DRUG and alcohol rehabilitation is available for residents in the South West at a privately run hospital centrally located at Nannup.
The Blackwood River Clinic has operated for three years offering services to help people overcome addiction or specialised psychological and mental disorders.
It took 11 years for the clinic’s director and psychiatrist Dr Stephen Proud to setup the facility which is licensed by the WA Health Department and accredited by the Australian Council of Health standards.
Dr Proud said this meant ordinary Australians with health insurance could go to the clinic and it would be covered by their health insurance
“It is basically free,” he said.
Dr Proud said for one person to have top psychiatric cover for a year cost $1500 through health insurance compared to 10 sessions with a psychologist.
“Ten hours versus 2000 hours a year for the same cost, it is a no brainer,” he said.
“When we explain that to parents they go and get private health insurance to access this stuff.”
Why pay $12,000 for a month in Thailand when you can do a month here through your private health insurance, which will cost $1500 and another 11 months of treatment.
- Blackwood River Clinic director Dr Stephen Proud
The program
The clinic has a multi disciplinary intervention program for people with depression, anxiety, trauma, post traumatic stress disorder, drug and alcohol addictions and other psychiatric issues.
It is not a true drug rehab but the one month program was designed to deal with all the underlying issues which drive addiction.
“We can deal with all the drivers such as childhood sexual trauma or people who suffer with social anxiety and self medicate with alcohol,” he said.
The hospital has a team consisting of a psychiatrist, mental health nurse, psychologist, general practitioner, social workers, occupational therapists, yoga teachers, drama teachers, mediation teachers and a caretaker.
A typical day in the program allows people to go for a walk in the morning, meditate, eat breakfast then sign in at the clinic by 9am.
A community meeting is held to sort out group dynamics before they go into group psychotherapy, one-on-one sessions, then join in badminton, meditation sessions, yoga or drama therapy in the afternoon.
The facilities
The Blackwood River Clinic is located on 85 acres and can accommodate up to 20 patients at a separate retreat to the centre.
“The purpose is to provide low cost accommodation and at the moment the fees are $150 a week to stay there so rural people can access these types of services,” Dr Proud said.
Once the clinic ends at 4pm people can work with the caretaker and get involved with farm work.
“We are now at the stage where we are moving to phase two and will create an organic orchid, vegetables, animals, we already have cattle onsite, marron in the dams and we are going to introduce fish,” Dr Proud said.
“We want the property to be self sufficient and patients eat the food that they produce themselves.”
There were no day programs in rural WA, if you wanted to access these services they were in Perth attached to psychiatric hospitals and you had to pay for two weeks accommodation, which is ridiculously expensive, or be admitted as an inpatient.
- Blackwood River Clinic director Dr Stephen Proud
A doctor for almost 40 years, Dr Proud said people did well after completing the program at the Blackwood River Clinic.
“We get incredible feedback from the patients who do the program, I never received feedback in Perth when people said it had been life changing,” he said.
“That fills your heart with joy when you hear that.”
South West MLC Barry House was an advocate for the Nannup facility and said he supported the project because Dr Proud and his partners were well qualified and committed to providing the much needed facility.
"There appears to be a need for more facilities in this area to deal with people who have meth and other problems but it is a long, expensive process to establish them which has to be undertaken by properly qualified people," he said.
