Paths away from addiction

ON BEHALF of "ordinary people" with addiction problems, may I correct an impression readers might have gleaned from Justine Picardie's article on Beechy Colclough ("Rock 'n' roll therapist", Review, 25 June), namely that treatment in Broadreach is akin to a life of monastic religious devotion. A few pointers:

1. AA and NA do not have "methods". They are autonomous self-help groups for people with alcohol and drug problems. They are not treatment.

2. I do not refer to the treatment at Broadreach as "Minnesota Model".

3. We do use the first three to five steps of AA/NA, but as a therapeutic framework for treatment rather than a quasi-religious set of commandments, as implied in the article.

4. Written assignments in treatment are designed to be therapeutic rather than "confessional".

5. Religious belief is not a requirement for treatment.

6. "Cross addiction" is not "Beechy's big theory", nor is it even a theory: it is a descriptive statement of a widely observed condition in this field.

7. That highly emotive word "abstinence" should be understood in the context of a chaotic, unhappy, degrading life, in which to remove the source of this misery is an act of self-liberation.

Tony Hazzard

Treatment Director

Broadreach

Plymouth, Devon