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As many individuals struggle with mental health and substance use issues, the province, through Interior Health, has made different recovery and treatment services available. Understanding the nuances between them and the multitude of services available can seem overwhelming but is also crucial.

Comprehending the differences between recovery and treatment centres and services first comes by understanding what recovery and treatment are themselves.

"When we talk about recovery, we talk about supporting people long-term to live satisfying, hopeful and meaningful lives as defined by them. Recognizing that recovery might look different for me than what it would look like for you," Melissa White, Lead on Youth and Substance Use Services for Interior Health, says.

"We often talk of recovery or recovery goals as being individual. This could include things like abstaining from substances or cutting down, or safer use, but they also could include goals for living a safer, healthier life. Whatever one's recovery goals are should be recognized and supported and we think that holding those narrow views of recovery as being abstinence-only, or trying to define somebody else's recovery for them, makes it harder for people to seek support."

Treatment refers mostly to the services an individual will require on the road to recovery.

"Substance use treatment refers specifically to services or support for a person to get specialized help in dealing with substance use concerns," White says.

"Treatment might include different things because there are so many pathways to recovery. Treatment often is used synonymously with bed-based or live-in services like withdrawal management bed-based treatment or supportive recovery, but treatment isn't limited to bed-based treatment and it can include services like pharmaceutical or medical treatment, individual or group counselling, peer-support, connection to culture or spiritual care, access to harm reduction supplies, safer use services, consideration for practical support like housing or accommodation of all of those things together."

From these definitions, grasping the contrast between recovery and treatment centres immediately becomes easier.

A treatment centre offers treatment services; services an individual needs to recover from substance use problems would be made available in a treatment centre. Treatment centres are particularly known for their bed-based services, but as White explains, that is just one of the many services offered.

A recovery centre is more of a resource centre, where those seeking help can get it and can understand what different options are available to them, how they can pursue treatment, and how they can achieve their recovery goals.

"Recovery really is defining somebody's own goals whereas treatment is the services that will help a person get there," White says. "A recovery centre has many different options; it's more like a Mental Health and Substance Use Centre that has lots of different services and can connect you to many different services, and a lot of those can be found within a treatment centre."

Those who are seeking resources are encouraged to first reach out to a family practitioner or their local Mental Health and Substance Use Centre.

"You could phone 310-MHSU or 310-6478 which will connect you to your local Mental Health and Substance Use Centre and you can have a conversation about what services are going to meet your goals the best and it's through that or a family care provider that you can access the different recovery and treatment services," White says.

While it may seem overwhelming to try and understand the complexities of the different services available, individuals who seek help will be guided throughout their process.

Those who have wondered whether a recovery or treatment centre is best for them should see the two types of centres as going hand-in-hand in a way that offers a more holistic approach to recovery, as defined by each individual, rather than two separate options for recovery.

"Recovery is incredibly individual and it can mean different things to different people and, because of that, we have this whole continuum of services that people can access that meet their goals for wellness," White says.

"Knowing that there are many different services, we don't want people to feel like they ever have to navigate this alone and that's why we encourage them to connect with a Mental Health and Substance Use Centre or a family doctor to decide what is the service that is going to meet their individual goals."

To find out more about the different resources and services available to individuals struggling with mental health and substance use issues, visit the Interior Health website here or call 310-6478. 

To contact a reporter for this story, email Gabrielle Adams or call (438) 830-1211 or email the editor. You can also submit photos, videos or news tips to the newsroom and be entered to win a monthly prize draw.

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