Most treatment centers offer some sort of program for their alumni. Unfortunately, Vista’s research shows that most alumni programs are not particularly well-attended. Among 11,753 adult SUD patients who submitted outcomes surveys six or twelve months after leaving treatment, only 8% reported having remained involved in their center’s alumni program for at least six months. By comparison, 39% of these patients reported attending recovery support meetings for at least six months.
Brick House Recovery’s Alumni Program is Unusually Effective
Brick House Recovery’s alumni program stands apart. Twice as many patients (16%) report being involved in the alumni program for at least six months, and every single one of these patients who was reached at twelve months post-treatment reported being abstinent.
Overall, patients who were involved in Brick House’s alumni program for at least six post-treatment months were 38% more likely to be reachable and abstinent one year after discharge than patients who were never involved in the alumni program:
Jason Coombs, Brick House Recovery’s founder and CEO, shaped the alumni program around what he learned through his own multiple stints in treatment. It has three foundational principles:
Three Principles of An Effective Alumni Program
1. Successful recovery requires identity change. Years ago when Jason was in early sobriety, he had an epiphany after giving advice to a father with a drug-addicted son. Jason realized that when he stopped focusing on his own problems and started using his hard-earned experience to help someone else, his identity shifted. Viewing himself as a person in long-term recovery made it easier to act accordingly.
Brick House divides its treatment and recovery into three phases. New patients are called Chain Breakers. During this period, which typically lasts about four weeks, they focus on stabilization – completing withdrawal, starting appropriate medications and learning better behaviors.
In the next phase, patients focus on achieving emotional stability. For the next four or so months, Change Makers connect with their higher power, work the 12 steps, and start seeing themselves as disruptors breaking the chain of addiction that may have existed in their family for generations. Change Makers also focus on making a difference in the lives of others by befriending and mentoring newcomers who have just joined Brick House’s program.
Finally, Hope Dealers go out into the community to be messengers of hope to people still struggling with addiction. They sponsor others, share their story publicly, and possibly start working at a treatment center or writing a book. As a reward for their hard work, once patients graduate to this level, they receive a coveted Hope Dealer bomber jacket:
2. Principle two: the alumni program should be lots of fun. A common fear among people contemplating sobriety is that they will no longer be able to have any fun without their substance of choice. To address that concern, each of Brick House’s three centers has an alumni committee with a small budget. The alumni themselves plan fun get-togethers like barbeques, paddle boarding trips and cold plunges. Every fall, there’s an eagerly-awaited three-day camping trip for the whole family.
3. Principle three: make a big deal when patients graduate from treatment. Brick House publicly celebrates the success of each of its graduates and their families in monthly graduation parties. The evening moves in stages. The staff starts by honoring the journey that the individual and their family members have been through to get here. Then the graduate speaks about their experience and how they feel today.
The most emotional moment usually comes next. Family members — spouses, children, parents, siblings — talk about the fear they used to feel, and the hope for the future they have now. Finally, peers tell stories about how the graduate helped them get through treatment.
These evenings can run three hours, but nobody seems to mind. They are incredibly powerful not only for the graduates and their families, but also for new patients who can see recovery exemplified.
Most alumni programs ask patients to stay connected; Brick House asks them to become someone new. That's why twice as many Brick House patients remain engaged long-term and why those that do are 38% more likely to be abstinent one year after treatment. Learn more about how Jason built such an effective alumni program by watching our full conversation here:
Joanna