About Our Philosophy Treatment Our Facility Programs ADD/ADHD Tract Activities Meet The Staff Detox Costs Legal Issues Questionnaire Alumni Drug Facts Home Alternatives In Treatment, Inc. 7601 N. Federal Hwy. Suite 100B Boca Raton, FL 33487 (800) 622-0866 (561) 998-0866		TREATMENT, NOT PUNISHMENT Local rehabilitation program treats alcohol and drug addiction Goldcoast Lifestyle September 24, 1998, Vol. 2 #45 By Riva Saker Staff Writer At five feet tall and 80 pounds, a stranger may mistake Claire Stone for a teenager in junior high school. Her skeletal frame resembles an undeveloped adolescent girl, while her sunken cheeks and tired eyes reveal a troubled woman. Plagued with pressure, she says, Stone, whose name has been changed in this story for privacy purposes, on an average night out with friends may swallow a variety of prescribed pain killers, snort a few bumps of cocaine or heroin and guzzle almost a dozen beers. At the tender age of 24, Stone has physically abused her body with different drugs and alcohol for the last ten years. In addition to suffering from alcoholism and drug addiction, she has developed two eating disorders: anorexia nervosa and bulimia. "What we like to say here is, the elevator opens on any floor. You don't have to wait until you hit full bottom," says Donna Hearn, coordinator of Alternatives in Treatment in Boca Raton. "We treat addiction as a disease. It's like cancer or diabetes. It needs treatment, not punishment." Alternatives is a for-profit rehabilitation and treatment program for persons with either alcohol or drug addiction. Trained therapists may also counsel patients who have eating disorders, while nutrition experts create individual meal plans. Other staff members monitor patients' visits to the grocery store, so patients do not purchase beer, wine or excessive amounts of sweets. For most clients, rehabilitation includes one or two months of therapy and daily attendance of Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) or Narcotics Anonymous (NA) meetings. However, more severe cases of substance abuse and eating disorders may require 12 to 18 months of treatment. Over the years, Stone has shuffled between outpatient treatments centers, never receiving the long-term care necessary to treat her myriad of illnesses. With a little motivation and help from Alternatives, Stone may begin to see a light of hope leading toward her recovery. For a prospective client like Stone, what makes Alternatives unique is its inpatient treatment program and on-site apartment building at Boca Villa. Depending on the severity of a case, therapists may advise patients to leave their home environment for at least a month and relocate into the facility's own living quarters. According to Hearn, uplifting is important since in many cases drug and alcohol abuse originate on the home front. For some professionals, Hearn says, attempting to reach sobriety at Alternatives may be a last resort before an employer revokes their state license to either practice medicine, fly an airplane or teach children. "It wouldn't be unusual to find a doctor making sandwiches at Publix until he gets his license back," says Hearn. "If you get help and follow suggestions, we'll give you back the ability to fly, help or heal again." An Alternatives' brochure peacefully captures the sun rising over an ocean landscape. The tranquil image thoughtfully coincides with the program's mission to provide patients with alternatives to drug and alcohol addition. Since 1981, when Hearn and her partner Jacob Frydman founded Alternatives in treatment, their mission to provide affordable treatment regardless of insurance coverage has proven successful. The average cost for a month of extended treatment, including housing and therapy, is $8,000. Hearn says the program is flexible in helping patients meet their budget needs as necessary. With a swimming pool for recreation at Boca Villa Apartments and a concerned staff of young professionals, clients are guaranteed quality home care and substance monitoring. Every day at 7 a.m. house manager Keith Berger wakes up patients. He encourages them to follow morning routines, which some patients find difficult after years of cocaine or alcohol abuse. He says substance abuse disrupts sleeping patterns and eating habits. "Putting a needle in an arm or drinking excessively is only a symptom. It's all a way of stuffing feelings down and not dealing with them," Berger says. "That's all a self perpetuating illness and it's going to get worse. It's the disease that's underlying. Originally from Albany, NY Berger moved to South Florida in 1991. For the last four years as an Alternatives milieu therapist, Berger has helped numerous clients "cleanse" or "free" themselves of alcohol and drugs. Recovery is an individual thing. It depends on how far down the scale they've gone. But there is hope. And the beauty of I is that people do turn around and regain what they've lost," Berger says. "It can be uplifting to see someone from utter devastation getting their life back." The power of substance abuse skews people's perception of normalcy. For instance, Berger says, an alcoholic may consume numerous cocktails in a day and never consider themselves alcoholics. On the outside the same person may also appear physically fit, but inside their liver is rapidly deteriorating. Sooner or later this same addiction will interfere with an individual's family and marriage. "We have people from all walks of life", said Berger. "Sometimes people find us in the phone book and call." Rather than sift through a cumbersome phone directory. If you or a loved one may need counseling on eating disorders or drug and alcohol treatment, simply call Alternatives in Treatment at (800) 622-0866.
7601 N. Federal Hwy. Suite 100B, Boca Raton, FL 33487 | (800) 622-0866 | (561) 998-0866 | info@drughelp.com