One of a more common issue drug treatment centers see in individuals is a dual diagnosis assessment.  This co-occurring disorder diagnosis is a mental health disorder along with a substance abuse disorder.  Not all drug treatment centers have the ability to take on these types of individuals.  A common mental health disorder occurring in drug rehab clients is Bipolar Disorder.

Bipolar Disorder and Substance Abuse Disorder co-occur in about 61% of those with Type I bipolar and 48% of those with Type II bipolar. Subgroups of the bipolar population have are more prone to Substance Use Disorder like men, those with rapid cycling, and those who are diagnosed at the typical age of onset (between 20 and 30)

Some significant issues this population faces are in regards to medication management, effects of current and past drug use on medication interactions, and poor treatment adherence. Also there is an increased risk of suicide, increased health concerns due to medication, and lack of appropriate research for this specific subgroup.

Relapse bipolar symptoms are another problem because of the increased risk for discontinuance of treatment, suicide, and substance abuse when this occurs. Even with medication relapse rates of bipolar symptoms are as high as 40% within the first year, 60% within two years, and 73% within five or more years. Medications such as anticonvulsants, antidepressants, and antipsychotics are prescribed to help deal with the symptoms.

Current research suggests that the most effective form of recovery at a drug rehab center is integrated treatment. This is when recovery and relapse prevention from both disorders is taught simultaneously, usually involving group therapy and psycho educational groups. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy has been shown to be an effective modality to use in integrated therapy. Dialectical Behavioral Therapy also has shown promising results in helping decrease symptomology of both disorders.

Treating young adults presents many different challenges that are always common with adult treatment. Counselors must remember that young adults are continually developing psychologically and they have not reached the level of understanding their feelings and emotions in the way that adults are capable of.  The most important thing that occurs in young adult drug treatment is the change in perceptions, attitudes, and behaviors that revolve around addictive chemicals. The young adults must come to understand and recognize that they have a problem and develop tools of recovery. Unlike adults in treatment, young adults must focus on understanding their identity and who they are as well as building life skills and emotional regulation.

Some of the most difficult aspects of treating young adults are helping them understand they have a problem, getting them to communicate, and making them comply with the rules. One of the most successful treatment approaches is the therapeutic community. Clients hold their peers at high level of accountability giving the treatment team leverage, providing for faster behavior modification. The TC model teaches the client self-discipline and how to delay gratification. Love, support and trust are crucial parts of helping the client grow. Once they feel genuine love from the drug treatment team, the young adult will start to take a look at themselves and work towards sobriety.

The specific treatment of women with substance abuse disorders must take in a variety of issues and factors in order to be efficient and effective. Women dealing with drug addiction vary by location, culture, race and living circumstances.  The common thread that drug treatment centers must focus on during the recovery process are specific women’s issues and how they relate to a substance abuse disorder.

Assessments have been used to analyze data from the individual to understand the psychosocial, biological, epidemiological, and psychological influences surrounding their substance abuse disorder.  This information is then used to decide what method or treatment plan is going to be used and how to integrate gender specific programming into the plan as well.

Gender specific addiction treatment is relatively new as far as documented research and results.  In this area, the most significant findings have been that of social and cultural stigma’s relating to women and addiction, the limited resources and education at their disposal, and the psychosocial and/or psychological difficulties often instigated by physical and sexual abuse that is pervasive in the female substance abusing population. Research has also found that educating communities in treatment support activities, having women in prominent clinical roles during treatment, and employing single site services for both substance treatment and child services have had a positive effect for lasting treatment. Having specifically tailored treatment approaches and facilities is beneficial to the female population seeking to overcome addiction.

Once you have made a decision and are comfortable with the location and programming to start down the road to recovery, the next step is to develop a treatment plan specific to your use, future needs, and sobriety.  This is not a one step process.  It is something that will need to adjust and adapt as your recovery does.  It will need to flexible in order to keep your interest in the difficult process of getting sober.

One of the final steps in establishing a successful transition back to real life while in drug treatment is developing relapse prevention plan, triggers and thought reframes.  This can be built into your original treatment plan but needs to be expanded upon once you have a better understanding.  Having an awareness of triggers and reframing negative thinking errors can go a long way to avoiding relapse.  If a relapse does occur it is essential to have a plan put together before hand so there are steps to follow and a support system to rely on.

Interpersonal

Interpersonal issues include focusing on healing relationships and restoring an atmosphere of love and trust.  In recovery individuals are encouraged to find a higher power, love others and themselves.  If one of these areas is neglected they will be vulnerable to relapse.  These issues need to be resolved by building relationships one on one with significant others.

Personal interventions are another way to take a look at who you are as a person.  Family work, grief work, assertiveness training, dispute resolution, and personal relationship building are areas interventions can be effective with.

Working on yourself and the role with family members both immediate and extended leads to a better understanding of triggers and builds a strong support system.  Many times grief is a strong underlying issue in young adult drug treatment.  Individuals can cover up long standing difficult emotions and feelings and need to address them to stop the abuse.

Communication skills are an area that consistently needs improving with individuals in young adult drug rehab.  Learning how to be assertive and express yourself in healthy ways is one key to recovery.  Learning how to confront constructively is another.  Both these areas are key components of building strong, sober relationships.

Grief in Drug Rehab

Many drug rehab centers in Utah are dual-diagnosis cable and can address a variety of different mental health disorders along with substance abuse or chemical dependency in treatment.  Often times individuals will be showing symptoms of grief, stress, depression, or other mental health issues but are not fully diagnosed with a disorder.

Individuals finding themselves self-medicating with drugs or alcohol during the unresolved grief process need to talk about it to move on and accept the reality of their loss.  Substance abuse treatment centers can focus on this as an underlying issue towards the abuse in both individual and group therapy settings.  There are many assignments, role-plays, and other processes to assist foster this growth.  Both good and bad memories need to be shared as well as discussing events prior to, during and after the event or loss.

Utah drug rehab centers provide an effective place for individuals suffering from grief to gradually adjust to a new environment.  This may include coming to terms with living alone, managing finances, learning to do chores, facing a new empty house, and changing social relationships.  They need to begin to withdraw emotionally from the loss, reinvest in new relationships, and acquire new interests to fill the void left behind.

Individuals in the grieving process need to be reassured that they have a program full of caring peers and staff, which fill the need for trust and friendship.  They need to see what was lost accurately, with all the positive and negative qualities.  The individuals who see only the good things will not work through the grief.  These individuals need to develop new relationships in the program.  They need to be encouraged to increase their social interaction with their treatment peers.

Joellyn Manville, Clinical Director

Joellyn joins New Roads as Clinical Director.  She has extensive experience in the field of inpatient substance abuse.  Her background includes direct services to individuals, groups and families, as well as in administration, supervision, and program development. Her training and experience integrates psychodynamic and cognitive behavioral approaches to healthy individuation, the development of positive self esteem, and trauma resolution.

Joellyn brings sensitivity and compassion to her expertise in restructuring patterns of self-regulation and motivation and the development of substance-free coping and social interaction.  She embodies a love of the outdoors and a passion for healthy living.

Substance abuse in the young adult population is highly associated with delinquency, low education achievement, suicide and other personal and family issues.  Not all substance abusers attain severe dependence, however a lot of them need specialized and specific treatment at a young adult drug rehab facility.  There is a significant gap between young people in need of rehab and those that are actually fortunate enough to be receiving addiction treatment.

8.4 percent of 18-25 year olds in the United States are in need of some sort of help for addiction, but under a tenth of them ever get it. This treatment gap is linked to a public concern regarding the effectiveness and quality of the facilities and programs that are currently in the industry.  A lot of individuals working in the healthcare setting feel that there is not a lot that can be done as far as substance abuse is concerned.  There is however, new empirically validated research supporting new kinds treatment approaches for consistent positive outcomes.

New Roads after drug rehab

Are there guarantees for my loved one in drug rehab?

Any quality above board treatment center can only provide each client with the tools and opportunities to take advantage of and succeed in life.  As with almost everything else in this long life there are no guarantees.  Addiction is such a tricky disease that each person affected has to have a very individualized rehab process with peaks and valleys that are unique to them.  However, if a client fully releases themselves and buys into the program, they’re chances of long-term recovery increase significantly.

How can you tell if the addiction treatment program is good for young adults?

There is no single way to tell, however there are some signs that can give an indication if a drug and alcohol facility does quality work or not.  Addiction recovery as an industry makes billions of dollars each year, reputations are abundant and information is out there to gather.  Talking with consultants who refer families to drug rehab centers can be useful.  A large indication of the quality of a treatment center is the professional staff that is employed.  A program could have the most luxurious accommodations, helicopter rides, spas, and executive chefs and be absolutely of no benefit to the client because there is no therapeutic work being done.  Just because a drug and alcohol rehab center is expensive does not mean people are recovering there.

How do I decide where is best for my loved one?

This is the golden question.  Because young adults are so dynamic and have so much life to live their treatment must be specific to them as a person and specialized to their unique characteristics.  There are thousands of drug treatment centers in the U.S., it is important to do the necessary research to make sure what a program offers matches up with the needs of the client.  Young adult treatment centers for instance, should focus on building life skills, connecting to higher education institutions and building professional habits.

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Assessments

The Utah drug treatment program admissions process involves several comprehensive assessments of each resident’s condition and specific issues or needs, including medical, psychiatric and psychosocial status. Whenever possible, collateral information is collected from additional resources including family, schools and previous treatment provider(s).

Medical/Psych Assessment

Medical Director - Board Certified Addictionologist: Dr. Troy Lunsford - Dr Lunsford will conduct a medical and psychiatric assessment. We will also utilize outside resources of family referrals to aide this process.

Psychological Services

Psychological Services are provided by contracted psychologists. These services may include a comprehensive assessment of personality characteristics, intellectual functioning, social adaptability, and screening for organic dysfunction. Occasionally, residents may be referred to psychologists that specialize in areas outside of the scope of specialty of the New Roads staff.  Many Utah drug treatment centers are connected and share  available resources when necessary.

Chemical Dependency Assessment

The first assessment that is utilized is a chemical dependency screening.  This interview examines psychoactive substance use and related issues, establishes a baseline and identifies areas of need and issues.  The assessment measures seven chemical dependency-related domains: drug use, alcohol use, medical problems, psychiatric issues, legal issues, family/social issues, and employment/support issues.  The assessment will also help to determine if there are any psychological issues that would prohibit your loved one from attaining complete recovery, if there are any risks for danger to self or others and if there is any propensity towards mood, personality or cognitive disorders. This assessment also evaluates a client’s treatment and recovery belief systems and determines if there are any indicators that your young adult child would be resistant to the treatment process.

Psychosocial Assessment

The psychosocial assessment reviews a client’s medical history, family history, leisure and social functioning, developmental history, educational functioning, legal history, drug and alcohol history and any significant events that could impact your teen's treatment process.

Individual Family Sessions

Individual sessions with young adults and their family members will be conducted by the Family Therapist primarily for the purpose of assessing family therapy needs to complete treatment goals and addressing conflicts and sensitive issues that the family may prefer to discuss privately rather than address in group therapy sessions.

Multi-Family Group

This group is held on Saturday one time a month.  It is open to all clients and is facilitated by the Family Therapist.  The multi-family group addresses issues that are common to all families such as communication, handling conflicts, and maintaining boundaries. It also gives us all a chance to “Re -identify” who we all are. Family members and residents share in a supportive atmosphere.  This group also provides families with feedback and support from other family members who are experiencing similar difficulties.