For Patients

You Are Not Alone

You may not know where it originated, but you’re probably familiar with Newton’s third law of motion. For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. While Newton was referencing physics with his law, the crux of that statement applies to much more than just physical forces — it’s actually the perfect way to describe facets of behavioral health like substance use and mental health disorders.

The statistics around behavioral health are staggering, but the numbers are even more shocking when you consider how often substance use and mental health disorders overlap. In 2018 alone, more than 9 million people with mental illness also experienced a substance use disorder. And about one in every eight emergency department visits involved substance use or mental illness. But that doesn’t have to be the case for you.

The reaction to your action doesn’t have to be harming yourself, debilitating depression, anxiety, another drink, or an extra hit. The reaction can be treatment, and that’s the most powerful of them all.

Root Center for Advanced Recovery uses evidence-based treatment methods to address substance use and mental health disorders in a caring and compassionate environment. You can’t change the past, but together we can change your future.

Substance Use and Addiction

In helping patients overcome substance use, our staff has learned that addiction affects everyone in different ways. The urge to use can result in changes to one’s physical appearance, behavior, and relationships — but in some cases it doesn’t. Whether there are noticeable shifts in how someone looks or acts, it’s the changes we can’t see that are the most destructive.

Addiction fundamentally changes the way our brains work. First, it causes deviations into what we deem pleasurable or attractive. Then, it negatively influences other parts of our brain that play critical roles in keeping us safe. Maybe the most important thing to recognize if you’re battling the disease is that addiction is not a choice. In fact, the word “addiction” stems from a Latin term meaning “enslaved by” or “bound to.” It causes us to crave, lose control, and continue using even though we know the consequences can be dire.

While you may not be able to treat addiction on your own, you do have the power to identify it. There are many warning signs, but some of the most common indicators of addiction include:

Dramatic personality changes
Frequent lying
Needing to use more to achieve the same or desired effect
Loss of interest in hobbies or activities
Borrowing or stealing money to pay for your substance of choice
Hiding substances from others who may be concerned about how much you’re using
Physical changes, including rapid fluctuations in weight
Trouble establishing healthy sleep patterns
Feeling uneasy when the substance wears off

Treatment for addiction at the Root Center is predicated on evidence-based methods that have been proven to work by experts in the behavioral health field. We offer a variety of services for both adults and teens, including programs centered on group treatment in a small setting. The Root Center’s treatment plans also include an educational component and peer interaction, two tenets of our program that support our patients in embracing new perspectives and sharing their strengths.

Your treatment for substance use and addiction at the Root Center might include:

Medication-Assisted Treatment (MAT)
Adult and Teen Intensive Outpatient Program (IOP)
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)
Solution-Focused Brief Therapy (SFBT)
For more information on these methods, visit our services page.

Mental Health Disorders

As humans, we’re conditioned from a young age to take care of our physical health. When we want to lose weight, we diet and exercise. If we hope to get stronger, we lift weights. As our bodies attempt to stave off the common cold, we rest and recharge. Yet, most of us simply don’t think of fine-tuning our mental health in the same way.

The World Health Organization defines mental health as “a state of well-being in which every individual realizes his or her own potential, can cope with the normal stresses of life, can work productively and fruitfully, and is able to make a contribution to her or his community.” Unfortunately, nearly one in five U.S. adults struggle with mental illness, many of whom developed that disorder prior to age 14.

Despite the fact that mental health disorders are so common, many people in need of mental health assistance will suffer in silence either because they’re embarrassed to admit they have a problem, or they attempt to normalize what they’re feeling. Some general warning signs of what could be a mental health disorder include:

Confusion
Prolonged periods of sadness or irritability
Strong feelings of anger
Social withdrawal
Mood swings
Thoughts of suicide
Excessive worrying or irrational fears
Denial of obvious issues or concerns
Substance use

The Root Center is committed to treating the whole person, and our hope is that our centers can help you reach optimal mental health. We offer multiple types of counseling, including individual, family, and small group sessions. We only use treatment modalities that are evidence-based and catered to the individual patient’s needs. Our caring and compassionate staff is equipped to handle multiple approaches to treating mental health disorders, but here are a few that we find to be the most effective:

Motivational Enhancement Treatment (MET)
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)
Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR)
Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT)
Solution-Focused Brief Therapy (SFBT)

For more information on these methods, visit our services page.

Stripping Away Stigmas

Substance use and mental health disorders have historically been a mark of disgrace on one’s reputation. These ailments carry a high burden of stigma and have been triggers for narrow-minded stereotyping. For example, a dependence on drugs has been viewed as immoral or the result of a lack of self-control. Meanwhile, people struggling with anxiety, depression and other mental health challenges have been ostracized and made to feel like outcasts.

At the Root Center, we are in a unique position to reduce the stigma surrounding these illnesses through treatment that focuses on honesty, self-awareness, and engagement with others. Fear of judgment means that people with substance use or mental health disorders are less likely to seek help and more likely to drop out of treatment programs in which they do enroll. Once internalized, stigma affects a person’s self-esteem and self-worth, and it damages relationships with loved ones.

The Root Center’s caring and compassionate staff works diligently to avoid using language that contributes to our patients feeling ashamed or embarrassed. Both in messaging used directly with patients and informal conversations with colleagues, stakeholders, and patients’ family members, our pledge is to never let what we say have a negative influence on the stigma-free environment we’ve worked so hard to build.

We implore our team members to provide education, model non-stigmatizing behavior, and provide non-judgmental and empathetic support. In order for that to work, we ask each member of our staff to:

Offer compassionate support
Display kindness to people in vulnerable situations
Listen while withholding judgment
See a person for who they are, not what drugs they use
Treat people with drug dependency or mental health disorders with dignity and respect
Avoid hurtful labels
Replace negative attitude with evidence-based facts
Speak up when someone is mistreated because of their behavioral health

Your Journey to Recovery

The patient experience is paramount at the Root Center and a key consideration in every decision we make as an organization. For most patients, that experience can be broken down into four distinct phases: Starting the journey, Counseling, Treatment, and Ongoing support. We’ve provided brief snippets below to give you a glimpse into what you can expect each step of the way.

Starting the Journey

Each patient’s journey will be a unique process, and the Root Center is here to aid you on the path to success. The decision to enter a treatment program comes with courage and hope for a better future. The goal is to assist you in the process as quickly as possible with immediate services. Patients entering the MAT program are able to apply on a daily basis as well as receive their medication within the first 24 hours.

Counseling

Patients are assigned to a primary counselor who will navigate the completion of an individualized recovery plan, discuss and review the treatment process, and start scheduling individual counseling sessions. Each patient is scheduled for counseling at a minimum of once per month. Counseling sessions will focus on the recovery plan goals, coping skills, support, and aftercare planning.

Treatment

Treatment may consist of medication-assisted methods, individual counseling, intensive outpatient treatment, groups, recovery planning, as well as random drug and alcohol testing.

Ongoing Support

Ongoing support is provided at the clinic on both an individual and group level. Clinic supervisors, counseling staff, and our nurses are always available to assist clients as needed.