Utah provides great opportunities for individuals to get out and enjoy the outdoors.  At New Roads we encourage all of our clients to get out and connect with nature, as well as find themselves both while in drug treatment and in life.  Outdoor activities in drug treatment can promote healthy relationships and create new hobbies.

Quality assurance is important in any drug treatment facility to make sure clients are receiving the highest quality of care possible. It is used to evaluate the services that are being rendered, and making sure these services are appropriate for the clients that are receiving them. Receiving appropriate services will help to achieve the best possible outcome for a client.

It is important to have a system in place that is proactive, as opposed to reactive, so the focus is on prevention, identification, and resolution, as well as developing and planning new types of programs. Being proactive helps to prevent a problem, rather than fixing one after it has already happened.

Quality assurance also involves client monitoring. It is important to make sure clients are moving forward, their needs are being met, and they are achieving the goals that are set for them.

Watching documentation, utilization reviews, and planning for growth are also important, so you can have the proper procedures put in place to make sure that if there is a problem, that it is detected quickly and taken care of.

Here, the addict internalizes the self punishment.  This allows for a progression from believing they did something wrong (guilt), to seeing that something is wrong with them (shame).  Guilt and shame are two issues that are a common theme that individuals need to work on while in drug treatment.  For many addicts guilt and shame are the same thing.  The education and understanding of how each of these issues affects them is essential to a strong drug treatment plan.

Step 8 – Intense Negative Emotions

By this point in the process, the negative experience of emotions extend beyond the degree which the addict feels capable of managing.  This point in an addicts cycle can be used a great opportunity in drug rehab for the professional staff to use as a learning tool.  When an individual experiences emotions they are unable to handle, there are processes to use in order to avoid relapse.

Step 9 – Numb Out/ Need to Self Medicate

Due to the intense emotional difficulty, the addict would rather not feel or change their emotional state.  The most powerful way to do this is to reset the cycle.  This is the last step in the process and it plays a powerful role in why an addict’s cycle is so hard to break without help from outside sources.  A drug treatment facility can give a client all the tools to survive and live a long sober life.  However, if the individual chooses not to use these tools, the addiction cycle will play a prominent role in their life.

Step 4 – Failed Redirect Attempts

Usually, just before the relapse occurs, the addict attempts to stop the cycle.  Unfortunately, each failed attempt increases future failure.  The failed attempt itself can lead to a more severe or longer relapse cycle.  With the correct tools and application and individual can still pull themselves out of this cycle at this point.

Step 5 – Relapse

One discussion that always arises with clients in drug treatment is what exactly is considered a relapse.  Relapse is defined by obtaining the substance, using the substance, and experiencing the effects of the substance.  This process is highly ritualized.  As soon as an addict starts fantasizing or going through this process in their head the pleasure chemical serotonin can start being released in their body.

Step 6 – Realization (values re-emerge)

Immediately after the relapse, and usually after the effects of the substance wears off, the addict comes to a full realization of their decision.  With the added weight they put on themselves as their values and beliefs return.

Anthony T. Alonzo, DMFT, LMFT, CFLE

The drug and alcohol addiction cycle is composed of approximately 9 stages.  This cycle is an important part of our educational component in our drug treatment program.  We believe a key component of long term sobriety is for clients to identify and understand their own addiction cycle and have the tools to interrupt it.

Step 1- Emotional Disruption

While we all experience emotional disruption, within this cycle, emotions are not resolved, but are compounded over time.

Step 2 – Thoughts of Using (past, present, future)

Instead of managing and resolving emotions, the addict turns to thoughts of using to change their emotional state.

Step 3 – “Set Up” Relapse (values subside)

the addict begins to “Set Up” their relapse, creating the opportunity to access drugs or alcohol (obtaining money, contacting dealers, finding others who are known users, etc…)

There are five main developmental tasks of young adults. The first one is separation and individualization. During that time, the young adult establishes an identity that is separate from their parents. They also develop and establish personal boundaries. The next task is psychosexual development.

During this time an young adult develops the ability to be intimate, as well as learning a comfortableness with their body image, and the changes that are naturally occurring. Another important task is the development of meaning and purpose. This is when an young adult establishes meaningful relationships with adults. They also develop a set of values, and a spiritual base for the first time. The next task if the development of social competencies.

This is when they learn to develop friendships, by developing feelings of empathy and other skills needed to maintain these friendships. They also gain self- confidence, learn social problem solving skills, and learn how to control their impulses. The last task that is important is the development of cognition and language. Problem solving skills are developed during this time, as well as learning abstract thinking. Young adults also learn to express those abstract ideas and thoughts to others.

When seeking help for an addiction, one of the most vital moves you can make towards your sobriety is leaving an environment that has proven to be harmful to your health. Finding a treatment center out of state can give you, or your loved one the chance to “start over.” Staying close to home to receive treatment means staying close to many familiar triggers that have attributed to your addiction. If you were to go on a recreational pass, seeing familiar areas where you have used drugs and alcohol before can be a risky reminder of that usage too soon, and could sabotage your recovery.

Drug treatment is an unknown, and sometimes scary endeavor. If you are worried about the possibility of walking out after a few days, because you don’t think you can handle it, an out of state treatment facility could make that a lot more challenging. You may think twice about leaving early, when you know you have to make a flight reservation to get home. For many, that added step is enough to keep them there for the long haul, and then headed down the road to recovery.

Another issue of going to treatment out of state is being away from loved ones. While it may be hard, it is ultimately one of the best ways to focus on yourself and work on healing and recovery. For some people it is hard to focus purely on yourself, but doing so can help everyone around you to lead a better, happier life. Being away from home will help you focus on your goals without distraction.

Visit our website for more information www.newroadstreatment.com

Visit our website for more information.

Suggestions

• Be there for your friends when they need help with their addictions.  Allow them to talk, but don’t force your opinions on them, and don’t judge them when they open up and share their guilt, fears, and sorrow with you.
• Be sensitive to their emotions.  You might not have ever faced drug or alcohol addiction, but your friend is on an emotional roller coaster right now that you need to respect.
• Be patient.  You may need to hear the same stories over and over until your friends can overcome their frustrations.  Let them tell what they need to tell and don’t interrupt.

Mistakes to Avoid

• Don’t tell them not to take it so hard.  This makes it seem as though their addictions and problems aren’t a big deal.  Instead, take an honest attitude that expresses that you know this is a horrible time to be going through.
• Don’t take a diversionary tactic.  If you call your friend to make sure he’s alright, don’t talk about meaningless small-talk subjects like sports or the weather.  Be brave and confront the real issue at hand.
• Don’t be afraid if your friends cry.  Tears are a healthy way of expressing negative emotions.  In fact, tears can physically cleanse a body by carrying toxins out with them.  Be the shoulder they need to cry on.

Helpful Aides

• Keep in touch.  Giving an addict “space” may seem like the right thing from the outside, but to the one battling their addiction, this feels like abandonment.  Always let your friends know you are there for them.
• Help in some real way.  If your friends are having a hard time coping, give of your time to run an errand for them, bring them dinner, or help in another way.  Don’t allow yourself to become a crutch for your friends, but give them the support they need to face another day.
• Encourage a new beginning.  You can’t allow your friend’s habits to continue if addiction is taking over their life.  Hold an intervention or suggest treatment, even if you fear an angry retaliation.

For more information about starting down a new road to a clean and sober life, visit www.newroadstreatment.com.  We provide the professional help your friend needs right now.  After your friend’s successful rehabilitation, when they ask themselves, “What makes a real friend?” the ones who helped them get the treatment they needed will be at the top of their list.

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