A COUPLE recovering from years of addiction have decided to use their experience to help others.

Jenny Andrew and her partner Gary Long have set up a private rehabilitation centre called Lovelong House.

The pair have a combined recovery time of 11 years from drug and alcohol addiction.

Jenny said: “In a world with so many addictions, treatment options need to focus on treating the individual.

“With an emphasis on the ongoing recovery journey and use of holistic treatments, I believe that providing the tools for self-care with an aftercare programme is a crucial ingredient to living a life free from addiction.”

Jenny is seven and a half years into her recovery from alcohol dependency.

When she went to a rehabilitation centre she felt alone and found the experience incredibly tough.

She said: “The difference with our set-up compared with others is there will always be someone here who will just get you and that’s not something you would get in every rehabilitation hospital. When I was in rehab I didn’t feel like I could really connect with anyone.”

Medical and holistic treatments will be available at the centre in East Street, Littlehampton.

Jenny said while they still offer a traditional 12-step approach for treating alcohol addiction, the set-up is more “open minded”.

She said: “Our ethos is we are taking a more modern approach to treating addictions.

“Alcoholics Anonymous is an option for people struggling with addiction but it has a stigma to it and we want people to feel comfortable in their recovery, not judged.”

Everyone who checks into the centre will do a ten-day detox minimum.

Following this a range of treatments will be available depending on what the individual needs.

Activities to keep those recovering on track include yoga, acupuncture and meditation.

Jenny said: “We are not a retreat, we are a medical faculty. We don’t do airy fairy business.

“We are going through the Care Quality Commission group, and the professional medical and psychological care is incredibly important to us.

“The NHS does not offer a lot of options in this type of care and conditions such as alcohol addiction can be really physically and emotionally hard to recover from.”

Nurses are available at the centre 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and a consultant psychiatrist is available if any patients needs a further referral to more specialist treatment.