The Jude Thaddeus Program

1. Week One
2. Weeks Two, Three, and Four
3. Weeks Five and Six
4. Confrontation and Control = Ineffectiveness
5. How can every program say they are the best?
6. What is the Jude Thaddeus Program™?
7. What makes the Jude Thaddeus™ Program so successful?
8. The Jude Thaddeus Program™ Focuses on?
9. The Jude Thaddeus Program™ offers serveral services that customize the program to the student needs?

The Jude Thaddeus Program™ is a non-religious, residential social/educational program that helps people permanently overcome substance abuse. As you read through this website you will come to know the difference between the Jude Thaddeus Program™ and the conventional 12-step and non-12-step “alternative/holistic” control model programs. For example, the Jude Thaddeus Program™ is the only program that continuously evolves through research and that continuously measures long term success of program guests. This is just the tip of the iceberg. The following web pages will give you a more thorough understanding of how the Jude Thaddeus Program™ differs from all conventional and alternative programs. Fundamentally, the Jude Thaddeus Program™ teaches people how to think more effectively for themselves, while the rest of the drug treatment industry uses the control model teaching people what to think and often causing a greater lack of confidence and more internal doubt. Our Freedom Model© provides individuals with the freedom and confidence to live their dreams without fear of “impending doom” which is the motivator used in all other programs.

1. Week One
Orientation – The Process

By all outward appearances, a substance abuser looks, acts and may even state that they cannot stop or control their substance abuse. Their struggles can be a very convincing demonstration of a seemingly powerless lifestyle. This perception of powerless is, of course, a self-fulfilled prophecy. However, this does not have to be the case. People throughout the ages have been able to overcome enormous and impenetrable problems long before “treatment for addiction” became accepted. This perceived lack of individual power has led to the erroneous belief that addiction and alcoholism are diseases or “dependencies,” as the new holistic and alternative treatment movement now describe disease. (Click here to read more.)

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2. Weeks Two, Three, and Four
Past Assessment, Current Positive Practice

During weeks two, three and four , the guests are guided through a course that first helps them to identify their behavior patterns, underlying problems and negative as well as positive thought patterns. They are then taught how to begin the process of changing their entrenched negative thought patterns and behaviors while reinforcing and expanding upon their positive traits and habits. As they move forward in the program, greater emphasis is placed on their positive traits which help them to “grow out of” the counterproductive behaviors of the past. It must be noted here that immaturity as discussed in the Jude Thaddeus Program™ is not defined by a guest’s chronological age and is not to be confused with those definitions that are often demeaning. Immaturity is defined as an unwillingness to positively adapt to life’s ever changing environment. Ineffective and counterproductive habits such as, drinking too much alcohol or abusing drugs, including mind-altering prescription drugs, keep substance abusers mired in an unsatisfying and unfulfilled life. Being unwilling or having a lack of knowledge, to choose and to implement more productive activities and goals are the immature characteristics the Jude Thaddeus Program™ helps identify and clarify .

Many guests have found comfort abusing substances during difficult life transitions and the euphoric experience offered by drug and alcohol use has allowed them to avoid taking responsibility for their future. Others simply enjoy substances as a means to celebrate and achieve instant gratification. Whatever the reasons, (as they are infinite) the solution is acknowledging the patterns and then building a new set of options and goals. These middle weeks are crucial to overcoming the counterproductive habits of the past and focusing on positive skills and experiences that will shape a successful future.

Once guests identify the areas in which they have been unwilling to change, they are well on their way to a real and permanent solution. The Jude Thaddeus Program text and the instructors will then guide them to their inner strength and reacquaint them with their own power to change. This is accomplished by teaching the guest how to focus on a better future for themselves and for their loved ones. It is during this time that guests begin to reject poor, counter-productive habits and are taught how to think positively, critically and proactively. That is the beauty of the education method versus the control method. When our guests discover their own ability to overcome negative patterns, they, themselves, are empowered. Once a person knows deeply that they are no longer a victim of the changing circumstances of life, a powerful desire for happiness drives them into the next phase of the Jude Thaddeus Program.

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3. Weeks Five and Six
The Future – Build the Plan

For many guests this is their most powerful time in the program. In this last phase guests build a future plan that is based on the guests’ own natural talents, wants, values and needs. This plan also takes into account all of the different ways that guests have learned to be more positive while at the retreat house. For many this stage of the program is where guests know in their hearts that they are ready to tackle life. The plan that they build will include virtually every facet of their lives, such as career, family, social life, material goals, spiritual goals, etc. The Jude Thaddeus Program™ and the instructor teach techniques and introduce new approaches to old problems. But, the responsibility for implementing these techniques and incorporating these new approaches into daily living rest squarely with each individual guest. Throughout the Jude Thaddeus Program™ each guest is on a path that leads to becoming responsible for their own present and future. The entire 6 week process actually teaches guests how to perform self-assessments and then put into action the needed changes. Rather than recoiling from responsibility and change, the process embraces, challenges, and creates the confidence for guests to succeed.

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4. Confrontation and Control through Fear Equals Ineffectiveness

The Jude Thaddeus Program, a non-religious residential social/educational model, is based on the fact that all human behavior is the result of choice. In contrast, conventional treatment is based on the erroneous “theory” that substance abuse is not choice based, but rather the result of a disease and/or character flaws and/or dependency. As such, conventional treatment instills fear (i.e. you are dependent) and exerts complete control over its patient (i.e. you must do exactly as the treatment dictates to recover from substance abuse.) Substance abuse counselors counsel patients that the patients’ thinking is “wrong.” Then, counselors instruct the patient “what they should be thinking.” This control method frequently causes patients to become treatment resistant, claiming not to have a substance abuse problem. Manipulatively, the counselor will then try to convince the patient that claiming not to have a substance abuse problem is a condition known as “ denial” and is one of the manifestations of the patient’s “disease.” The counselor explains that claiming not to have the disease is further evidence that the patient’s thinking is wrong and that the disease is present. (Click here to read more.)

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5. How can every substance abuse program say they are the best?

The answer is; they can, but it’s not true! Why is it that when people spend the time to investigate different facilities and programs for treating alcohol or drug problems, they usually wind up frustrated, confused and feeling less hopeful than when they began? The reason is that the majority of treatment programs, intentionally, complicate the problem of substance abuse, rather than offering straightforward and permanent solutions. (Click here to read more.)

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6. What is the Jude Thaddeus Program™?  

First it is important to know what the Jude Thaddeus Program™ is not: it is not treatment; it is not rehabilitation; it is not psycho-babble; it is not spiritual fantasy; it is not counseling and most certainly it is not 12 steps – in summary, it is not the control model.  It is, first and foremost, a social and educational experience leading to better choices in the future, which brings about a more positive lifestyle.  It is a program that develops social skills and eases social anxieties. It is a program that moves participants from fear and anxiety to self-confidence and positive motivation. In short, it is a life changing experience.

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7. What makes the Jude Thaddeus Program™ so successful?

The Jude Thaddeus Program™ is effective because it teaches common sense solutions, it builds on the hard work of maturing and changing negative habits into positive action, and it makes clear how to accept deferred gratification through stick-to-itiveness, and carefully constructed goal oriented plans. Although these principles are time tested, they require work, and the willingness to change.

The Jude Thaddeus Program™ promotes the truth; that the disease of addiction is a myth. There is no disease of alcoholism; there is no disease of dependency; and, there is no disease of addiction! This is just one of many areas where the Jude Thaddeus Program™ departs from conventional treatment and why the Jude Thaddeus Program™ is significantly more effective than the conventional treatment model. Teaching our guests the need for personal responsibility for their actions, rather than making excuses for poor behavior and choices, is the cornerstone to rebuilding their lives. A disease by its very nature is out of a person’s control. This is simply not the case with substance abuse. Substance abusers make the choice to abuse alcohol and drugs. Choice is a behavior, not a disease.

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8. The Jude Thaddeus Program™ Focuses on:

The Jude Thaddeus Program™, has four themes that, when completed in order, transforms lives: (the following include direct quotes from the program text book.)

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9. The Jude Thaddeus Program™ offers several services that customize the program to guest’s needs .

Guests can enroll in the Continuing Education™ Program , for an additional 4 weeks of education, if needed. This program, like the 6 week Jude Thaddeus Program™, is custom tailored to the needs of our guests. Along with giving guests additional time to build a solid foundation for their future, it also provides for additional help in career development, social skills training, GED preparation and acquisition, job placement assistance, college preparation, along with a myriad of other services based on the specific needs of each individual. Because Saint Jude Retreats TM has a maximum of twenty-four guests per facility, the ratio of staff to guest is one to two. The Saint Jude Country Retreat has a maximum occupancy of five guests and there is more staff than there are guests. Individual classes are available when indicated. To access more information on JTP Continuing Education™ ( please click here .)  

Learn more about our JTP Continuing Education (Long Term Treatment Alternative)