The first point we like to stress is that our work with our clients is absolutely confidential. The Kusnacht Practice has never had an incident where a client's privacy has been breached.

The Minnesota model or the disease model of alcoholism and addiction treatment is the approach we use to work with our addicted clients. It is where modern medicine, clinical psychology and Alcoholics Anonymous’ 12 steps meet.

Alcoholism and addiction to other drugs and some process addictions are treatable, not curable. And the solution for alcohol and drug addicts requires complete abstinence from all mood altering substances and processes like gambling.

At the heart of the disease model is that addiction is characterised by a person’s inability to reliably control his use of alcohol or other drugs and experiences uncontrollable craving or compulsion to drink alcohol and/or take drugs.

For love and sex addicts, gamblers and disordered eating there are different definitions of abstinence.

The Minnesota Model assumes that addiction is a chronic, progressive illness or disease like Type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular illnesses.

The loss of control can occur during in either a short or long time span. A person may begin what they believe will be a short drinking session, but after one or two drinks find it impossible to stop drinking due to craving. Craving has been defined as an urgent or overpowering desire. It is a feeling so strong that it compels the person to do whatever it takes to obtain the object of the addiction even if there are very harmful consequences. It assumes that the addict’s impaired control/craving is irreversible and therefore the addict must maintain a total and lifelong abstinence from all mood altering substances (see cross addiction) and some behaviours for people dependent on processes like pathological gambling.

The essence of recovery from addiction is a changed lifestyle and spiritual awakening. When we say spiritual awakening we mean changing the way an addict or alcoholic views the world and responds to it. The addict/alcoholic must accept their powerlessness, that his/her will power is not sufficient to stop them from taking that first drug or drink.

Many of our clients find it helpful to understand they have a disease and it has nothing to do with their morals. Their guilt and shame often disappears once they understand that their disease is treatable and that recovery is possible. One of the main advantages of the Minnesota model is that once treatment is complete the addict can participate in aftercare anywhere in the world by attending 12 step meetings like Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous. There is no cost (although meeting attendees often make a small donation) for these meetings.