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Mark Amy Treatment Centre Residential Treatment Program

The Mark Amy Treatment Centre is a 14 bed facility, located in a rural setting 25 minutes south of Fort McMurray Alberta. The program was established in 1989 by the late Mark Amy, a very talented trainer who worked with the Nechi Institute to develop the program management series and assisted First Nations individuals to excel in their wellness pursuits.

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About

The Mark Amy Residential Treatment Program is a 56-day intensive inpatient program, in which participants are exposed to an integrated cultural and biopsychosocial model of treatment for the management of substance abuse and process additions. A A collaboration of modalities and strategies are practiced in order to achieve positive outcomes, which include but are not limited to:

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  • (Re)Connection to culture through ceremony and cultural practices,

  • Trauma-informed care,

  • Cognitive behavioural therapeutic approaches,

  • Peer support groups such as 12-step, and

  • SMART Recovery. 

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Participants must access this program through their NNADAP referral workers, who provide ongoing support and connection throughout and after the program. Due to this referral requirement, only Indigenous applicants are eligible to apply. Additional funding options may be available for individuals local to the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo. Individuals are provided with comfortable and newly renovated room and board during their stay and fed home-cooked meals, according to the Canadian Food Guide. 

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Participants engage in programming in both a group and one-on-one setting, Monday to Sunday, from 8:30 am to 8:00 pm throughout the 56-day program. Some samples of group therapy sessions covered in the 56-day program include but are not limited to Addiction knowledge and disease concept, codependency, trauma recovery, time management, grief and loss, traditional parenting, healthy relationships, colonization and intergenerational impacts of the IRS (Indian Residential School system), mental health & concurrent disorders, relapse prevention, Mutual aid support groups and traditional cultural and ceremonial practices such as daily smudging, sharing circles, pipe ceremonies and sweat lodge ceremonies and traditional medicine picking. 

 

We focus on abstinence as the ultimate goal, with a healthy, well-balanced lifestyle necessary to attain and maintain a long-term goal of wellness and sobriety. We recognize that sobriety does not necessarily translate to happiness and encourage all avenues in pursuit of true wellness. This includes healthy relationships, home safety, diet, exercise and a broader connection to spiritual direction by their own design. 

Admission

Referrals to the Mark Amy Centre are accepted from any recognized counselling service (i.e. NNADAP program, Native Counselliing Services, Alberta Health Services, etc.). Admission to the Centre occurs on a voluntary basis. Requirements for admission are:​

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  • an application must be completed and submitted by the referral agency

  • a pre-intake medical must be completed and submitted

  • appropriate assessments and a minimum of 4 pre-treatment counselling visits

  • minimum of 7 days of sobriety/detoxification

  • 18 years of age or older

  • written confirmation of funding must be submitted prior to admission

  • free from all outside appointments, e.g. medical, legal, court dates, etc.

 

Above all, if you have the desire to change your lifestyle, the Mark Amy Centre can provide you the tools to build a strong foundation to lead a healthy lifestyle!

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Note: The Mark Amy Residential Treatment Program does not accept Self-Referrals.

Admission Forms

Click the buttons below to download the forms.

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Tips from Mark Amy Treatment Centre

What to Expect:

  • You will learn more than you imagined

  • Highly structured time, 6 of the 7 days a week

  • Visitation on Sundays

  • Mandatory Participation in 12 step groups

  • Mandatory participation in physical activity

  • Group sessions & individual sessions

  • AA and NA meetings

  • Scheduled phone & laundry days

  • You will love the staff some days and ‘not’ others

  • It is our job to be what you need, not what you want

How to Succeed:

  • Be open

  • Participate willingly and openly

  • Trust the process

  • Be kind to yourself and others

  • Embrace change

  • Learn gratitude and positivity

  • Face fears

  • Allow yourself to grieve

  • Ask for help and support

  • And remember “nothing changes if nothing changes”

Mistakes: 

  • 13th stepping (no intimate relationships developed in treatment)

  • Not participating

  • Staying in your shell

  • Resisting change

  • Resisting letting go of unhealthy relationships

  • Believing you are smarter than your addiction

  • Believing addiction to one substance is the only problem

  • Believing sobriety will fix everything

  • Pursuing recovery with less energy that pursuing addiction

  • Being selectively honest

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Referring Workers:

  • Get the applications in as soon as possible. Only completed applications with a completed medical form will be considered. Applicants are accepted on a first come, first serve basis.

  • We have considerable wait lists, especially for male clients. We greatly wish that we could accept all client referrals immediately, but it’s just not possible.

  • Typically our wait lists for males are longer than females, however it is not uncommon for clients to get in much sooner on short notice.

  • Clients are not accepted until you receive an acceptance letter from our Intake worker.

  • Call the intake worker every few weeks just to check on the status of the application.

  • If we are calling you to confirm a client’s attendance, please call us back asap. If we have not heard from you within 3 business days, we will move on to the next client on our wait list.

  • We welcome your participation in the client’s recovery plan development. We view referral sources as an integral component to the client’s success. Residential treatment is “Discovery’, “Recovery” begins when the clients get home and they will need you to be on board with their recovery plan.

  • If you are a referral from a Detox Centre, we do not automatically expect that the client will have a continued relationship with you. If this is the case, please contact us to make arrangements with the client.

  • If you are a NNADAP Worker/ Addictions Counsellor/ Therapist, we will call you to touch base and set up meetings in order to provide comprehensive wraparound support for the client.

  • Please visit our centre – drop off your clients if possible, and attend their graduation ceremonies.

  • Please review the house rules, the expectations and pictures of the program with your client before they come in.

  • Please contact us for our restricted medication list.

  • We do not take couples.

  • We do not; at this time have fee for service beds.

  • Our program is open ended, meaning that if a client needs additional time in treatment, we will encourage them to stay. The average stay is 42 days.

  • Longer term aftercare placements ( past 2 rounds of treatment) are a possibility, on a case by case basis.

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