The Aftercare Program at the Bridge Treatment and Recovery Centre in Hobart offers ongoing support for clients for up to 12 months post residential/day program graduation. Recently, the Aftercare program has grown from one session per week to five sessions per week.

Clients are able to engage as much as they feel is necessary – attendance can be up to five days. The Aftercare Program has recently expanded to include afternoon groups as well as morning groups, providing a more flexible program for clients with differing needs and responsibilities.

The Aftercare program runs social support groups from 10am weekdays. At present, these Aftercare groups include scheduling and check ins, supporting clients to visit Foodbank, engaging clients in volunteering opportunities at the centre and at other community organisations, support to re-engage with work or study, sports and recreational activities and relapse prevention groups.

The program also includes a regular fortnightly psycho-social group run by the Bridge Psychologist and a regular fortnightly group for Family and Relationships.

The Aftercare groups are based on the psychosocial model of substance use rehabilitation and provide a continuation of care post residential/day programs. The Aftercare program’s evidence base is found in Motivational Interviewing (MI), Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), Relapse Prevention and Mindfulness.

Since expanding our program in November 2018, clients have attended more than 250 peer support groups in the Aftercare program. We currently have over 25 clients engaging regularly with Aftercare activities and new referrals are being received each week.

Research into “Throughcare” programs in Alcohol and Other Drug Services consistently report that clients that remain engaged in peer support activities post intensive treatment have better outcomes than those that do not (Lubman, D., Manning, V. & Cheetham, A., 2017).

The Bridge Aftercare Program strives to provide our clients with a diverse range of opportunities and experiences to assist with recovery and community reintegration.

To find more on our Aftercare program, click here