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The Ley Community has developed strong links
with Phoenix Bulgaria, a new residential drug and alcohol rehabilitation
centre established in a village 50 miles north of Sofia in 2002.
A number of staff from Phoenix Bulgaria, including the Director,
Dr Peter Vassilev, have undertaken placements at the Ley Community,
and they are implementing many of the concepts and tools used at
the Ley.
Paul Goodman, Chief Executive at the Ley Community, visited Phoenix Bulgaria
in October 2003 and undertook the peer audit as part of the Community of Communities
Quality Network. In May 2004, Jane Brogan, Assistant Programme Director at
the Ley Community, spent a week in Bulgaria working with and training staff
and residents.
An application to the Leonardo Fund for funding
under the European Union to formalise a training role for the Ley
Community with Phoenix Bulgaria is currently being drafted.
Therapeutic community “Phoenix” is the first long term
rehabilitation programme for dependent
individuals in Bulgaria.
The programme is a project of the “Institute of Ecology
of Cognition”, a non-profit, non-governmental
organisation (NGO), the basic objectives of which are: the psychosocial rehabilitation of dependent
individuals, the development of Cognitive-Behavioural
Therapy, and development of activities contributing
to prevention, training and research. Professor Paul
Salkovskis, Maudsley Hospital, UK, is Honored
President of the Institute.
Programme “Phoenix” is licensed by the Ministry of
Labour and Social Policy (¹ 71\2001), and has a
statement for good practice from the National Centre
on Drug Addiction (¹ 32\ 2002.)
In 1999 we gained a grant from the United Dutch
Foundations, and were also given support in kind
(hospital equipment) by the non-governmental
organisation Soroptimist. We renovated a former
school in the village of Brakjovtzi for the purposes of
a therapeutic community. Following that, we signed a
contract with municipality Godech for renting the
building. We began the realisation of the programme
in the village of Brakjovtzi in June 2001.
In order to start our activity, it was necessary to create
a therapeutic environment. We began with four
residents, with whom we established the daily regimen,
the rules and expectations of our community. They
turned out to be successful, and thus became the heart
of the new culture of behaviour.
The Programme for Re-socialization is supported by
the Department for International Development
(DFID) at the UK Embassy in Sofia, Bulgaria.
Our team consists of 8 psychologists, 1 psychiatric
nurse and 1 psychiatrist.
Programme Director is Peter Vassilev, MD,
psychiatrist and psychotherapist. He is a graduate of
West Deutsche Academie (Newreihian
Psychotherapy), and has completed a four-year
International European Drug Abuse Treatment
Training Project, Director of the Project: Professor
David Deitch, University of California at San Diego.
Director Re-socialization is Teodora Groshkova, BSc
in Psychology, Cognitive Therapist, currently involved
in the MSc external programme in Drugs and Alcohol:
Policy and Intervention, University of London. |
PHOENIX BULGARIA 