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نسخه فارسی

Communications of Hossein and Bill (Reply to Hossein - March 25, 2022)

Communications of Hossein and Bill (Reply to Hossein - March 25, 2022)

Dear Hossein,

March 25, 2022

It has been a pleasure to follow your communications with Dr. Kolodner. Both of you have a great passion for the neurophysiology of addiction and recovery and I am following these exchanges with great interest.

Each year I await news of the tree planting ceremony within Congress 60. It is a wonderful ritual that reflects both acts of service to community and planet by Congress 60 members and faith in the powers of regeneration and life. It seems a perfect metaphor for the recovery process in the affirmation of hope and that regeneration requires that we continue watering new growth until it can survive on its own. The five-year benchmark is also important as research in recent years has confirmed five years of recovery as the point at which lifetime recovery become highly predictable.

Thank you for your responses to my latest questions. I have added some comments below to your responses.

is there a waiting list to participate in some branches of Congress 60? How quickly can people begin participation in Congress 60?

Some branches used to have waiting lists but it didn’t work out well. Now all branches must accept newcomers to the maximum capacity and if the capacity is full they will stop accepting without making a waiting list.

When there are empty sits they will start accepting again.

This is the procedure used by many treatment programs in the U.S. The problem we encounter with waiting lists is that many people on the list do not later enter treatment or cannot be located when there name comes up on the list. I also suspect a portion of those on the waiting list die before being able to begin treatment.

What percentage of Congress 60 members have tried other methods of treatment

before coming to Congress 60?

About %90

That high number surprises me. I wish there was a way those individuals could get to Congress 60 earlier in the addiction without having to work their way through other methods that did not result in stable recovery.

How many salaried staff does Congress 60 employ?

About 4800 individuals are working within Congress 60 half-time and voluntary and no one receives any salary.

I frequently get this question about Congress 60 and people are always amazed when I tell them that no one draws a salary at Congress 60. That is a major difference from the U.S. where nearly all leaders and staff draw a salary for their work. This makes Congress 60 one of the few purely voluntary recovery communities in the world.

Could the methods of Congress 60 be adapted for use within other addiction treatment

or health care agencies? Has this been done before?

Yes. Congress 60’s methods can be adapted and used, especially, The DST method (even with Methadone) which is a great method to treat any type of addiction.

Now the DST method is being used in many addiction treatment clinics across Iran. I think the exportation of the DST method to other treatment setting is a very important milestone in the treatment of addiction and hope that can happen in other countries.

This question has been added by me:

Should recoverees stay at Congress 60 forever?

Nope. The treatment process is about one year and it is suggested that recoveree continues to participate for another year after completion of treatment. And then whether they become voluntary forces of Congress 60 to serve others or they must leave so we have enough space to accept newcomers.

Each serving position is also based on timing and for example, the co-guide position is about 4 years. This response made me wonder if there were any opportunities for all those who were once part of Congress 60 to gather again as a form of recovery celebration after they were no longer regularly involved with weekly Congress 60 activities. Some treatment programs in the U.S. have alumni associations led by former patients who plan and oversee such gatherings.

I will write the answer to other questions at our next communication.

I look forward to your responses to other questions and hope you do not mind me posing these. My writings about Congress 60 spark many questions from my readers and I try to remain updated to answer them as completely as possible.

Friends and Brothers Forever,

Bill

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