Over the past half century, tens of thousands of people like Ferguson have found help at the Hazelden Foundation, an acclaimed treatment center about 40 miles north of Minneapolis. Experts with Columbia University's National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse in New York City and with the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism in Washington, D.C., recommended the Tribune visit Hazelden because of the success of its treatment. It also has satellite centers in Florida, New York and Chicago. About 60 percent of its patients stay sober for at least a year, said its president and CEO, Jerry Spicer. That compares an average success rate of 35-40 percent for the industry as a whole.
Counselors treat alcoholism as a medical disease with some social causes.
Former patients remain involved in the program, and aftercare is strongly emphasized to prevent relapse. They were back on the units during the day and speaking to us at night. They became role models for me because I could see they were so happy in their lives. They provided me something I'd never had before motivation to change. Ferguson spent 28 days at the treatment facility, receiving help from an inter-disciplinary mix of medical doctors, chemical dependency counselors, psychologists and chaplains.