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News Article
Kitty Dukakis touts new
rehab center
By Laura Crimaldi
Friday, September 21, 2007
As the rehab hijinks of Tinseltown starlets like
Lindsay Lohan and Britney Spears grab headlines, former Bay State first lady
Kitty Dukakis is delivering a glamour-free path to addiction recovery.
“Unfortunately, the women in Hollywood who have continued to get drunk and to
use are not following the program they should have been following, and it’s as
simple as that,” said Dukakis, whose Kitty Dukakis Treatment Center for Women
will be dedicated today at Lemuel Shattuck Hospital in Jamaica Plain.
“They’re in the public. It’s not easy to have the media around all the time. On the other hand, there are many of us who have done this in spite of the media and I’m one of them,” said Dukakis, who has publicly battled alcoholism and depression. “I think coddling them and limiting the amount of time in treatment is a major mistake.”
Unlike the photo-op rehab of Hollywood fame, the 28-day treatment program named for Dukakis requires that clients attend seven hours of group sessions and therapy daily with only two hours allowed weekly for visitation.
The Shattuck program, which has 32 beds, is geared toward homeless women just leaving detox. The treatment center is run by hopeFound, the new name for The Friends of the Shattuck Shelter, said executive director Mary Nee.
In the center’s first six months, 145 women were treated. The program has an approximate budget of $1 million, said Mary Ann McCarthy, director of behavioral health. The space was offered by Shattuck as an in-kind donation. Donations are being sought to spruce up residents’ bedrooms.