The Girasol View of Drug Dependency Despite what is known today about “drug addiction”, you will still hear people talking about “drug addicts”, labelling them as dissolute, lazy and criminals. The Girasol method understands drug dependency as an inadequate response on the part of the addict to “problems”, which, in turn, only generate more problems. The addict uses drugs as an “anaesthetic”, to which he ascribes a magical power to resolve problems and conflicts such as low self-esteem, difficulty with communicating, unemployment, arguments with his partner or within his family, etc. A Holistic Paradigm In contrast to the medical model which looks at the human being in a fragmented way, and sees the therapist as the architect of the therapeutic process and its main protagonist, the Girasol Method tackles the symptoms of drug dependency by taking into account the whole being of a person. It considers the patient to be a unified being made up of different, interdependent elements ,biological, psychological, social and spiritual. If an imbalance exists in one part of the person the rest of the system becomes affected: hence the need for individually-based diagnosis and treatment. In the Girasol Method it is the patient who is the protagonist, whilst the therapist remains in the wings acting as a catalyst for change. An Individual Approach Another widely held view amongst the public is that all substance mis-users are the same, a view shared by other centres where they offer a standard package of treatment to all their patients. The Girasol Method considers that every case of drug dependency is different and, for that reason, must be treated in a specific way. The extensive experience of Girasol has shown that behind the common symptom of drug dependency lie particular imbalances on the biological, psychological, social and spiritual level which are unique to each individual patient and require their own individual treatments. For this reason, the treatments offered are individualized, have different objectives, and require different lengths of stay to complete. Each individual resident has his own therapeutic regime. Contextual Congruence In Girasol we think that the effective treatment of drug dependency involves working both with the patient and with the family (the context from which the patient comes and to which he will return once the treatment is finished). It’s not enough to work with the individual. There must be a parallel change within the family accompanying individual change, for it to be most effective. Linking with the Positive Development or change must start with a recognition of the positive in a person, our society having a tendency to focus exclusively on the bad, negative or dysfunctional. A person can only improve by experiencing the healthy part of themselves. The therapeutic community, its people and its physical surroundings, are set up to provide the tools with which this healing process can take place. Many people think that there is no way back from drugs, but in our experience there is a way and we trust in the ability of people to find and follow it. Self -Motivation, Self-Responsibility Lastly in our work at Girasol, for treatment to be successful and for change to take place, the patient must want to change of his own free will. Without this self-determination, which is intimately connected to motivation and responsibility, nothing will penetrate beyond the outer layers of a person’s being. If the patient doesn’t truly want to be treated, he is capable of affecting a brilliant “cure” to please other people and then, having left the centre, will carry on taking drugs because nothing was genuinely internalized. In the case of patients who come directly from prison or who are pressured into treatment by their families, the primary objective is to try to turn what is experienced as an obligation, into something that is voluntary.
				The Girasol Foundation Charity No. 1114227