Whether or not rehab is necessary

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Whether or not rehab is necessary

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When we think about recovery, we think about it as a lifetime process. So I don’t want you to think about if someone goes to a treatment center. And they may go. These days more and more people are going for longer periods of time. They’re going for 45-90 days of treatment. And after that, we’re thinking about what’s next. And if you haven’t, in those days in treatment, engaged the family or the loved ones in the process, the person who’s coming back home is going to be re-entering not a healthy Oz. So what we want to do is engage people over time. And when we see recovery as a process, there is a saying that after treatment ends, recovery begins. What does that look like? For some people that means they will go to a structured extended care center. For some people it means they’ll go home and go to out-patient. For some people it means that they’ll go home and they will go to local self-support group such as Alcoholics Anonymous, Narcotics Anonymous, LifeRing, or Smart Recovery. Sometimes that means they’ll also do that plus couples’ therapy plus individual. Some people will find their recovery through serenity. Through surfing if you’re a young person. Through riding. But what we do know for sure is if that whole system, whatever that system, is not engaged in health and wellness, that person that’s reentering will stand a very poor chance of success unless we have that system also engaged. So for example, for the families or people that work with me, we set up what we call accountability teams. An accountability team is made up of loved ones. They can be family, friends, lawyers, managers, school friends. And every week we hold what we call an accountability team meeting. And that can be done all across the country. People will call into a line. The other thing is when we do an intervention, we end up with sometimes 10 new best friends, because 10 people at any given time can call me or reach out to me. And what I ask these people to do is to focus on themselves. Because they’ve all been focused over here, not really always in healthy ways. But I give every family I work with no-fault insurance. You did the best that you could do with the resources you had. And what you did to help your loved one. And now you met me and my team. And now let’s see whether we can detach from that and begin for you to take care of yourselves physically, emotionally, and spiritually, or consistent with your values. And that’s what we work on. So when we talk about what happens when someone comes home from rehab, we’re not just talking about that person. And usually when they talk about when someone comes home for treatment, they talk about a honeymoon period. Like, have you ever gone to a – I know some people when you’ve gone and gotten a treatment you really enjoyed, like a spa treatment, you come back, you’re refreshed, and that’s really – And then you have to begin to do the hard work. You have to take a look at what were those things that caused me problems before? Where are my triggers? And what can we do to help take care of it? And all the nagging, pleading, cajoling, and walking on eggshells has to stop. So we work with people to help them learn how to live life and celebrate the person they’re becoming and the person they are and the family they’re becoming and the family they are.

See Louise Stanger, Ed.D, LCSW, BRI-II, CIP's video on Whether or not rehab is necessary...

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Expert Bio

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Louise Stanger, Ed.D, LCSW, BRI-II, CIP

Director All About Interventions

Louise Stanger received her bachelor’s degree in English Literature from the University of Pittsburgh, her Masters in Social Work from San Diego State College and her Doctorate in Educational Leadership from the University of San Diego. 

Dr. Stanger has over thirty years experience as a college professor, researcher and licensed clinician working with families and  individuals who experience substance abuse and mental health disorders. She serves as the Director of All About Interventions and as President of The Sydney D Holland Foundation. She has been performing Collaborative Interventions with families since 1980.  She  continues to explore the efficacy of treatment strategies such as Motivational Interviewing, Cognitive Behavioral, Solution Focused Coaching, Family Systems and 12 Step Facilitation.

Louise is  a MINT Trainer of Trainers and  currently teaches at San Diego State University Interwork Institute Human Behavior, Theories of Counseling and Solution Focused Counseling .She previously served as a professor at SDSU School of Social Work and the Director of Alcohol and Other Drug services at the University of San Diego.  She is a catastrophic loss counselor and had the privilege of working with the New York Fire Department and widows of 9-11.

Most recently she has  served as a consultant to the Indie Film Documentary , "Behind The Orange Curtain", which explores the increased misuse of  prescription drugs and young adult deaths in Orange County. Also she is the author of a chapter, "Interventions are not Made For TV"  in the textbook, Interventions: Opposing Viewpoints published by Cengage Learning, 2012.

Louise has conducted extensive research on the effects of alcohol and other drugs on college age students. She has published scholarly articles and public health handbooks that support harm reduction strategies and environmental management systems. She has been the principal investigator/ project director and /or co-investigator of over 15 grants, which focus on collegiate substance abuse, six of which totaled over four  million dollars from the United States Department of Education and the National Institute of Health- National Institute of Alcohol Abuse  And Alcoholism . Findings have been published in The Journal of Alcohol Studies and elsewhere.

Louise has been the recipient of state and local awards.  She was twice named the Outstanding Undergraduate Faculty,  San Diego State University’s Faculty Homecoming Dedicatee, and recipient of San Diego County’s Outstanding Educator Award. The San Diego Business Journal recognized her as one of the “TOP Women Who Mean Business”.

 Louise is grateful and loves the energy and collaborative spirit shown by the professional  recovery community in their goals to reduce the harm associated with substance abuse. With tireless energy she continues to contribute to the field through clinical interventions, family recovery coaching, training and research.

More Parenting Videos from Louise Stanger, Ed.D, LCSW, BRI-II, CIP >
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