Therapeutic Community model of care
What is a Therapeutic Community?
WHOS follows the Therapeutic Community model — where the community itself, through self-help and mutual support, is the principal means of lasting personal change.
About the model
Community as method
WHOS follows the Therapeutic Community model documented by the Australasian Therapeutic Communities Association — an approach in which the community itself, through self-help and mutual support, is the principal means for promoting personal change.
Residents and staff work together to overcome substance dependence and promote change. They share in the management and day-to-day running of the community, creating a cohesive and safe environment where residents take responsibility and build awareness of how their behaviour affects others.
A holistic program
As residents move through the stages of the program, they take on increasing responsibility — matched by increased personal time and self-determined choices.
There is a strong focus on the social, psychological and behavioural dimensions of substance use, using the community to help people heal emotionally and develop the behaviours, attitudes and values of healthy living.
Structured groups cover relapse prevention, recovery and harm reduction, alongside active practice of everyday social skills, problem-solving, decision-making, empathy and helping others.
The value of peer support
Peer role-modelling is central to the TC process. Residents see others move through the stages to transition and leave the service — showing that recovery and a successful return to the wider community are possible.
Many former clients stay involved as volunteer mentors through alumni gatherings, helping residents connect with self-help networks and sometimes supporting them into work.
Three key elements of the model
The WHOS approach rests on three ideas that work together.
Community as method
Shared daily life, responsibility and mutual support are the primary agents of change.
A staged approach
Residents progress through structured stages, earning more responsibility, freedom and choice.
Holistic & integrated
Care addresses the social, psychological and behavioural dimensions of substance use together.