Amethyst provides a safe, structured and affordable therapeutic community in which recovering drug and alcohol dependent women can gain and maintain sobriety. Our program model focuses on addictions and emphasizes the role that poverty plays in perpetuating drug and alcohol use. The model also addresses issues that sabotage recovery and attempts at independence, such as the trauma of physical and sexual abuse, attachments to unhealthy interpersonal relationships, grief and loss issues, and limited education and job skills or experience.
Our approach to recovery is gender-specific and incorporated the Relational Cultural Model into our practices. This model recognizes that women build on and develop in relationship to other people. To meet the gender-specific needs of women at Amethyst, we create a safe, supportive, nurturing and woman-centered environment that encourages trust, bonding and connection (Covington, 1999). Our program helps women learn how to develop positive connections to themselves, peers, family, the workplace and the community as a whole.