Over 25 Years of Successful Rehab

THE EXPERIENCE OF THE CUBAN SCHOOL OF PSYCHIATRY AND PSYCHOLOGY, COUPLED WITH THE SCIENTIFIC LEVEL AND RIGOROUS TRAINING OF ITS PROFESSIONALS, GUARANTEE THE HIGH-QUALITY OUTCOMES OF THE COMPREHENSIVE PROGRAM FOR ADDICTIVE DISORDER TREATMENT

For over a quarter of a century, Cuba has been developing the Comprehensive Program for Addictive Disorder Treatment (alcohol, drugs, games and new technologies) with outstanding results. This is owed to the vast experience of the Cuban School of Psychiatry and Psychology, to its close ties with their brightest counterparts in Italy, Spain, Argentina, Colombia, Chile and the U.S., whose professionals share scientific and assistance-related experiences with and step up their specialization by the hand of a thorough preparation of the professionals who get trained there.

The Cocal-Quinqué International Therapeutic Communities, in the province of Holguin and run Dr. Dannis Velázquez Benítez, is one of the country's leading centers in that kind of service.

“At the Cocal-Quinqué International Therapeutic Communities, rehabilitation treatments for addictive disorders basically hinge on acquiring abstinence. I mean, in trying to make patients quit the consumption of toxic substances, such as marihuana, cocaine, opium or any other drug. That doesn't mean that certain medications cannot be used in the initial stage of abstinence or in the face of any other psychological symptom that might show up,” the second-degree psychiatry expert says.

“As part of the treatment, we also work on making behavioral changes, basically consisting of adding rules, guidelines and schedules to their daily lives. By doing so, the patients can map out new lifestyles that will eventually let them see both stability and balance.

“At the same time, we focus on affective modes because during the active consumption timeframe, the patients are marked by negative feelings, such as resentment, wrath, pain, fury or suffering, so it's necessary to make those changes to actually start speaking about rehabilitation,” she goes on to say.

“With that view in mind, we rely on individual psychotherapy, always led by a psychotherapist, such as a psychologist or a psychiatrist, just to make sure that each and every patient can count on a therapist. That's a premise of the program. And we also apply group therapy, in which all the members of the medical team take place: social workers, physical education professors and nurses. Medical experts are also in the mix.

“We all seek the patient's rehabilitation by preparing the individual and the family in preventing relapses. That's by and large rehabilitation's greatest success.”