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Alcoholism Treatment With Dignity and Compassion
Each woman who seeks alcohol addiction treatment requires much more than education about her disease and instruction about the steps in the recovery process.
- She requires constant attention to her symptoms and to any health complications from alcoholism.
- She needs emotional support as she develops awareness of how alcohol abuse has impacted her life and her loved ones.
- She requires compassion, understanding and recovery coaching from staff that recognize the crucial step she has taken by seeking to overcome alcoholism at a residential addiction treatment center.
At Timberline Knolls, our integrated team of psychiatrists, internal medicine physicians, nurses and therapists are not only experts in alcohol and drug addiction treatment.
Our staff employs a holistic treatment approach. Members of our team understand the numerous psychiatric, psychological and medical conditions that can contribute to alcoholism, and frustrate a woman’s efforts to stay sober.
This expertise equips us to assess each woman’s entire history of drug and alcohol abuse in context of other emotional, physical or family challenges. Such a comprehensive assessment can allow us to differentiate alcoholism from situations when drinking alcohol compulsively may be related to a pre-existing eating disorder, or to symptoms of major depression, an anxiety disorder, or chronic pain.
When we encounter these cases, referred to as co-occurring disorders, Timberline Knolls is fully equipped to treat these symptoms at the same time a woman is addressing her alcohol abuse. In fact, given our reputation, leading alcohol rehab centers commonly refer women with eating disorders and other co-occurring disorders to Timberline Knolls.
Our substance abuse treatment staff also has the expertise to untangle other addictions, such as prescription drug dependence or marijuana abuse.
What Makes Our Alcoholism Treatment Plans Effective?
The most successful approaches to substance abuse treatment and recovery consider all available information about a resident, and leverage the experience of a multidisciplinary staff to customize each woman’s treatment program. This collaborative approach is one of the distinguishing elements of addiction treatment at a leading alcohol rehab center like Timberline Knolls Residential Treatment Center. It’s also one of the reasons why so many leading inpatient hospitals and outpatient alcohol and drug addiction specialists refer to us their patients who need more holistic, integrated treatment, or who have suffered repeated relapses in a sober living facility or outpatient treatment program.
Before Admission
Assessment of a woman’s treatment needs begins early on in our admissions review process. We ask both the woman and her family to provide information about her symptoms of alcohol addiction, challenges in work or school, and issues with friends or family. We also request her permission to communicate with previous alcoholism treatment providers to gather additional information about medical history, psychiatric history, past substance abuse treatment progress, and stumbling blocks to controlling her drinking or maintaining abstinence from other addictive substances.
Thorough Intake Assessment
Once she is admitted, each woman undergoes a comprehensive medical and psychiatric assessment. She is then assigned an alcohol addiction treatment team with several key members whom she will meet individually after she settles in on campus:
- Primary therapist
- Family therapist
- Psychiatrist (MD)
- Internal medicine physician (MD)
- Addiction specialist (and eating disorders education specialist, if symptoms of anorexia or bulimia are identified)
- Registered dietician (RD)
Each member of her addiction treatment team provides an assessment within the woman’s first days at Timberline Knolls. The findings are integrated and reviewed with our entire clinical staff, including experienced therapists and addiction psychiatrists not directly involved with her care. As a result, our full knowledge about successful alcohol and drug addiction recovery is integrated into each woman’s treatment plan, no matter her primary diagnosis.
Taking Ownership of Treatment
We believe it is critical for each woman to take ownership of her treatment and recovery journey from the outset.
Once her alcoholism treatment plan is formulated, our team’s recommendations are shared with the woman in her first care conference, which will include her primary therapist, family therapist, psychiatrist, discharge planner, nursing staff and lodge staff.
This cooperative approach gives her input into the goals for her treatment and allows her to choose several elective elements of her program. She will be asked to sign off on her treatment objectives and the progression of her treatment plan for alcohol abuse or addiction, and any co-occurring disorders. This conference also sets stage for ongoing collaboration between the woman and her treatment team throughout her stay in residential treatment.
Looking Forward to Recovery
Following the initial care conference, the treatment team will meet weekly throughout the resident’s stay. Members also consult each other informally as often as needed to monitor her progress and to make sure her recovery needs are being fully supported. If new symptoms of addiction or depression appear, a woman may also undergo additional psychological testing or medical evaluation to ensure her alcoholism treatment considers all relevant aspects of her health.
Additionally, women with other medical symptoms or liver complications from alcohol abuse or addiction may be referred to consulting healthcare providers such as a neurologist, orthopedic surgeon, cardiologist, gynecologist, dentist, or gastroenterologist.
What Will You Experience At Our Alcohol Treatment Center?
A woman’s experience at Timberline Knolls Residential Treatment Center may differ dramatically from other alcohol rehab facilities or drug addiction treatment programs she has attended in the past.
That is by design.
Comprehensive, Integrated Alcoholism Treatment and Recovery
There is no cure for alcoholism.
Just like a person suffering with anorexia nervosa, bulimia, or other chronic diseases, every woman recovering from alcoholism must develop tools she can trust to live successfully in recovery when she experiences feelings that trigger thoughts of drinking or a desire to be intoxicated.
We work with our residents help them learn to recognize emotional changes and identify the conscious choices they are making throughout their day. Our compassionate staff offers understanding and reinforcement as women learn to use recovery tools in situations that have previously challenged their sobriety. As they gain confidence in their ability to make positive, healthy choices, women experience improved self-esteem and body acceptance, reduced stress and anxiety, healing of trauma, and increased self-awareness.
Comprehensive and individualized alcohol abuse and addiction treatment plans use approaches proven to help women learn to constructively experience their emotions and develop the tools to remain sober even during times of distress. Specific examples include:
- one-on-one therapy sessions
- expressive and experiential therapy
- education about disease processes and recovery
- group sessions to teach and practice behavior modification and emotion management
- family therapy (including family participation, and encouragement in attendance at Al-Anon, Alateen or Codependents Anonymous CODA meetings)
- twelve-step facilitation (including education in the 12 Steps and 12 Traditions through Big Book study)
- onsite and offsite twelve-step meetings of Alcoholics Anonymous (AA)
- meal support and regular consultation with dietary staff
- weekly psychiatric consultation
- trauma awareness and recovery
- on-campus education for school-age women
Expressive Therapy Provides A Productive Outlet for Complex Emotions
Expressive therapy provides an important creative outlet for women during residential treatment for alcohol addiction. Expressive therapies have also been clinically proven to promote healing and abstinence, and to offer women a creative outlet they can trust throughout their recovery journey.
The Timberline Knolls expressive therapy program includes a variety of outlets a woman can select based on her personal interests:
- art therapy in a historical art studio that supports painting, sculpture and other media
- pet therapy (both equine therapy and canine therapy)
- dance movement therapy (DMT)
- empowerment group (experiential trauma recovery)
- self-defense in our on-site fitness facility
- outdoor recreation such as volleyball, basketball, soccer, badminton or gardening on our 43 acre campus
What is Our Approach to Alcohol Detox and Withdrawal?
Successful alcoholism treatment must address more than just the causes of problem drinking and alcohol dependence.
Treatment must also address the medical challenges a woman will face as she attempts to curtail long-term addiction to alcohol, as well as other substances like cocaine, prescription medications, and marijuana. Her safety is our first priority. Depending on the length of time she’s been drinking alcohol heavily, the presence of other addictive disorders, and the state of her physical health, she may require medically managed detoxification in a hospital before beginning residential alcohol treatment.
Our internal medicine staff and psychiatrists have extensive experience helping women through alcohol withdrawal symptoms with comfort and dignity. One of the unique features of a leading residential treatment center is that we provide 24-hour nursing care. A woman facing withdrawal, as well as her loved ones, can be confident that her safety will be closely monitored and that staff will be attentive to the need to address her pain or complications from other health conditions. More importantly, our entire staff provides her with continuous emotional support that recognizes the important step she’s taken by committing to treatment and recovery from her addiction.
Alcoholism is a serious medical condition that requires treatment from addiction and chemical dependency specialists. Abruptly stopping one’s alcohol use without proper supervision can trigger serious medical complications, including death. Detox from alcohol and drugs should not be attempted at home or without direction from a medical doctor.
If you or your loved one are concerned you may be experiencing alcohol withdrawal symptoms, call 911 for emergency assistance.
How Do We Treat Co-Occurring Disorders With Alcohol Abuse and Addiction?
When treating women and girls for alcohol and drug addiction, our specialized treatment team at Timberline Knolls Residential Treatment Center never assumes they are treating an isolated disease. Frequently, long-term alcohol addiction begins with casual drinking that progresses as a woman realizes the self-medicating effects of the drug. It may affect her in one or more ways:
- Reduce feelings of anxiety or depression worsened by underlying psychiatric conditions that we refer to as co-occurring disorders
- Manage pain or other symptoms from acute injuries or chronic medical conditions
- Soothe intense emotions related to unresolved, traumatic experiences in her past
- Distract herself from symptoms and complications from bulimia, anorexia, or another eating disorder
Co-occurring disorders describe psychiatric illnesses that are active and interfere with recovery from alcoholism or drug addiction. Medical researchers have found that a large percentage of those who have an alcohol addiction also have at least one other mental illness, eating disorder, and/or personality disorder. Studies have also shown that women with co-occurring disorders tend to have more severe symptoms of each illness and struggle harder to maintain abstinence from alcohol.
Despite growing recognition of the prevalence of co-occurring disorders among alcoholics, they are undertreated. Many medical and behavioral health professionals are primarily concerned with addressing alcohol dependence and managing the sufferer through detox and withdrawal. They often lack the resources to treat the most complex co-existing conditions appropriately. Examples of conditions that can co-exist with alcohol abuse and addiction are:
- depression
- bipolar disorder
- eating disorders (anorexia nervosa, bulimia, binge eating disorder)
- panic and anxiety disorders
- trauma and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
- obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD)
- personality disorders
- schizophrenia
- various phobias and compulsions
For an alcoholic with co-occurring disorders, an attempt to address only the alcoholism in isolation is at best incomplete. In some cases, it can worsen her long-term prognosis for abstinence and recovery. To facilitate life-long recovery, alcohol addiction treatment providers must have an in-depth understanding of each disease and the complex interactions between them all.
To learn more about alcohol abuse and addiction treatment and recovery at Timberline Knolls Residential Treatment Center, call one of our experienced admissions counselors today. We accept adolescent and adult women for admission seven days a week.
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