Treatment

In any treatment center or organization for social welfare and advocacy, optimal treatment for all people should be the focus. Although the Sanctuary Model could benefit many other types of organizations, these organizations in particular utilize this model because their core focus is to help people better themselves through use of medication, therapy, activities, case management and more. Developed by Dr. Sandra L. Bloom, a board-certified psychiatrist and graduate of Temple University’s School of Medicine, the Sanctuary Model is an evidence-based, trauma-informed, complete system of organizational change process. There are four main pillars that the model is based on: 1) shared knowledge, 2) shared values, 3) shared language, and 4) shared practice. Through the use of shared meaning, organizational members can work towards building a future that supports everyone involved, in every way possible. By establishing a shared system, team members and clients can be prepared for future events and can easily navigate daily challenges by referring to the system’s core values and commitments. The Sanctuary Model implements commitments to nonviolence, emotional intelligence, social learning, open communication, democracy, social responsibility, growth, and change. In organizations that deal with mental illness and/or addiction, unforeseen circumstances may arise and, if not prepared for, could be detrimental to the people involved. All organizational members must feel confident in their capabilities to handle emergency situations just as they should feel confident handling daily interactions with clients. This knowledge base and confidence builds trust between employees and clients alike –  ultimately strengthening a lending-learning environment. There are a variety of ways in which the Sanctuary Model focuses on the future:

Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is an evidence-based, time-sensitive, structured, present-oriented psychotherapy that assists clients in solving problems and developing skills to help modify dysfunctional ways of thinking and doing. CBT has been shown to treat a variety of disorders, including anxiety disorders, depression, addiction, sleep problems, chronic pain and fatigue, and more. If you’re considering seeking therapy, your therapist may choose to use CBT with you. Here are some facts that you may not have known about this popular, effective treatment method:

A mood is defined as a temporary state of mind or feeling. As an emotional state, a mood may be expressed as one of the following, for example: serious, humorous, amused, angry, playful, cheerful, gloomy, and more. Put simply, moods summarize what’s favorable or unfavorable to us, based on external and internal information. Some psychologists believe that our mood is based somewhat on a stress threshold – researcher Roy Baumeister, for example, believes that when we’ve used up all our willpower to avoid a temptation – such as eating fast food when we’re on a diet, for example – we become irritable because we’ve drained up all our cognitive resources. Consequently, a bad mood causes us to have tunnel vision, making it more difficult to see things more openly and creatively. On the opposite side, a good mood can open our minds to a world of possibilities. We all love being in a good mood, but what happens when we are in a bad mood? Can we easily change this? If there is no mood disorder present, there are a few things that we can do to help improve our mood:

Engaging in a treatment program can be a bit frightening, especially when you haven’t formed a support system yet and you are still learning the process. You may not know what challenges you’re going to face or how to overcome them, but the right treatment center will prepare you for these things. Over 3 million people each year receive treatment for an addiction, and around 1.2 million people in the United States seek treatment for both a mental illness and an addiction. Although these numbers are quite low in comparison to the total number of people who need treatment, they do have one benefit: many of these people have come back to help others. Not all therapists and healthcare staff at treatment centers have experienced first-hand mental illness or addiction in their personal lives. Many have experienced the struggles of those closest to them. Either way, there are many benefits to having professional health workers who have been through the process of mental illness, addiction, treatment, and recovery before:

Residential treatment programs can provide intensive help to those with a serious addiction or mental illness. While receiving residential treatment, clients temporarily live outside of their homes while being monitored and supervised by a supportive healthcare team. If you’re wondering if residential treatment may be a good fit for you, here are some ways to decide:

Many people who struggle with addiction and/or mental illness experience a lot of conditional love – they have been neglected, abused, abandoned, forgotten, ignored, or disengaged. As humans, we all experience pain, but it can be particularly painful to experience the pain of conditional love. A treatment center should not be a place where these painful feelings continue – it should be a place of love, acceptance, and nurturing to promote optimal growth in a supportive environment. In many cases, both addiction and mental illness have developed out of feelings of anger, isolation, shame, loneliness, grief, sadness, and more. Treatment programs that focus strictly on changing outward behavior, or ones that only provide support for the direct addiction or mental illness cannot offer unconditional love because they reject all the other parts that need nurturing – the parts that make you human. Your family relationships, financial and employment status, general health, and home life may all need attention, too, which is why unconditional love is so incredibly important. Dr. Mark Willenbring, former director of the National Institute for Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, stated in an interview, “You don’t treat a chronic illness for four weeks and then send the patient to a support group. People with a chronic form of addiction need multimodal treatment that is individualized and offered continuously or intermittently for as long as they need it.” You deserve to have full support throughout your recovery. Not receiving this could be very detrimental to your success in recovery; Dr. Willenbring cited a case of a 43-year-old woman who had been in and out of rehabilitation 42 times because she wasn’t receiving the proper medical and support services that she needed. This case, as well as previous research, underlines the importance of full love and support as you work to better yourself in recovery. You should feel that your voice is heard and that your preferences – if they are in line with what you need – are met. The journey to recovery is a lifelong endeavor and should not be taken lightly. It all begins with treatment, making the right treatment center a crucial foundation point.

According to a Pew Research Center survey conducted in August of last year, 46% of U.S. adults say they have a family member or close friend who has an addiction now or has had one in the past. The illicit drugs included in the survey were marijuana, cocaine, heroin, hallucinogens, inhalants, methamphetamine, and misuse of prescription drugs. Along with these different drugs comes different short and long-term consequences, as each person’s history with drugs are different. There are many reasons why each addiction is different:

Perhaps you’ve got some pressing needs that you feel deserve the attention of licensed healthcare professionals. If you’ve been doing research to find the best option for your needs and circumstance, consider an intensive outpatient program (IOP). An IOP gives you just the flexibility you need to go about your daily routines while still giving you enough structure to stay active and involved in your treatment. IOPs are a great option if:

Art therapy can give people a voice, develop social skills, assist in relaxation, and much more. Art therapy is defined by the dictionary as “a form of psychotherapy involving the encouragement of free self-expression through painting, drawing, or modeling, used as a remedial activity or an aid to diagnosis”. As stated on the Huffington Post, art therapy exercises are often meant to emphasize the process, not the result, of the project. The following are some therapeutic art projects that you may want to begin to help you connect with your feelings and express yourself:

Many people in recovery cite spirituality as a key element to their success. In a study conducted by researchers from Maryland, participants in recovery were asked to explain the role of spirituality in their recovery. Many participants explained that when they were actively addicted, their spirituality seemed to suffer, and it seemed to go “hand in hand” when they entered recovery. Spirituality is defined by the Cambridge Dictionary as “the quality that involves deep feelings and beliefs of a religious nature, rather than the physical parts of life”.

Approximately 1 in 4 adults in the United States have obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). OCD is a very real, very intense disorder that can affect nearly every aspect of a person’s life. The disorder may involve agitation, hypervigilance, impulsivity, meaningless repetition of words or actions, ritualistic behavior, social isolation, and more. No matter what type of OCD you are experiencing, note there are tools you can use to help overcome this. OCD can be very distressing, but here are several tips to help you begin your journey to recovery:

Neurofeedback is a biofeedback technique that focuses on helping a person train to directly affect brain function. In a sense, neurofeedback helps the brain to heal itself and is used to treat a variety of conditions such as eating disorders, mood disorders, addictions, anxiety, depression, and attention deficit disorder (ADD). With neurofeedback, a person learns to “self-regulate” by learning how to regulate their brainwave patterns on their own without medications or other forms of therapy. A typical session for neurofeedback is held at least once a week. Electrodes are applied to a participant’s head and connected to a computer. The patient and the therapist then have the ability to essentially listen to what the brain is doing. While this is happening, the electrodes are sent to a computer and the patient can see and hear images and sounds that correlate. With this, a person can easily understand how their brain works when they are thinking, feeling stressed, feeling relaxed, etc. Essentially, it is like a person playing a video game with their brain! Each session takes approximately 15-35 sessions, and has been shown to have no side effects. Many people work to retrain their brain patterns in order to relax themselves and control their stress levels. A few individuals shared their success with neurofeedback on The Brain Lady, a website of best-selling author, speaker, and trainer Debra Burdick. Here are some words of success from individuals who follow her: “Before I started neurofeedback, I had anxiety so bad I couldn’t go to school or see friends. After a few months of neurofeedback, I was back in school, on the honor roll and had a new job. Neurofeedback has been like a miracle in my life.” Another person stated: “I have tried a variety of treatment…and neurofeedback is the only thing that has really helped me feel good. I no longer crave alcohol, very rarely get depressed or feel bad about myself – even at a challenging time in my life.” Many have reported success with neurofeedback. If this is something you are considering, speak with your doctor today to see if this is a technique that you may benefit from. If you’re researching treatment centers, aim to find a reputable center that offers this as a method of treatment. Recovery is possible, and there are many tools you can use.