A Community of Caring Providers
Recovering f
rom a dependency on alcohol or drugs requires a community of providers from detox to hospital inpatient to residential care to intensive outpatient and finally to individual providers. Each step is important and necessary for a lasting recovery.
Today, thanks to the internet, so much is available to those needing help, that a brief search will identify a host of providers. In the past, it was not so simple.
In 1987 the son of a friend of mine tested positive at school for marijuana. He started looking for help. First, he went to the Yellow Pages but was unsuccessful in finding anything. He tried an individual counselor who was not knowledgeable in treating addiction. He next went to a local hospital that offered inpatient treatment. This service was not covered by insurance. They told him the cost was $1500 and it was a 30-day program. This, they said, did not cover the Doctors fee. He wrote a check for $1500. The person helping him said, “it is $1500 per day. The doctors’ fee will be about $400 per day.”
He walked out dejected, $50,000 was not within his ability to pay. So, he began the quest. He went to a local library and got telephone directories of other cities. He began writing down the names of programs in other cities and calling them. In a three-week period, he placed over two hundred phones calls, resulting in a long-distance bill of over $1700. Results: Nothing affordable; 145 did not return his calls.
He mentioned his dilemma to a friend who said he knew someone that worked for an agency that helped people like his son. They did not provide treatment but might be able to refer him somewhere. He immediately drove downtown to visit this agency. They were exceptionally caring and while they presented no less expensive options near him, they knew about a program in New York that was going to open an outpatient program locally. They gave him the name and number.
He called the next morning and visited for an hour on the phone with the director of the program. They invited his son and their family to visit the residential program which they said was available at no cost. They flew to New York three days later. His son was admitted, stayed there for two years, finished school, came home, and began attending a local college. He is doing very well after 34 years of sobriety.
Today we are a community. Our program, Life Management Resources, is an outpatient treatment program. We are close friends with dozens of residential facilities, all of whom we have referred patients to and who came back to us for outpatient care with a strong start on their recovery. We continue the process with over fifty individual therapists.
We evaluate many people, some qualify for outpatient, some need residential some need detox, and some need medical inpatient. When they have a need for a higher level of care, it is a simple phone call and the family is on their way to recovery for their loved one. What a joy it is to tell them that the facility has an open bed and they can begin treatment tomorrow.
My friend and I still visit and share how great it is to have the resources we now have.
If you or a family member or friend need help, reach out. Visit or call a program. They will provide an evaluation of your needs based on your history and will provide you with a referral. It really is that simple.
Dr. Fred J. Hansen, CEO, Life Management Resources
www.lifemanagementresources.com