Making a Better Life

This is the fourth and final step of the recovery process and what I like to call the 4 2 infinity plan.  The person needs to start improving his/her life after rehabilitation.  Now that the patient has learned to function without drugs or alcohol, they need to work on and solve the problems that using caused in their life.  These may include legal, financial, physical, emotional and social problems.  Dealing with these problems alone can be a daunting task and more often than not, help may be needed.  This is where a recovery coach can help.  A recovery coach can help improve an addict’s quality of life by working with them to fix the problems using has caused for them and to also help them set goals and improve other areas of their life as well, so staying clean becomes an obvious choice.  In my experience and research I have found 4 months to be the first pivotal point in the addict’s recovery.  In the first four months of sobriety, if the addict has not seen improvement in some area of their life, they are more likely to return back to their old ways.  Two years becomes the next key time point.  At two years of sobriety, some major problems associated with the using should be solved and life directions begin to become clearer.  After 2 years of sobriety, for each person it is different.  Everyone’s recovery is different.  No one chooses to be an addict, but you can choose to recover.

What is Recovery Coaching?

Recovery Coaching is an ongoing professional relationship that helps folks who are in or who are considering recovery from addiction to produce extraordinary results in their lives, careers, businesses, or organizations – while advancing their recovery from addiction.

Recovery Coaches affirm that there is innate health and wellness in each of our clients.  We hold our clients creative and resourceful.  We do not promote or endorse any single or particular way of achieving or maintaining sobriety, abstinence, or serenity or reducing suffering from addiction.  Our focus is on coaching our clients to create and substain great and meaningful lives.

Through the process of Recovery Coaching, clients deepen their learning, improve their performance, and enhance their quality of life.  In each meeting, the client chooses the focus of conversation, while the coach listens and contributes observations and questions.  This interaction creates clarity and moves the client toward action.  Recovery Coaching accelerates the client’s progress in recovery by providing greater focus and awareness of choices, actions, and responsibility.  Coaching concetrates on where clients are now and what they are willing to do to tnjoy a better tomorrow.

The Recovery Coaching process recognizes that results ar a mattter of the client’s intentions, choices, and actions taken toward building a strong foundation and creating a life work staying healthy for, supported by the coach’s efforts and application of the coaching process.

A recovery coach can help you set and reach your goals and make a better life after dealing with an addiction.  If you would like help making a better life, we can help you.

STEP 1 – INTERVENTION

An intervention is an orchestrated attempt by one or more people, usually family, friends, co-workers and an interventionist, to get someone to seek professional help with an addiction or some kind of traumatic event or crisis, or other serious problem generally associated with drugs or alcohol.  In regard to chemical dependence, intervention has a particular meaning because of the nature of the problem.  Chemical dependence is an insidious illness that creeps up on a person, creating denial and eventually self-delusion about the reality and seriousness of the situation.  This not only affects the user, but also the people closest to them.  If a loved one you know is abusin drugs or alcohol, the only options out are incarceration, death, or recovery.  At this point, the affected family members may seek guidance from a professional.

What is an interventionist?

A major task of the helping-professional (interventionist) is to break through the tightly bound system of defenses so that those who care about the user can take effective action to help him or her, and to have them eventually help themselves.  This requires more than “stepping in”.  Considering the nature of chemical dependence, a successful intervention must include both confrontation (about facts followed by feelings) and support.  Prior to this, another task of the interventionist is to decide what type of treatment is warranted for the individual and family and to have it in place when the intervention takes place.  This is done so that the individual, after confrontation with the need to change, can head to treatment immediately following the intervention.  An interventiost’s job is to present options to the family before there are none left, and make sure the treatment is offered the right way, to improve chances of long term success.

Who are Interventions for?

Clearly intervention is for the sake of the chemically dependent person.  But it’s also for the sake of family members, close friends, coworkers, and others who are affected by that person’s dring or using.  Finding the right treatment facility and level of care can be overwhelming in itself.  I lay out options for the family taking into account, level of care, affordability, religion, distance, likes and dislikes.  The interveners need to know they ahve done all they can and I become available 24/7 throughout the process and treatment to answer any questions that may come up.  The intervention process also helps those involved realize that they have the power and the right to improve their own lives, even if the user chooses not to get help.  Addiction is a family disease, meaning it affects many members surrounding the addicted individual.  An addict’s best chance of recovery starts with the loved ones getting the education they need to make informed decisions around treatment options.

Planning an intervention can be an overwhelming process.  More often than not, when a loved one of an addicted individual starts looking for help, it is because problems have grown outside of what they can handle by themselves.  During our lifetime ther may be many occasions when we must tell people how their actions are hurting them or impinging on us, so that they will stop  As difficult as it may be, we know that if we don’t step in, the behavior will continue.  As a certified interventionist and recovering heroin addict who has lived through the addiction, I can help you through the complex process of planning a successful recovery for your loved one.  Call me at the number listed above if you need help planning an intervention.

STEP 2 – DETOXIFICATION

Detoxification (or detox) is the second step to getting treatment for addiction and substance abuse.  An interventionist can help decide if detoxification is needed and what facility is the right choice for the patient.  Detoxification is a process in which individuals are systematically and safely withdrawn from addicting drugs, usually under the care of a physician.  Drinking alcohol or using drugs causes physical dependence over time in people.  For people with a physical dependence, stopping the use of alcohol or drugs results in physical withdrawal from these substances.  In some cases, detoxification from certain substances can cause death.  The detoxification process is designed both to treat the acute physiological effects of stopping drug use safely and to remove residual toxins in the body left as a result of using the chemicals found in drugs and/or alcohol.  Detoxification can be done on both an outpatient basis (mental health centers, adddiction clinics or private clinics), or inpatient (hospital or residential treatment center).  Inpatient detoxification detoxification has the advantage of being less disruptive to the patient’s life and less expensive.  The choice of setting depends on many factors such as the drug of abuse, amount and length of history of abuse, psychosocial issues, patient’s age, and co-existing medical and/or psychiatric conditions amoung others.  While treatment centers often have their own detoxification facilities, others make arrangements for their patients with detoxification programs at nearby sites, including hospitals and clinics.  There are licensed detoxification facilities in most areas of the United States.  Detoxification options can include, rapid and ultra-rapid detox, medication assisted detox, Ibogaine detox and cold turkey detox.

Signs of Opiate Withdrawal

Heroin was my drug of choice so I have a special place in my heart for recovering opiate addicts.  Heroin works by activiating the opium receptors in the brain.  Heroin is so addictive because it is very similar, chemically, to the body’s own opiate-like chemicals — endorphins.  When an addict uses heroin, the heroin activates the same response as the endorphins, only more intensely, and the addict continues to use to get the same effects.  Over time, some of the receptors burn out so teh addict has to use more heroin, and use it more often to get the same high.  Moving past opiate dependence is difficult but it can be done with help!  If addicts stop using heroin/opiates (oxycodone, oorphine, fentanyl, methadone, suboxone) they will experience both mental and physical withdrawal sysptoms.  Heroin/opiate withdrawal is also known as “dope sickness” and the symptoms include chillss, cold sweats, insomnia, nausea (cannot eat), agitation, anxiety, muscle pain, depression, diarrhea, and vomiting.  Opiate withdrawal sysptoms are not life-threatening, but they are very uncomfortable and feel as if they will last forever.  As a result, the addict will keep using to avoid getting sick.  The length of withdrawal depends on the addict, but in general, it lasts five to seven days.  To enter a residential treatment facility, addicts must clear their systems of all illicit substances through a detox process.  Even addicts using outpatient and group methods, such as Narcotics Anonymous need to be “clean” to begin the process of recovery.  In the case of heroin or other opiates, this means the addict needs to stop using and go through the withdrawal process so psychological treatment can begin.  There are different types of detox, but they all service the same purpose – to get the drug out of the system and help the addict make it through withdrawal.

Signs of Alcoholism Withdrawal

These can range from mild to quite severe.  Mild reactions to alcohol detox can include tremors (the shakes), headaches, vomiting, perspiration, restlessness, loss of appetite and insominia.  More serious effects of alcohol detox can be Delirium Tremens (DT’s), autonomic hyperactivity and seizures (convulsions).  It has been estimated that 1 in 4 patients are at high risk of a withdrawal seizure if not medically treated during alcohol detox.  Physical addiction to alcohol occurs with consistent drinkers.  Going in to a facility for detox from alcohol is not only necessary but it is the only way to ensure safety during the withdrawal phase, and could be dangerous / life threatening if not conducted in a medical setting.

STEP 3 – REHABILITATION

Drug rehabilitation (often drug rehab or just rehab) is the third step in the recovery process and a main focus of the intervention.  Rehab is a term for the processes of medical or psychotherapeutic treatment, for dependency on psychoactive substances such as alcohol, prescription drugs, and street drugs such as cocaine, heroin or amphetamines.  Choosing the proper level of care and selecting the appropriate treatment can be a difficult task in itself.  As an interventionist, I help you decide what type of facility is appropriate based on the depth of the addiction, available finances, insurance coverage and nature of the individual seeking help.  The rehab process is started after the detox process.  Only after the drugs or alcohol have been removed from the patients system, can the rehab process begin.  The general intent of rehab is to enable the patient to cease substance abuse and addictive behavior, in order to avoid the psychological, legal, financial, social, spiritual and physical consequences that can be caused, especially by extreme abuse.

Psychological dependency is addressed in many drug rehabilitation programs by attempting to teach the patient new methods of interacting in a drug free environment.  In this part of the recovery process, the patient learns new coping skills and learns how to develop a healthy support structure.  Good treatment programs encourage addicts not only to stop using alcohol or other drugs, but to examine and change habits related to their addictions.  Each program has pro’s and con’s which we talk through during the intervention process.

Various types of programs offer help in drug rehabiliation, including: residential treatment (in-patient), out-patient, partial hospitalization, local support groups, extended care centers, recovery or sober houses, addiction coulseling, mental health (dual diagnosis), coaching, orthmolecular medicine (a complementary and alternative medicine that seeks to maintain health and treat addiction by optimizing nutritional intake and/or prescribing supplements) and medical care.  Some rehab centers offer age and gender specific programs.  I can help you decide which level of care is appropriate and help you understand why.

Do something before things get worse.  Call any time for a free consultation.