Sahara Addictions Program

What is Sahara Addictions Program (SAP)?

The Sahara Addictions Program (SAP) provides assistance and support to those individuals and their family members who are struggling with the substances abuse issues. SAP strives to improve the quality of life by supporting clients and their families through a guided journey to recovery from substance use/abuse in a holistic and culturally appropriate manner.

This Program offers:

Case Management

We also have short term (Insted Program) and long term case management.

Case manager provides Individualized assessment and planning. Service co-ordination (linking service recipients with services and support(s). Supportive Counselling Services. Monitoring and evaluation of services provided to recipients. Systems advocacy/resources co-ordination and outreach in the community. Case Manager meets with the client at a location that is most convenient, safe and comfortable for the client.

Addiction’s Day Program

Addictions Day Program is a linguistically and culturally appropriate psycho-educational group program for South Asian Men who have problems associated with substance abuse. This is a 3 week program that runs Monday to Thursday, 10:00am – 1:00pm at the Malton Location.

SAHARA Men’s Group (SMG)

SAHARA Men’s Group program addresses “substance abuse” and “violence behaviour” issues simultaneously. SMG is a 16 week program that runs every Saturday at 9:30am – 12:00pm at 135 McLaughlin Rd S., Brampton, ON.

Relapse Prevention Group

SAHARA Relapse Prevention Group program is an aftercare program for clients that have completed their Addictions care plan and are now in the maintenance stage of their recovery. A “buddy” system is created in order to encourage mutual support among the members of the group to assist one another through their recovery process.

This group runs every Friday from 6:00pm – 8:00pm at the Malton Location.

Family Enhancement

The program is designed to provide skills and coping strategies to South Asian families through individual, couples and family supportive sessions. This program helps individuals to enhance their quality of life.

SAHARA Women’s Group

SWG is a linguistically and culturally appropriate psycho-educational group program for South Asian women. This group provides coping and supportive strategies to enhance their quality of life and runs twice a month. Childcare is provided. Healthy refreshments are provided during the group programs.

Mission

The mission of Sahara Addictions Peer Support Program is to build addiction-focused peer support that is integrated with current programs and partnerships; is culturally appropriate and based on the principles of hope, recovery, empathy, respect and self-determination.

Scope

The addiction program is offered to individuals 16 years of age and above with addictions issues and to their family members and significant others.

Objectives

• To create a culture of valuing the ‘voice of people’ with lived  experiences
• To ensure that clients who want and need peer support receive it
• To reduce clients’ dependence on crisis services, including visits to emergency departments (EDs)
• To provide social and emotional support to the clients
• To provide support to clients’ family members/significant others
• To provide linkages to clinical care and community resources
• To provide ongoing support, extended over time

Symptoms of Addiction

Tolerance: Tolerance means that, over time, you need more drugs to feel the same effects.

Withdrawal Symptoms: Anxiety or jumpiness; shakiness or trembling; sweating, nausea and vomiting; insomnia; depression; irritability; fatigue or loss of appetite and headaches.

Loss of Control: Using more drugs that they wanted to, for longer than they intended, or despite telling themselves that they wouldn’t do it this time.

Desire to Stop, But Can’t: They have a persistent desire to cut down or stop their drug use, but all efforts to stop and stay stopped, have been unsuccessful.

Neglecting Other Activities: They are spending less time on activities that used to be important to them (hanging out with family and friends, exercising or going to the gym, pursuing hobbies or other interests) because of the use of drugs.

Drugs Take up Greater Time, Energy and Focus:

They spend a lot of time using drugs, thinking about it, or recovering from its effects. They have few, if any, interests, social or community involvements that don’t revolve around the use of drugs.

Source: CAMH & National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence, Inc.

Call for more free counselling information:

Please call: 905-677-0889

or e-mail: addictionsprogram@pchs4u.org

The services are provided at NO COST to the participants.