Has the face of addiction changed? Addiction is becoming more readily identified. There is so much more evidence positively impacting recovery outcomes for our patients/clients.

I recall when the Community Room at the Farley Institute was filled with individuals, recently intervened upon, who had never been treated including many who had interpreted their powerlessness as insanity or something immoral or weak.

Our patients came to us having experienced years of illness, isolation and dependency without hope or answers. As a result of quality intensive residential treatment being offered as a first treatment experience, outcomes improved, knowledge of disease & its treatment improved, awareness rose and the stigma of addiction lessened.

As the public and we, the providers of healthcare, become more knowledgeable and aware, addicts are not only getting to treatment earlier, they and/or their families are seeking help more. Now our Farley Hall is filled with professionals who need our help. They come to us often having experienced outpatient therapy, even intensive outpatient programs, while trying to mange life stressors and remain abstinent.

Some of our professionals were referred and/or sought out primary residential experiences. They were able to become abstinent and even to live recovery before relapsing and again harming themselves and those around them.

Even though teens try to hide their drinking and drug involvement, research has revealed that most parents are aware of and can accurately evaluate the extent of their teenager's cigarette smoking, drug abuse, drinking, and marijuana use.

The Relapse Dynamic in the recovering patient is complex and subtle, and like active addiction, cunning, baffling and even more powerful than untreated addiction. Relapse to intoxicant use is complicated by intense feelings of shame and failure. The addict is now affected by yet more loss and now his/her active addiction is defended by “treatment sophistication”: an ability to talk to the talk, but crippled by the shame & depth of relapse fearing that they will forever be unable to walk the walk. Our skilled therapists have become sensitive to this changing dynamic. Our program reflects this. Our dedication to doing the right thing and stick to what we know works despite external pressures has enabled us to help over 4,000 addicts return to their lives, their families, and their professions.

Help is available in the form of medical attention, medications, psychotherapy, self help groups, and spirituality, but it is only there for the addict who desires it enough to work for it. You can lead an addict to treatment but you can't make him (or her) stick with recovery.

We know that the pressure of undiagnosed co-occurring disorders, characterological overload, disruptive behaviors and the stress that comes from deepening shame and even more loss can be helped and effectively treated. We know the key element for full recovery from a single relapse, even repeated relapses is Time spent on more intense treatment directed at uncovering diagnoses, treating true factors which lead to the relapse. Time to peel away the layers; to touch the wounds that require healing. And like all its sister chronic illnesses, treating Addiction takes expertise, experience and Time. These are the qualities that a drug treatment clinic staff has to offer patients. In addition, when recidivism and relapse are synonymous, meaning that the client has experienced residential treatment in a peer based therapeutic community; we have a specialized group for that population.

Alcohol is the most sinister of drugs, one that draws a thin, usually imperceptible line between social use and addictive use. Alcoholic addicts rely on alcohol as a key component of their personality - without a drink, they simply cannot "be themselves."

Here, we offer the individual, intimate, and intensive therapy that the client deserves and the Time to develop the critical skills necessary to make relapse to intoxicant use much less likely.

Please let us help. Let us help you find the answers to your questions about relapse. Has the face of addiction really changed? Not really, we are just able to notice it sooner, prevent it more effectively and give it the attention it deserves. Please call a professional today.

In calendar year 2000, an estimated 14.0 million Americans were current illicit drug users, meaning they had used an illicit drug during the month prior to interview. This estimate represents 6.3 percent of the population 12 years old and older.