Destination Hope Celebrates Nurses Week

Monday, May 7th, 2012

Happy Nurses Week to all of the nurses who work tirelessly all year long to provide quality medical care to patients! The role of nurses in the medical profession is quite apparent.  No one could ever imagine a hospital or clinic without nurses present to provide care and treatment…either as the trusted right hand to the physician or providing more independent care. However, in the Behavioral Health arena, there is often less certainty about the important role played by nurses.

Having worked in the Behavioral Health field for 30 years, I have come to appreciate and depend heavily on the professional care provided by nurses.  Nurses often play an understated role in this area.  Usually when one thinks about substance abuse and mental health the professions that come to mind are psychiatrists, psychologists, counselors and substance abuse professionals.  We tend to overlook the important role that nurses play.

Nurses are usually the stabilizing force in an organization.  As the organization grows, changes focus, downsizes the one constant providing comfort and care has always been nurses.  Unlike most professions, nurses have education and training that enable them to assume a variety of roles.  Nurses can provide medical attention and oversight that most other professions can’t.  By virtue of their training they possess great organizational skills, which provide stability and direction to organizations. They make patient, knowledgeable counselors which bring a calming atmosphere.  Nurses are often promoted to administrative/management positions allowing them to utilize the skills and training as stated above.

At Destination Hope we have learned to recognize and rely on the skills of our ARNP, Linda Milano.  Linda, who is an Advanced Registered Nurse Practitioner brings a number of years of education and experience to her role.  We have come to rely very heavily on her ability to assess the needs of our clients and relay that information to our clinical staff in a professional, concise manner that allows us to provide the best care possible.  Linda’s background in the field is evident as she conducts med-education groups with clients or provides suggestions to staff about care.  Linda brings excellence to clinical care at Destination Hope and we want to say Thank You, Linda for making a positive difference in the lives of so many.

Sincerely,

Alton Smith

Vice President of Operations, Destination Hope

Family Therapy: The Most Critical Aspect of Addiction Treatment

Monday, May 7th, 2012

Family therapy at Destination Hope and other quality addiction treatment centers should have a large focus on rebuilding relationships between family members that have been damaged as a result of substance abuse. Addiction is very much a family disease as every single member becomes affected by it one way or the other. It is our philosophy that the quickest and most successful way for an addict to enter recovery is when the family actually recovers first. What that means is that all family members take an active role in their loved ones recovery process and make important, positive changes on their own so the environment and dynamic is different. This is so crucial because if a recovering addict goes back home after treatment and the family of origin issues remain exactly as they were when the addict used to use, the likelihood that they relapse back into addiction is much higher. Family therapy focuses on the mindset that it takes every single member of the family working as a unit to help bolster and support their loved one’s recovery effort. When that happens, true recovery and sobriety often follow behind.

How Family Therapy Can Help Heal Past Wounds

Most families are struggling by the time they get to our doorstep. There’s a part of them that’s relieved and grateful that their loved one is finally enrolled in a treatment program, but there’s also still plenty of resentment and old wounds that need to be reconciled. There is no such thing as the perfect addict whose behavior didn’t have negative repercussions for their family. Addicts often steal, lie and deceive their family members in defense of their habit. Nothing takes a higher priority than their addiction and that’s a tough thing to move beyond. What we try and do in family therapy is get everything out in the open so accountability can be taken from all sides, apologies made and accepted, and finally a commitment to a change in behavior. This is not just the addict’s responsibility either. A change in behavior needs to be made from all members of the family if they want their loved one to have the best shot at long-term sobriety.

The key to all of this is open, honest communication without judgment. When someone is trying to be honest with you and you pass judgment on them, you are immediately no longer a safe haven for them to express themselves. Relationships are built and rebuilt on trust, and trust comes from involved, active listening. This is what we aim to teach in our family therapy program. The family that learns this skill and practices it in their own lives and homes is much more likely to get the recovering addict to come back to their family of origin.

Destination Hope is a premier addiction treatment center for men in Florida. We know how critical of a role family plays in an addict’s ability to recover, so we pride ourselves on having one of the most intensive, involved family therapy programs around. If there’s a man in your life who could benefit from the focused, personalized care of Destination Hope, please don’t hesitate to put him in contact with us today at 1-877-380-9777. If you can get him to our doorstep, we’ll take it from there.

Myths and Misconceptions About Depression in Men

Wednesday, May 2nd, 2012

Depression in men occurs less often than depression in women, but it still affects a great portion of the country. Once thought to be a “women’s disease,” depression actually affects around 6 million men every year in the United States alone. Many experts also feel that those numbers are still too low thanks in part to the large population of men with depression that go undiagnosed every day. Whether they deny their symptoms or don’t fully understand them, depression is a very serious illness that can be quite devastating to one’s life without treatment. Since May is National Depression Month, we saw it fit to debunk some well-known myths and misconceptions about depression in men.

Myth # 1: Depression in Men Looks the Same as Depression in Women

If you have depression, then regardless of gender you’re just really sad for extended periods of time, right? This is a big misconception about depression. While it absolutely affects both sexes and can cause serious disruption in their daily lives, the way men and women express their symptoms of depression is actually very different. While it’s fairly well-known that depression in women can cause feelings of sadness and worthlessness, depression in men is actually more likely to cause sufferers to be irritable, aggressive or hostile.

Myth # 2: He Seems So Happy, He’s Not Depressed!

If only if were that simple. Someone can seem to be as jovial and happy on the outside as a kid on their birthday, but that in no way means that they’re not suffering from severe clinical depression on the inside. We have to remember that on average, depression affects one out of every 10 people in America and the majority of them continue on with their daily activities all the while suffering silently. Depression in men, especially when left untreated, can get so bad that they become unable to function, but most are much harder to identify from the outside.

Myth # 3: People with Depression Can Just Snap Out of It

This is a myth that is due to the extreme lack of understanding the general population has about the mental illness of depression as a whole. If a loved one suffers from clinical depression, as bad as they might want to, they can’t just snap out of it or suck it up. Depression in men is caused by a chemical imbalance in the brain and there is no snapping out of that without treatment. Would you expect someone with diabetes to just snap out of it? No, you probably wouldn’t and shouldn’t for someone with depression either.

Myth # 4: Wealthy People Can’t Get Depression

If you were fortunate enough to be born into money or have a high paying job, then you must not be able to suffer from depression as you have everything you need, right? Again, a giant misconception. Depression is a mental disorder that crosses all socio-economic bridges and boundaries. There is no gender, nationality, educational background or amount of wealth to shield you from the possibility of depression.

Depression in men is a serious, but treatable condition that should not be taken lightly. Untreated depression in men has been known to cause reckless and dangerous behavior like substance abuse. Destination Hope is a Joint Commission accredited drug, alcohol and dual diagnosis treatment facility for men in Florida. If you or a loved one if suffering from the co-occurring disorders of addiction and depression, please don’t hesitate to call us today at 1-877-380-9777. Substance abuse will only make the symptoms of depression worsen, call us today so we can help take the pain away.

New Alcoholism Treatment in the Form of a Pill?

Saturday, April 28th, 2012

Alcoholism treatment in its traditional sense can be credited with saving the lives and futures of countless individuals around the world. Substance abuse counseling, inpatient treatment and 12 step programs have built a solid foundation capable of breaking through the barriers of addiction. All of those facts aside, the Associated French Press have just announced that French health authorities have approved drug Baclofen to help treat alcoholism on a “case by case” basis. Baclofen was originally designed to treat epilepsy, but was then approved for treating nervous spasms as well.

While many clinicians and addiction specialists around the world are baffled how this drug that’s been around for 50 years could provide effective alcoholism treatment, the French health authorities are championing the research. They’ve admitted thus far that Baclofen has “not been definitively shown to be efficient in the treatment of alcoholism, but it had shown clinical benefits in some patients.” The research is very much preliminary, but gained the support of France’s health systems, who have agreed to finance over 50 percent of the soon to begin one year long clinical trials. The research team, headed up by lead researcher Philippe Jaury of the University of Paris-Descartes hopes to prove that high doses of Baclofen will yield a higher success rate of easing alcoholic cravings than existing drugs Naltrexon and Acamprosate currently do.

While a drug that can help substantially ease alcoholic cravings would indeed be revolutionary for those who suffer from an alcohol addiction, it in no way is intended to supplement traditional alcoholism treatment. As many who read this blog know all too well, the physical addiction to alcohol is only part of the disease. It’s common for there to be a myriad of psychological and emotional issues that need to be treated as well, for which there is no magic pill. Human beings are complex creatures with complex thoughts and feelings that shape the decisions we make every day. Preconceived notions and negative thought patterns can subconsciously prompt our destructive behavior and they need to be identified and addressed before someone can legitimately hope for achieving long-term sobriety. These sorts of self-reflection and internalization exercises are best handled by a licensed therapist.

Florida Alcoholism Treatment

Destination Hope is a Joint Commission accredited drug addiction and alcoholism treatment facility in Florida for men who are struggling with substance abuse issues. Alcoholism is a very serious illness that many people refuse to admit that they suffer from. Through intense cognitive behavioral individual therapy, group therapy and family therapy, we can get through to your loved one about how significant their alcohol problem truly is and what they can do to turn their life around. If there’s a man in your life who could benefit from the focused, personalized, hands-on approach of Destination Hope, please don’t hesitate to put him in contact with us today at 877-380-9777. We can guide him to a place he didn’t think possible- a fulfilling life, alcohol-free.

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy – Why It Works

Wednesday, April 25th, 2012

Cognitive behavioral therapy is a cornerstone of mental health therapy in general, but plays a very significant role in addiction counseling. Cognitive behavioral therapy is a very conceptual style of psychotherapy. The basis behind it is that we all have certain thoughts and thought patterns in our heads. These make us feel a certain way and thus our behavior is shaped as a result of these feelings. Therefore, in order to change the negative behavior and outcomes in your life, you have to change the thoughts and thought patterns that are essentially causing it.

To add some context to this concept of cognitive behavioral therapy, take the example of the substance abuser. They experiment with drugs or alcohol for a variety of reasons. They decide that people like them more when they use. People want to hang out with them more, girls are more attracted to them, they feel more self-assured and confident, etc. They’ve now decided consciously or subconsciously that the drugs are the reason they have this newfound fanfare and self-worth so they continue this detrimental behavior. In order to change the behavior of the substance abuse, you need to change the thought patterns that led them to believe that they were getting all of these positive outcomes because of it. This is the goal of cognitive behavioral therapy: changing your thoughts to change your behavior.

Why Cognitive Behavioral Therapy is So Successful

One of the most important aspects of cognitive behavioral therapy is that it helps you become aware of some of your false or negative thinking. Once you are aware of these destructive thought patterns, in theory you are able to look at a situation in a more objective light. In other words, you can see things a bit more clearly and really for what they are, and then make the choice to respond to it in a more positive, productive manner. This of course is not something that happens after one counseling session, but with commitment to succeed and a skilled therapist, cognitive behavioral therapy has proven to be very effective over time. In fact, clients report seeing faster results with cognitive behavioral therapy over traditional psychotherapy.

What Makes Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Different

  • It helps reframe negative thoughts
  • It’s more targeted than typical psychoanalytic therapy so you see results faster
  • It’s more behaviorally focused, changing thoughts and behaviors
  • It’s more action oriented. It makes good use of homework assignments so clients are not only doing work in therapy sessions but outside as well, which teaches you to apply the principles to your everyday life

Destination Hope is a Joint Commission accredited Florida drug, alcohol and dual diagnosis treatment center for men who suffer from substance abuse issues. Destination Hope has a highly skilled team of licensed therapists and addiction treatment specialists that are all well trained in cognitive behavioral therapy. Our experienced treatment team will help you overcome your substance abuse problem. If you or a loved one is having a problem with drugs or alcohol, please call us today at 1-877-380-9777. Let us show you how to stop addiction right in its tracks.