Co-Occurring Disorders
Addiction often is the result of the patient self medicating deeper underlying imbalances. These could be:
- Eating Disorders
- Bi Polar Disorders
- Major Depression
- Anxiety Disorders
- Trauma Related Disorders
- Character Disorders
Sometimes when a person gets sober the disorder they seem to have had disappears yet sometimes the disorder you never saw before they were sober presents itself severely and for the first time.
Almost all drug addiction treatment centers say they are capable of dealing with these issues. The fact is to truly deal with these underlying disorders requires a highly skilled clinical team, psychiatric resources of the highest quality and solid case management. This is beyond all but a few facilities nationwide. Seasons is one of them. The components we use are;
Team Treatment
Particularly with character disorders, a strong and integrated team is required to continually engage the client in change and movement. Many of these areas also are highly specialized and so the team leadership requires the expert in that area be in control of the treatment planning and execution.
Focused Psycho-Pharmacology
With our Psychiatrist leading the team, we work efficiently and quickly to find the immediate solution to psychiatric crisis- stabilizing the patient and then searching for a longer-term solution. Residential high resource treatment is particularly well suited for this, but it is rarely done in a way that takes advantage of the residential treatment center’s setting. We are with the patient 24/7 and can provide excellent information daily to the MD in charge. This makes the process of medication adjustment and substitution take days instead of weeks, and a good plan for medication, when necessary, can be completed while the patient is in residential care and before they leave our support and protection. This can be the difference between success and failure with the co-occuring patient.
Professional Case Management
Co-Occurring disorders require specific responses in treatment resources and specialty therapists. At Seasons Recovery Centers each patient is assigned a Case Manager who’s job it is to execute the treatment plan developed by the larger treatment team. The Case Manager and the Primary Therapist work with the Psychiatrist as a tight team moving the patient forward in their goals and treatment.
Patient Focused Assessment and Referral
There are times when a patient with a co occurring issue will require a higher level of care than can be given in residential treatment- they may require a hospital or psychiatric lock-down facility. At Seasons we have professional assessment tools and some of the best psychiatric support in the country that we defer to in making these assessments. Many California treatment centers just try to medicate theses “cash cows” and let them reside for a long period of time, resources permitting. This is bad for the patient and bad for the community of patients. At Seasons we demand each client be moving forward and making progress in the treatment community or we will refer them to a higher (or lower) level of care in order to keep them progressing.
The Systemic Approach to Addiction Treatment
that we have developed and execute is particularly well suited for the co occuring disordered patient. Research has shown the organized family system, when involved in the care with a family member in one with these disorders, can be a powerful force for healing, compliance, and patient well-being and confidence.
If you hear another treatment center say they deal with “dual-diagnosis” or “co-occuring disorders”, ask them what they mean by that- what that treatment is. You might be surprised at the lack of substance to most treatment in this area.
At Seasons you will get focused, team based, intelligent treatment specific to the diagnosis.