Based on the beautiful island of Koh Chang in the Gulf of Thailand, Dara Thailand is a boutique rehabilitation center that treats clients with substance abuse and mental health issues. The center accepts 30 clients at once and is fully licensed by the Thailand Ministry of Public Health and staffed by International Therapists from around the world.
Dara Thailand provides treatment for most substance abuse, including drugs, alcohol and prescription medication. It also offers a dual diagnosis for co-occurring disorders and works with most mental health conditions as well.
Dynamic Pillars of Dara
Dara was started by the two founders, Darren Lockie and Martin Peters. Today, Darren Lockie is the CEO and runs the business side of Dara while Martin Peters, another helm of Dara, is the Program Director and manages the clinical focus of the center.
Darren has been managing rehabs for the past 10 years. But, prior to that, he worked in a variety of roles for Microsoft in South Asia. The skills and discipline in working for Microsoft highly assisted him in running the business of rehabilitation and marketing for Dara.
Martin started his career as a Registered Nurse and Certified Substance Abuse Therapist working in the mental health field where he worked since 1994. He has also worked in Thailand for the past 14 years developing the clinical and operational side of rehabilitation.
Dara’s Journey
While asking what influenced them to start the treatment program, Darren and Martin said, “With Dara, we set to create a world class International treatment program in an inspiring and beautiful location at an affordable price. We always liked the idea of staying small and focusing on the individual and providing a high level of individual care. To this day, we answer every phone call and inquiry ourselves. It highlights how important customer care and attention is to our vision.”
The center accepts only those clients that want to join Dara, and do not accept clients that are forced by family or the court system. The center considers the client community as a very important part of its success. Dara creates a very optimistic community and environment. Even the most challenging clients understand that Dara professionals are here to help every client on 24*7 which is a very powerful part of Dara’s success.
Distinctiveness at Its Best
The clinical program at Dara has a lot of content on relapse prevention which is handled within the group therapy portion and individual therapy. The center strives very hard on discharge planning with each individual, discussing the changes they intend to make when they go home to reduce the risk of falling into old bad habits. Dara also offers weekly Skype calls with the Focal Counselor. It has been intensely observed that numerous clients continue the therapy for around 10 weeks after they leave.
One of the most unique features of Dara is that- Any client that completes a minimum of the 4-week program can visit the center every year for a 1-week complimentary refresher program. With this, the center fetches a lot of good data on what works and the struggles they faced that help them refine the program and content. It also allows clients that have remained sober to sit in front of current clients and share how they made it work for them and how they stayed clean. That is a very powerful part of the center’s alumni program – to show what is possible with commitment.
Dara’s Compliance Requirements and Ethical Procedures
To be a legal rehabilitation center for drugs and alcohol in Thailand, one must be approved by the Thailand Ministry of Public Health. This process takes around 18 months and every part of the business is examined to ensure it meets the standards, after which, it is reviewed on a yearly basis. Dara is fully accredited by the Ministry of Public Health and is going through its CARF accreditation from the USA to maintain its position as the most accredited rehab in Asia.
Upon asking them how they follow ethical guidelines, they said, “We try to be as ethical as we can and that is something that is instilled to every staff member in how they do their jobs and relate to clients. The clients deal with many parts of Dara and every single person needs to understand the boundaries of what is acceptable from clients and how we handle difficult situations or breaches of rules. As an example, we have to be very clear and firm on the rules of Dara. Clients will often push boundaries and we need to handle these situations diligently.”
Excellent Team Work Creating Paramount Upshots
One of the effective ways Dara implements is, it tries to understand the exact needs of the client by answering every phone call to make sure that they are the best option for that person. They often speak to the client’s families as well to get more input on the client’s needs and to assist them flawlessly.
Additionally, the center has sturdy and finest teams, be it the clinical team, nursing team or even personal training and operational staff. The center hires the very best and apt people, trains them in what Dara does along with the responsibilities of the clients and their family.
Dara emboldens consistent feedback from clients to stay in equilibrium with the client’s expectations and goals of coming to the rehabilitation center. Also, it continually makes improvements in everything, right from food to clinical programs and undergoes review process with the respective teams to stay in sync by making the necessary changes.
Spreading Smiles and Rejuvenating Lives
“Every client that walks out of our front gates is a spectacular experience. We get clients that are really struggling and arrive in very poor physical and mental condition. After going through detox process, getting meaningful clean time, regular therapy to deal with the issues and taking advantage of good nutrition and physical training, some of the transformations are stunning and very rewarding to all of our staff and we take great pride in the work we were able to achieve,” expressed Darren and Martin.
Some of the most memorable experiences, which Dara Rehab always cherishes, are the ones that come back for their free Refresher weeks and have new jobs, new partner or baby on the way, crediting Dara for saving their lives. The center strongly believes that these are the ones that make this challenging business worthwhile.
