Recovery Plus: reclaiming lives
22 April/May 2017 and started his pilots for for Yes We Can Clinics
with 30 teenagers in 2010. The clinic received
official recognition by the Dutch government
the following year. In the interim, Poot married
and his wife works at the clinic. “We cannot have
children... But I’ve got about 120 in the clinic.”
Yes We Can Clinics has treated 500 young adults
per year since 2011. It occupies a sizeable estate:
the Dutch rehab has 120 bedrooms, two auditoria
and over 30 meeting rooms. A nearby 14th-century
castle will be the international wing. Fellows are
not permitted to decorate their rooms, but are
expected to keep them tidy. There are French
windows opening onto two sprawling patios;
here, between sessions, in the limited free time
available (four 30-minute slots a day), residents
can relax together. Every morning, fellows are
woken up at 6.45. They do 20 minutes' exercise
to music under the supervision of youth coaches
followed by breakfast. During the highly-structured
day, they attend group sessions with titles like
“Aggression Regulation”. After dinner, they wind
down with a documentary or listen to a talk by
employees or former fellows. They are allowed
back into their rooms at 10pm. Coaches guard
the rooms; there is 24-hour supervision.
Yes We Can Clinics claims a success rate of 65%,
which Poot defines as “staying abstinent, staying
healthy, reconciled with family”. The clinic
measures the effectiveness of treatment with
independent questionnaires which clients fill
out when they arrive, when they leave and after
6 months. Yes We Can Clinics Clinics finds that,
even “if a client is still dealing with issues, clients,
parents, caregivers, often rate positively”.
For more details on the Dutch and international
clinics (see below), visit www.yeswecanclinics.com
