What Makes Us Different
Busara’s mission is personalized for women who desire a safe place to continue the progress of their treatment. Our women thrive in an environment that is nurturing, safe, and comfortable.
Busara has been very successful working with women that other transitional living facilities may find outside their comfort level. Women who have not been successful living at home or in other environments due to continued and possibly combined substance use, mental health, behavioral challenges and physical challenges are the reason that Busara was created. We are successful with our residents because we provide a balance of care, warmth, structure and clinical knowledge. Having staff who are trauma aware makes Busara distinctive. Furthermore, having a founder and administrator who is a seasoned Clinical Psychologist sets Busara apart in an even more significant way.
The Rhythm of Recovery
Recovery is daily and is daily achieved through learning to proactively and strategically care for oneself; to truly understand oneself and the limits of self and the need to connect to others for support and feedback. This is a critically important outcome of life at Busara. Recovery occurs through thoughtful and collaborative goal setting, making daily use of available recovery resources and support, putting those resources into motion, and finally, understanding and being responsive to the outcome and the part that they individually play in their recovery.
Thoughtful accomplishment in the daily aspects of life builds confidence. The learning cycle brings wisdom. Long lasting change comes with the support and feedback. This is the rhythm of recovery at Busara.
What do those days look like? Daily focus on recovery, learning to care for ones’ body through meals and movement, attention to ones’ spirit, living with others in peace and kindness, caring for ones’ self financially, allowing for hopes and dreams to take root, making wise relationship decisions, putting all these things into practice and then learning from the result. Discovering or perhaps reclaiming strengths, gifts and talents are also wonderful by-products of this nurturing recovery process. This is why we choose the name Busara which means wisdom, prudence, and understanding in the Swahili language, to represent our intention.
How Does It Work?
Strategically, with caring and thoughtful personalization and in connected partnership – Busara’s residents interact in community. We partner with recovery experts, mental health professionals, medical professionals, our residents’ families and loved ones, universities, movement professionals, and other experts and staff as needed, to create a truly individualized experience for long lasting change. Every day is one of moving forward, even on those days when headway seems slow going.
There is a portion of the day for rest and restoration, a portion for growth and challenge, time for relationship building, and a part of the day for participating in the responsibilities of our shared residential space. Learning to practice and enjoy the healthy rhythm of independent life is the daily focus for our residents. Each resident has their own daily and weekly goals and personalized schedule that meets their recovery needs. There is daily accountability and communication with staff.
Either Jennifer or Dr. Chester are points of contact with regard to admission with Busara. They speak to the potential resident and any treatment or recovery professionals if needed, to determine if Busara is the best fit for recovery goals and life needs. Given our small size and the very personal experience of Busara, it is important to make sure that there is a clear understanding of what is offered at Busara and what our expectations are of each resident. The idea is to learn to live independently while still attending therapy and/or recovery programs while have a caring safety net to process the day and the day’s emotions.
Dr. Chester is an active presence at Busara, meeting regularly with staff and residents to assist with individualized resident planning and achievement, as well as supervision and training of staff. All matters pertaining to Busara are within Dr. Chester’s purview.
After Busara, I feel like I am finally able to have control over my life. I’m staying organized, keeping up with my school work, and taking care of my mental and physical health. I feel put together. C.A., 2020