European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - August 16, 1987, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Magazine opened 40 Yuan Gott a treatment Center Lor alcoholics in Center City Minn. Hazel s Den pioneering therapy for addictions by Dirk Johnson Mew York times Early 40 years ago when alcoholics hardly had anywhere else to go. An old whits farmhouse in Center City Minn., slatted by a Counselor a Handyman and a Cook called a opened its doors. It was known As Hazel s Den for a former owner of the and its simple Yel pioneering realm enl of alcoholism and other addictions would gain renown As lha Minnesota Model the blueprint today for hundreds of rehabilitation centers around the world Bui the essence of what is formally named Hazelden a holistic approach built on education counselling and understanding had changed Little when a lightened 45-year-old woman battling an addiction to prescription die pills came Iacre five years ago searching for help. The woman Kitty Dukakis wife of the Massachusetts governor who is now running for president disclosed two weeks ago that she was among the thousands of sufferers who had come to Hazelden for treatment to a speech medical tag a unil for adolescents Wilh drug and alcohol problems at a Massachusetts Hospital Dukakis said she has been free of amphetamines since her stay at Hazelden. Nobody exactly sure Why it works said or. Daniel Anderson the president emeritus of Hazelden. Which relies on the precepts of alcoholics Anonymous some people Call us the Molher House Bui we Don t want to be unique " depressed angry Ler fied and olten. Intoxicated Moat patients come to Hazelden through the Minneapolis Airport where they Are greeted by a staff Driver Likely a recovering alcoholic who oilers Solace or silence on the 45-mile ride North to Center City a Cluster of Small red Brick buildings on a lakes orc. Hazelden sits at she end of a Long winding drive obscured Iron he Highway by lowering Pine Oak and Maple Trees. There Are no Gates no locks. If a patient insists on leaving Al any time. Hazelden arranges the transportation. In the admissions Ollice. A heels take care of inc paper work the typical 28-Day slay costs Aboul $4,300 and Are  to the medical unit each pal Lent spends the first 24 hours under medical observation and some Are Given drugs in decreasing doses the first Lew Days by the end of Tho first week the patient has met individually wish a Counselor a nurse e Clergyman and a recreational therapist and this team puts together a plan of treatment that varies with each patient. 1 women generally come in Wilh a different set at issues said John Curtiss. Who like most Counselor Here is a recovering alcoholic often they use pills because it s easier to hide. But the addiction to the slate of intoxication is 1he same. And the Steps to recovery Are the  Reading material and writing assignments vary Lor each patient As does an exercise plan. They slay to dormitory style rooms usually Wilh one or More roommates and go through treatment in groups of 25 or 30 patients. The Centrepiece of the rehabilitation unit is a Long Coffee table where the Deo Pesl secrets and fears can be revealed some of the Best therapy occurs late at night when the Counselor have gone Home said Curliss. When they talk  a Basic Tenet of a a he noted is that recovery happens with one alcoholic talking o another alcoholic Over a cup of  the typical Day begins Al 7 30 a.m., with optional group mediation a simple breakfast is served 15 minutes later and the first of the Day s three lectures begins at 915. Each Day one patient will Tell his Story to the group from the first use of alcohol or drugs to the decision to come to Hazelden. During personal Lime some patients use the swimming Pool or Tennis courts while others averse the walking trails through Tho Woods. Each patient is Given a chore like vacuuming the Carpel or mopping the floor. At first some patients bristle Al the notion of doing whal they consider menial work. Curliss recalled one High paid lawyer who reacted with indignation you Don t really expect the to take out the garbage " but he said that lawyer Taler wrote Home that stepping Down from the Pedestal taking the garbage Oul was me most important thing he had done Al Hazelden the idea said Curtiss is to act your Way Inlo a new sunday a Gull 16, 1987 Way of thinking not to think your Way into a new Way of  about half of the 197 patients Are women. In the 1950s Hazelden became the first major Center to open a unil for women called dial inn gaelic Lor god be with  and it was then that Counselor began to discover thai another problem loomed even larger than alcohol among Many women. With the women we were gelling in was t really alcohol but pills said Damian Mcelrath the manager of rehab Lillion services Al Hazelden and the former president of St. Bonaventure University in Western new York. We started to realize he said thai what we were dealing with was mood altering  so Hazelden enlarged its Mission to include All Lorms of chemical dependency As it found Hal the alcoholism treatment could work Lor other addictions. Today Only about 20 percent of patients there Suiter Only from alcoholism. Despite major inroads in recent years to curb the problem Hazelden continues to see countless patients who Sutler addiction to drugs prescribed by doctors. Dukakis said she had been getting prescriptions for pills for 26 years. Administrators report that 60 to 70 percent of the patients have remained sober two years Afler treatment according to follow up interviews. Another 20 to 25 percent Suiter Tyler Millet slips and the others show Little or no improvement Tho Success at Hazelden prompted a group of Soviel officials to visit the facility this Spring in Hopes of learning More about the treatment of alcoholism. Business officials irom Japan. Sweden and around the world have come there recently on similar missions and it was Hazelden that served As the Model for the belly Ford Center in California As Anderson put it we Laka the Best science we can find physiology psychology sociology and Legrate thai Wilh a program thai respects the spiritual basis of a a.," in which a Reliance on some higher Power is the key. One Olma Basic tenets at Hazelden to said is that respect and dignity be accorded the patients. We Don t tear them Down to build them up Hoy Aon l need to feel any  said Susan Engstrom. A Stafl worker. We Tell them How Good they Are we do a lot of hugging around Here " the stars and stripes Page 13