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Substance Abuse Treatment and Trauma Recovery Programs
Treatment Philosophy
The treatment offered at Life Healing Center is unique for many reasons. We have been providing comprehensive, in-depth residential care for trauma integration since 1993. We also provide services for chemical dependence, eating disorders, depression, bipolar disorders, and gender specific treatment for sex, love and relationship addiction. We are known by the work we do; we treat the whole person, body, mind and spirit. Over the years, we've developed a highly effective methodology to treat these challenging disorders in a way which we believe is unmatched in any other setting.
Community - Humanizing Ourselves and Others
Trauma often causes a split; a chronic sense of separation from oneself, from others and from the world. Safety is often based on maintaining this profound distance, despite the pain and alienation that it causes. Survival may seem like it depends on disguising, hiding or denying our true human needs.
Our model of treatment utilizes group therapy in several forms. Our depth process groups assist patients with exploring past and present patterns in a psychodynamic context. Our skills groups are designed to incorporate Dialectical Behavior Therapy and other Cognitive Behavioral Therapy modalities into a cohesive architecture, encouraging patients to practice behavioral choices with more awareness. The afternoon groups address the patients' issues in a task group format, and assist patients in identifying how their addictive and behavior patterns may be intertwined, allowing a better understanding of the interactive nature of addictive and behavioral disorders.
Specialty groups are provided to allow for reflection and integration, addressing grief, loss, body image, body awareness and gender issues. Our spirituality groups inspire personal exploration for patients who already have a path and for those who might feel that they want to explore this area of their lives. Community Meetings provide the opportunity for patients to enlarge their circle of support and ask for relevant feedback and assistance. We also offer Roundtable Meetings, which allow patients to receive staff input and nurturing during difficult junctures in the treatment process. Through these carefully designed interactions, our patients learn how to create an increased sense of safety within themselves and in their relationships with others.
Expanding the Range of Experience
Central to the task of healing is fully experiencing ourselves as we are. This can only be learned by moving away from old patterns, and practicing being present in the moment. Behavioral and addictive disorders often lead to rigid or impulsive reactions and repeated self-judgments. Life becomes increasingly more diminished and one's true self cannot emerge.
The destructive power of these issues is not primarily that it keeps us locked in the past, but that it teaches us to be terrified of the present. We teach mindfulness-based skills and yoga, and offer massage, body-based psychotherapies and equine assisted therapy, all of which offer ways to access the same result: embodied, here-and-now awareness and an increasingly more expansive sense of self.
Program Structure
The treatment program at Life Healing Center combines the specificity and depth of intense individual therapy with the healing power of group work.
Individual Therapy
Each patient is assigned a primary therapist and is provided with one individual therapy session per week. Case management is also provided weekly as needed. Collateral individual therapy is provided at an additional charge. We strongly believe individual therapy has an essential role in the healing process.
Group Therapy
In addition to intensive individual therapy, Life Healing Center offers over thirty hours of weekly group sessions. Among the groups offered are: Core Process Groups; Addictive Disorders; Eating Disorders; Sexual, Love, and Relationship Addiction; Co-Dependency; Dialectical Behavior Therapy Skills; Healthy Relationships; Loving your Children; Alchemy of Recovery; Living in Body Balance; Yoga; Women's Issues; Men's Issues; Resiliency; Art Therapy; and other specialty groups.
Psychiatric Consultation
Each patient is provided with a psychiatric evaluation soon after admission. The consultation includes a thorough review of any current medications and an initial plan for any needed adjustments. The psychiatrist continues to monitor progress and is available for additional consultations if needed. The initial evaluation and additional consultations are billed separately.
Individualized Program
The emphasis upon individualized treatment allows Life Healing Center to tailor a treatment program to fit the needs of each patient. For example, people struggling with more acuity or who need a sustained focus on stabilization and containment can go into our Serenity Program, which provides increased structure for patients who need it.
12 Step Groups
Life Healing Center embraces a two phase recovery model. A solid recovery program needs to address both the addictive process and the underlying emotional pain. People who are in recovery from an addiction are expected to attend 12 Step Meetings regularly throughout their stay. In-house 12 Step model support groups are provided several times per week.
Healthy Living
Transportation is provided to a state-of-the-art fitness center located in the Santa Fe community. Optional outings can be provided at an additional fee.
Spirituality
Groups are designed to empower each patient to deepen one's own spirituality. We do not endorse or condone any specific religious practice or doctrine. We invite patients to find practical ways to experience their spirituality within their healing process. We recognize the diversity and complexity of spiritual beliefs and respect the right of any patient to not participate in any aspect of the program that he/she feels infringes upon his/her personal beliefs.
Weekend Activities
The weekend programming allows more time to focus on daily living tasks. The activities are designed to ease the transition to living in a community.
