Training in Addiction and Recovery

The Hopeful Way Foundation and the Addictive Diseases Unit of Korle Bu Teaching Hospital are conducting a training course in addiction and recovery from 20-24 April at the National Museum in Adabraka-Accra. The course is intended to improve the counseling skills of those dealing with addiction, and to open the possibility of organisations putting in place employee assistance programmes (EAPs) or systems that will help prevent and deal with addiction.

20 April, 2009 – Summary of first day –

It has been confirmed that children as young as fourteen are being recruited to “push” hard drugs in the country, especially at vantage points in the Central Business District of Accra. Teenage peddlers are not likely to be suspected of selling drugs and less likely of being arrested by the authorities. This was said at the opening of the five-day training which was opened by Dr. Joseph Asare, Chairman of Hopeful Way Foundation and retired Director of Psychiatric Hospital in Accra.

The course has as its theme “Addiction, Recovery and Counseling and is designed to impart knowledge to counselors, trainers and those who are interested in establishing employee assistance programmes to deal with problems of employees, including the abuse of alcohol and drugs. The twenty participants in the course come from such places as the Ghana National Association of Teachers, Customs, Narcotics Control Board and the Buduburam Refugee Camp.

Dr. Asare lamented the fact that little attention had been given to demand reduction of illegal drugs, while more efforts have gone into supply reduction. He mentioned school dropouts, street violence, unruly behaviour and the difficulty of providing rehabilitation facilities. He praised the effort by the British Council called “Ghana Against Drugs”. He gave Mexico as an example to be avoided by Ghana. Mexico once considered itself to have only a small problem with drugs but has developed into a huge problem, including drug wars and contract killings.

Dr. Asare made a presentation on the drug abuse in Ghana, followed by Dr. Eugene Dordoye and Mr. Logosu Amegeshie who spoke about the “Change Cycle” in overcoming addiction and the “Comprehensive social data Questionnaire” used with patients. Numerous discussions and questions were entertained before an open meeting of Alcoholics Anonymous was held to better inform the participants about AA.

21 April, 2009 – Summary of second day –

Speakers on the second day included Dr. Araba Sefa-Dedeh, Dr. Sammy Ohene, Dr. Dordoye and Mr. Amegashie. Various aspects of addiction and recovery were covered by the resource persons who were enthusiastically received by the participants. Participants and resource persons shared examples of recovery efforts in numerous places from Wa to Obuasi, Tema and Accra. In Wa some patients walk several kilometers for counseling and AA meetings are often held under a tree. Dr. Ohene emphasized that more attention needs to be given to “primary prevention” in order to protect our children from alcohol and drugs. Brief presentations were also made by participants representing the Ghana Organisation of Fetal Alcohol Syndrome and the Ghana Mental Health Association. Regarding FAS, it was reported that a survey recently conducted with 500 women in Accra, Cape Coast and Takoradi showed that 436 women drank alcohol before becoming pregnant and 365 during pregnancy. The day was ended with three role plays by participants who played the roles of counselors and persons with drug and alcohol problems. In addition to practicing and learning good counseling skills, a good time was had by the performers and the evaluators of the role plays.

22 April, 2009 - Summary/Remarks on Third Day -

Day Three of the training began with a case study where Mr. G came for counselling because of numerous problems, including his drinking one to two bottles of wine per day, complaints from his wife, hangovers and increased drinking to maintain the desired effect. The participants examined the case, made diagnosis of early-late stage of alcoholism which included denial, depression and mood disorder. Mr. G was probably someone who goes "to clear the ghost" or someone who takes "an eye-opener" in the morning said a participant. It was agreed that the best way to help Mr. G was to have him admit that he has a probem with alcohol and to get him to professional help.

Mr. Amegashie then spoke about the AA Twelve Step Counselling Paradigm and responded to numerous questions, including a participant's question about the difference between a drunkard and an alcoholic. Another comment was that "we often hear from alcoholics that there is a spirit behaind the drink, therefore the only way I can stop drinking is to have someone take the spirit away". "The problem is not me but the spirit."

Dr. Araba Sefa Dedeh later spoke on Cognative Behavior Therapy which is a therapeutic approach to helping drug-dependent people overcome their addiction. Cognitive behavior therapy is based on the idea that feelings and behaviors are caused by a person's thoughts, not on outside stimuli like people, situations and events. People may not be able to change their circumstances, but they can change how they think about them and therefore change how they feel and behave. The goal of cognitive behavioral therapy is to teach the person to recognize situations in which they are most likely to drink or use drugs, avoid these circumstances if possible, and cope with other problems and behaviors which may lead to their substance abuse. The therapist's job is to help the patient understand what is going on in their minds and to help develop new coping skills. Dr. Sefa-Dedeh ended her session by sharing numerous ways of helping patients overcome their addiction.