PROFESSIONALS

Professionals overview

Southern Addictions Advisory Service (SAdAS) is a not for profit organisation with charitable status.

Relationship focused

We have been operating in Surrey and the South of England for over 30 years. If there is a common thread in what we do it's the relationship we try to develop with our customers both in terms of our commissioners but also of course with our clients.

Funding sources

We are funded by a variety of funders from our DAAT and Social services through to charitable givers and we try to blend the needs of our funders in terms of data collection and reports with the needs of our clients - to be seen as individuals and to be advocated for.

Causes of addiction

We believe that people can be affected by problem drug or alcohol use (as indeed sex and gambling) from any strata of life and at almost any time in their life. We also believe that people use drugs for rational reasons in that at least in the short term they make them feel better.

We believe that many people self medicate for issues which have been with them for life and are often caused by trauma at some point in their life either as a child or indeed as an adult. Their drug use is a way of coping. Its our job to help that person to cope in other ways or at least with other solutions to hand rather than simply drug use.

Rights of the individual

However we also believe that not all substance use is damaging nor harmful and believe in the right of the individual to seek help when they need it and if they need it and we believe that that recognition comes from the person themselves (although often prompted by outside events). When this point is reached then we are there to help the process of recovery.

Our role

We believe in the cycle of change and essentially Harm reduction approaches such as Motivational interviewing, solution focussed therapy as well as brief interventions and street work. We are not a prescribing agency but believe that we are a part of the whole treatment system and work hand in hand with prescribers. Equally we also work with services which promote abstinence particularly when this is what the client wants.