Complimentary Therapies

We offer a range of complimentary therapies including auricular acupuncture, reiki healing, yoga and meditation. From a holistic point of view complimentary therapies can treat the body as well as the mind. Complimentary therapies are very beneficial at the very early stages of recovery and detox phase, helping service users to relax and also enhance their emotional and spiritual well-being. It also relieves stress and allow the service user to cope with difficulties that he/she is experiencing in their day to day lives.

Cultural Competence Training

The aim of the cultural competence training sessions are to provide an overview of culturally sensitive issues specifically related to the African/Caribbean, South Asian and Dual Heritage communities, this training focuses on the following themes:

• Barriers to engaging with mainstream services,
• lack of cultural empathy,
• Issue with trust, confidentiality and cultural identification.
• Equal opportunities
• Legislation: Race Equality Requirements

The training will create an opportunity for service providers to explore and understand the barriers that affect empathic communication with service users from different cultural backgrounds.

Developmental Service Provider benefits

• Improve communication with BME service users
• Increase staff self-awareness
• Challenge pre-conceptions of key BME communities
• Assess own prejudices and stereotypes
• Improve ability to engage effectively and empathically with BME service users

Barriers to engagement Service User Perspective

‘Having someone to talk to who really understands what you’re going through anytime day and night is very beneficial to me. The support and non-judgemental attitude is excellent. Being with my own ethnic groups also helps me free up a lot easier’

Barriers to engagement Service Provider Perspective

‘More in depth discussion relating to eliminating racism and my part in it’

‘Lack of empathy & understanding’

‘Fear of upsetting/ saying the wrong thing’

Culturally Specific Self Help Groups

The BAC-IN self-help group meetings create an environment that fosters a sense of safety and trust where service users can share and communicate their experiences at a culturally empathic level. Cultural empathy and cultural identification can help many service users to re-connect with those cultural aspects many of them would deny, suppress or feel unsafe to talk about with their friends with their family and in other groups or in other recovery meetings. Some of the key issues discussed during the meetings include alcohol addiction, stimulant misuse as well as opiate and prescriptive drugs. The self-help groups also acknowledge and empower each service users cultural, traditional, religious, social and spiritual values.

The key benefits of the self-help groups are as follows:

• BAC-IN provides an effective alternative to existing recovery programmes.
• Offer options which lead to total abstinence from mind and mood altering drugs as well as support with harm reduction.
• Enables personal development, socially as well as psychologically.
• Enables the personal/social and communication development.
• Enable more BME clients to access treatment and support services.
• Enable more BME clients to achieve sustainable drug free lives.
• Enable more women and families to receive the support they need.
• Build on and enhance existing services for BME substance mis-users.
• Improve outcomes for BME substance mis-users and their families.
• Add value to the range of generic agencies who come into contact with this client group by supporting them to work more effectively with BME clients and communities.