of recovery from drugs and alcohol. 

The process begins before a guest leaves Discovery Place when, in conjunction with their Recovery Guide, they construct and commit themselves to their own Continuing Care program. Allowing a guest to create their own program gives them ownership in their personal rehabilitaiton and recovery from drugs and alcohol.

When a guest commences, we contact him intensely for several months after departure to review his progress against his own personal plan of recovery from drugs and alcohol. This lends needed encouragement, help, and support for what can be a big life transition. If a guest finds himself reverting back to drugs and alcohol, as they sometimes do, the practice of Continuing Care provides the guest and his family a clear and open path back to Discovery Place where a man can quickly get the rehabilitation he needs.

Over the course of the entire year following a 30-day stay at Discovery Place, guests who elect to continue to participate in our Continuing Care program receive ongoing guidance and support to sustain them in their journey into the good life of recovery from drugs and alcohol.

Discovery Place alumni and their families are also encouraged to continue to participate in the ongoing Alumni and Family Programs and events offered by Discovery Place. Continuing Care events take place every week throughout the year. They  include Friday Night Family Nights, Life Lessons in Recovery workshops, our annual rafting trip, bowling tournament and golf tournament , free concerts and our annual picnic. These events are available to guests, their families and the public at large. Last year over 4,300  people attended our events.

71% of Continuing Care program respondents report they are sober.

A key element of the Continuing Care program is maintaining contact with our guests after they depart. The first 90-120 days of early recovery are critical to maintaining ongoing sobriety. In the first 90 days after commencement our Continuing Care representatives call our men weekly. In these calls men are asked 8 key questions which help us gauge their commitment to their sobriety. If a man is beginning to falter, we remind him of the necessity of maintaining his spiritual condition; continuing sobriety comes “ one day at a time” .
Through a grant from the Baptist Healing Trust, Discovery Place has been able to regularly telephone survey not only with our recent guests but also our extended alumni population. While we cannot reach some of our alumni, the majority of our alums participate in our surveys.

Here is what they report :

71% of those who participate in our Continuing Care program report they are sober after 12 months.

51% of all the men who attend Discovery Place are sober after 12 months.

We believe that these reported outcomes are far better than the results achieved by conventional treatment centers.

What does a successful Discovery Place alumnus look like?

The research funds provided through the Baptist Healing Trust have allowed us to construct a statistical profile of a typical Discovery Place alum who is sober 12 months or more after commencement.

The personal recovery program profile of men who successfully maintain sobriety looks like this:

> 76% attend at least 3 A.A. or N.A. meetings a week
> 61% have an A.A. or N.A. sponsor
> 91% actively work the 12 Steps
> 96% pray or meditate

Most of our alumni feel like family after their stay at Discovery Place.  Most men and their families come to realize that a life of recovery is a good life filled with the joy of fellowship and a personal sense of peace  which comes from being " of service" to others. The  Discovery Place Contiuning Care program is broader and more robust than other programs of recovery. Why? It works. The close personal recovery relationships that develop through fellowship are a key ingredient in the 12 step "prescription for living " .