ALL ABOUT RECOVERY

Desert Sun Column

01/26/2015

James Barry M.S., LAADC, CADC II

Counselor-Outpatient Services

LGBTQ Specialist

Questions:

1: How long has Betty Ford Center had an outpatient program?

[I’m throwing this in as a ‘plant’ so we can talk about the new LA outpatient program. I’ll basically

answer this one.]

2: How do you determine who goes to the outpatient program and who goes to inpatient?

Patients are assessed prior to admission through the Admissions department regarding their personal

situation and the best fit for their presenting needs. Some factors may include proximity the Betty Ford

Campus in Rancho Mirage, acuity of chemical dependency, and stressors related to patients case. Once

a patient is admitted to the Intensive Outpatient Level of care, additional patient information is

gathered from clinical staff and primary counselor to assure that a plan is individualized to meet the

presenting needs of the patient.

3: What does a typical outpatient session include?

Some treatment milieus direct patients to follow a standardized approach, where the curriculum for

each patient is the same, and patients are asked to meet pre-Our treatment plans are absolutely

individualized, and not one size fits all.

In the overview of a session, patient’s arrive to the program, check-in with staff, and are asked to journal

about their day. Following this, patients will attend an educational session based on a revolving 8 week

curriculum on topics from Relapse Prevention to mindfulness and healthy boundaries. Patients will also

attend lectures on a variety of recovery related topics. Patients are offered Yoga and mindfulness along

with meditation techniques as part of the curriculum and the opportunity to critique their experience

weekly. Also, a patient may be given an assignment based on their presenting issues and will be asked to

present the assignment nd be open to feedback from the group of peer patients. The process focus

approach in our group interaction is an opportunity to exp lore the here and now, to own one’s feelings,

and to re-visit the feelings of belonging to a supportive group in a safe and non-threatening

environment. A variety of experiential and interactive exercises and scenarios are explored in the small

group.

4. What happens if someone in the outpatient program uses drugs or alcohol? Do you test people?

Although a patient using drugs or alcohol is not a frequent occurrence, slips and relapse, may initially

represent difficulty in utilizing new coping mechanisms being learned in the context of the IOP program,

as drugs and alcohol have been the “knee jerk” reaction for a quick repair of difficult feelings or

situations, only to find that the drug or alcohol use actually complicates the issues at hand.

Patients at this level of care are subject to stressors on a daily basis that someone at an inpatient level of

care may avoid due to the highly structured nature of the treatment. Patients at the IOP level of care are

in treatment several nights a week for 3-4 hours a night, ultimately returning to their outside lives and

facing all the stimulation and stressors of everyday life. Patients are assessed on the nature of the

relapse, and may be more tightly monitored and asked to present a “relapse autopsy” to better

understand what happened and to process in the therapeutic group, opting for a learning experience,

rather than a punitive experience. This is not to suggest that relapse is not a serious issue, yet in the

context of a treatment environment, patient safety and education are important factors. If chronicity

presents, than the logical choice may be to recommend a higher level of care such as Inpatient, as the

structure of the Intensive Outpatient program may not be the best fit for the patient.

5. Are all the patients in the same group or do you have special groups?

--what else would we like to emphasize?