An interventionist`s view of treatment centers

As an interventionist, my job is to solidly bridge the tumultuous river of denial, fear and emotional struggle that individuals with addiction and their families inevitably must cross in order to find a clear path into treatment. My focus is not only to help people navigate the challenging steps of committing to the treatment process, but also to connect clients to treatment that will create long-term success. Intervention is not simply about getting clients in the door to recovery—it’s about getting them through the right door.

Working both independently and as part of a clinical care team for more than two decades, I have found that for treatment to work, it is crucial for a client’s individual needs to be met. Beyond finding the ideal fit for each person, I think about one factor: quality at every level. At a treatment center, quality must be evident in everything from the management, facilities and clinical team to the support staff and maintenance team.

In this article I describe what I see as the most important characteristics of a high-quality treatment facility, starting with:

The organization has credentials, expertise and services that line up with advertised claims.

It’s easy to have a gorgeous website and advertising that attracts attention and drives calls to the admissions team. But shiny marketing does not equate to quality care. What is essential is for a treatment center to be run by qualified professionals, and for all the services represented by care providers to be as good as or better than what is presented online and by the admissions team.

Looking at the credentials of the clinical or medical director of a facility offers a good indicator of a facility’s qualifications, expertise and focus. It is helpful to ask the following questions about a center’s clinical and medical staff as well:

• Do they have a doctorate degree or higher?

• Are they a PhD or an MD? Have they gone to medical school and if so, are they newly practicing or do they have a history of working with patients?

• Are they psychotherapists and/or do they specialize in mental health or addiction medicine?

An additional factor in determining if a facility is providing the care it advertises involves finding out if doctors spend one-on-one time with patients or if they only facilitate group work.

It also is important to look into the experience level of the support staff and uncover their background of working in treatment. Do they have higher education or training in addiction or behavioral science? Have they worked with a range of people and age groups or have they worked only with specific populations? Many people working in treatment are newly sober and/or do not come from the same social background as their clients. It is most productive for a client to be learning from a person whose experiences he/she can identify with.

Overall, one can be confident that a treatment facility practices what it preaches when it has an attitude of transparent access to its treatment model, facilities, admissions staff and clinical team. The treatment model should be based on well-documented practices that are proven to work. Accreditation through organizations such as CARF and the Joint Commission is also a clear indicator of high-quality care.

The organization is backed by involved leadership that supports and pays attention to staff.

Highly successful treatment centers that create impactful change in their clients’ lives have an administration that is present and truly supports its staff. Providing substance abuse and mental health treatment is both a rewarding and an emotionally and physically taxing job. In order for the most effective treatment to occur, qualified staff must be backed by skilled clinical leaders and an administration that listens to and highly values its staff members.

The best treatment centers know this, and maintain the number of staff and doctors needed to support clients, while taking measures to ensure that staff is not overwhelmed by the workload. They have support systems in place where their treatment teams can share concerns they may have about clients, and that allow for internal concerns to be addressed. The treatment centers that provide the highest standard of care for their clients also provide their own employees with emotional, behavioral and educational support to ensure the quality of health for clients and staff alike.

When members of a treatment team are excited and enthusiastic about their job, it creates a positive environment where clients’ needs and concerns can be heard and responded to effectively and efficiently. This provides a path for all clients to value themselves and their recovery, ultimately resulting in higher success rates.

It embraces both process-based and goal-oriented recovery.

It is extremely important for treatment providers to understand that recovery is an ongoing process and not an event. Any level of care for substance abuse or mental health treatment must take clients on a journey of increasing personal capability and independence. The goal of a treatment team involves teaching people how to achieve recovery in a process that allows them to meet short-term goals as well as succeed over the long haul.

The best treatment facilities provide a process that allows for clients’ ongoing growth and integration into independent daily lives. This approach can be offered via a single treatment center, or it can involve transitioning from an intensive level of care into a continuing care model featuring a strong team dedicated to longer-term treatment.

Also, treatment teams must understand that recovery constitutes a learning process that requires effort, and must be able to offer clients encouragement and support—both when they gain ground and when they stumble on their path. Treatment providers must be prepared to respond to temporary setbacks with consideration and supportive systems that help individuals to continue moving forward.

Relapse is inherent to a client’s process of learning how to live in recovery. No matter what a facility’s specific model of treatment may be, issues should be addressed individually, based on what occurred and the client’s current situation. It is important to recognize the difference between upholding clear boundaries of accountability and penalizing a person. As an interventionist, I will not refer a client to a center that uses shame, blame or guilt techniques or that portrays relapse as a failure rather than a learning opportunity. In my experience, requiring a client to start over with a new treatment team after every relapse is confusing, and can be detrimental to ongoing progress.

As a whole, recovery is not about living up to unrealistic expectations of perfection. It should be a process of building people up rather than tearing them down. Providers should be responsible for tracking clients' progress, and should consistently act in a way that is most beneficial for their development. The key to treatment is to instill and/or uphold individuals' personal accountability and confidence, which takes place most effectively when individuals are able to make mistakes, acknowledge them, and then learn, grow and move forward.

It engages in treatment of the whole person, not just the addiction.

High-quality treatment providers understand that each person is an individual, and they offer care for individual needs in every area. They prioritize physical, emotional, nutritional and spiritual health to support the client and allow that individual to recognize his/her value.

While every treatment center may not necessarily offer specified care for each of these levels, all still should give attention to the variety of issues that arise for clients in the treatment process. Treatment providers should understand that each person has individual needs, and should recognize that clients have a right to choose what they feel is most important and beneficial to their own recovery.

At Rickard Elmore Intervention, we recognize that the above characteristics are essential in a high-quality treatment provider. These considerations are at the foundation of our recommendations for care for our clients.

Our real work as interventionists involves not only knowing which treatment centers are capable of providing high-quality care, but also knowing which treatment centers will provide the best care for each individual client. We use our comprehensive assessment of the specific needs of individuals and families to match them with treatment that is most applicable to promoting long-term success in recovery and health.

Rickard Elmore is a Newport Beach, Calif.-based interventionist and leader in the addiction treatment and recovery field.