The Buttery branches out

Taking their 40 years of learning from helping people rehabilitate from alcohol, drug and gambling addictions to get their lives on track The Buttery is now taking this to the wider community through a number of new initiatives.

They recently completed their first free community rehabilitation program supporting people who were dealing with drug and alcohol rehabilitation while they continued to live in the community.

‘This was aimed at people with families who need to address their addiction who can’t come into a residential program as they still have to care for their families,’ said Development Manager, Chris Benaud.

Participants attend the program on a daily basis for six weeks but return home in the evenings. The program was supported by the North Coast Primary Health Network (NCPHN) through a $220,000  commonwealth funding program.

Eleven of the twelve participants graduated from the program and ‘The one who did not finish left stating that he was well now and could carry on without the group,’ said Buttery CEO John Mundy.

‘Our experience is that this retention rate is remarkable – normally a 40 per cent drop out rate is expected.’

The free program is already over subscribed with the next program soon to be up and running.

For more information click here.

The Buttery Private

Looking to assist professionals suffering from work stress, burnout and drug and alcohol misuse is now being launched as a social enterprise.

Workplace mental stress costs an estimated $10 billion a year in Australia. Exhaustion and work stress can cause chronic illness and increases presenteeism: where people are so exhausted at work that they are not really present or productive when they are there.

According to 2014 OECD figures one in five Australian men and around six per cent of women work more than 50 hours of paid work per week.

‘If you suffer from really serious burnout you can be out of the workforce for five to six years,’ continued Benaud.

The Buttery Private program is aimed at people who are in the early stages of burnout ‘who are on the brink of a breakdown or have had one.’

The program is a four week residential program where each participant works with their personal clinician to develop a customised program addressing their specific needs.

The follow up program incorporates working with a therapist via phone and Skype to assist participants to bring about lasting change.

Surplus profits from Buttery Private will be used by the organisation to support its other charitable programs.

‘The Buttery Private program is based on The Buttery’s program which has been developed and refined for over forty years, helping people achieve more healthful, meaningful lives. Everyone deserves to reach their full potential free form self-limiting behaviours and The Buttery Private program is designed to achieve that,’ said General Manager of The Buttery’s therapeutic programs, Trent Reece.

For more information click here.