Metamorphosis on CTV

0:00 · Who the centre helps

Host: Welcome back to Weekend Spotlight. We’re joined by Kelly Verschuren, RPN supervising nurse at Metamorphosis Centre for Change, a private addiction and mental health treatment centre. Welcome to the show.

Kelly: Thank you for having me.

Host: Let’s start off by telling us a little bit about Metamorphosis and who you help.

Kelly: Sure. So, Metamorphosis, like you said, We treat adults with mental illness and addiction issues, sometimes just with mental illness, and then other times we run a concurrent program where their mental illness or their addiction issues are addressed.

0:38 · Counselling and feeling heard

Kelly: We do have counselling services where they’re met with their counsellor one to two times a week. They have two counsellors, so a primary and a secondary. And we also have psychotherapy, and then we also have doctors on staff as well, so psychiatrists and physicians, medical physicians, for their addiction issues. It was our founder’s dream to provide a space where people could feel seen and heard, where they could be open and vulnerable enough to kind of come home to themselves, right? Because that’s what it is. Our clients come to us and they may have lost themselves somewhere along the way.

1:12 · Medical detox

Host: Tell us a little bit about the detox program and the kind of nursing support that you provide as well.

Kelly: We have a detox program where we have 24-hour nursing, and then we have 24-hour support from our addiction physicians who clearly specialize in addiction. We also have appointment times where they can actually be seen by the addiction specialist and address some of their addiction issues. So when it comes to the detox program, we have them come in and clearly do an assessment to see what their needs are in the detox program, where we can give medications to help them stay comfortable. We can also address if it’s alcohol or if it’s opiate with medications that actually help with cravings and help the detox process be safe, and also as comfortable as medically possible.

2:04 · Skills during treatment

Host: And I would think the detox part is kind of the first part of the treatment. What happens after?

Kelly: Yeah, so oftentimes it is. Sometimes we do get clients that come in who are not a part of the detox program because they’ve done some on their own at home or gone to a previous one. And then the rest of the program, we offer focus groups where clients can learn skills. So, you know, we shoot for the basics, for the foundation, so it could look like, you know, improving their communication skills, learning tools and grounding techniques that they can use in the real world. So when real life comes up, they can actually kind of keep themselves calm, ground. We also prepare for them on the outside world where life happens in life terms, and they can kind of deal with life as it happens and not kind of go into a panicked state.

2:58 · Residential treatment planning

Host: What’s the residential program like? How long are they staying? How many people can stay?

Kelly: Yeah, so a residential program can be– it varies from client to client. So we do assessments to meet the client at their needs. So they can stay from– we do have people that will come for the hybrid program. So they’ll stay two weeks and then do two weeks online. And then we have clients that can stay from 30 to 45 days. We do have a lot of clients that extend, of course, because we do welcome that if they’re feeling like they need extra time to build a strong foundation.

3:29 · Online participation and aftercare

Host: And if you can’t take advantage of the residential part of the program, you had mentioned some things were hybrid. Are there things online that people can access?

Kelly: Mm-hmm. So we do have a lot of things online. So, we have the hybrid program where, again, they can come in for two weeks, go out for two weeks and even longer if they if they require, to the individual’s needs. And we have online groups that they can meet at. So, they can meet during their program and then afterwards, as well, because we do have an after… after-care program as well.

3:59 · Family and loved-one support

Host: And then kind of the other side of this, of course, is the family and the loved ones, right? And I’m sure they need support as well as the individual goes through the journey. What’s that look like?

Kelly: Yeah, absolutely. We want the families to know that they are cared for and supported also, because oftentimes this is a family issue. Like, it’s a family disease, right? Where they are affected, also. And they might be looking for support and answers and maybe some guidance on how they are to cope or help best support their loved ones and themselves.

4:32 · The first conversation

Host: If there’s someone watching from home and they have someone in their life and really not sure where to go, how to support, would you have some bits of advice for them?

Kelly: Yes, I do. Yeah. I would say to start with a conversation, right? We don’t need to plan everything out before you call us. We just need to have the conversation maybe with the client, maybe with the family, see where they’re at, see what they’re willing to do and see what their needs might be.

Host: Thank you. This was so helpful. So, where are you located, by the way?

Kelly: So, we’re located in Delhi, Ontario.

Host: Okay. Thank you again for joining us. That was very informative.

Kelly: Thank you.

Host: And all the best.

Kelly: Thank you. I appreciate it.