Monitoring
Spirit and Associates Monitoring Service provides mentoring, assistance and support for both the family and client entering the recovery process. Evidence-based research has proven that monitoring greatly enhances over-all recovery success rates.
The impaired professionals monitoring program for Doctors, Lawyers, Airline pilots and Nurses has paved the way for gathering these statistics and improving treatment outcomes.
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The first year of an individuals recovery is the most difficult. Nearly 50% of those who successfully complete treatment will relapse within the first year. Intervention provides the most successful process/forum for confronting the hold addiction/mental illness has on an individual.
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Treatment provides the structure/education for understanding and accepting one’s illness of addiction and/or mental health (MH) issue.
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Monitoring provides the follow through and accountability for recovery skill development and lasting life-style changes. It helps insure the initial investment in intervention and treatment by significantly raising the individual’s success from 50% to an 85% chance of maintaining abstinence and embracing long-term, life-changing recovery.
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It is imperative that Family and friends learn to disengage from the role of the enforcer to begin their own healing process. Our monitoring program assists family/friends with learning to disengage from attempts at monitoring or controlling the addict/alcoholic through a series of structured sessions that provide mediation and education on developing, structuring and following through with healthy communication, boundaries and self-care.
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Why Utilize a Monitoring Service?
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Addiction is a disease in which those afflicted are prone to relapse. Relapse isn’t necessary but often occurs in early treatment/recovery. Those struggling with mental health issues often have difficulty coming to terms with the diagnosis and or the need to take and maintain medication therapy.
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Research specialists have found that the longer you can keep an individual engaged in abstinence and (medication management for MH) and a recovery process the greater their chances of establishing and maintaining long-term recovery. Statistically, an individuals’ chance of maintaining long-term sobriety/recovery significantly increases after one year of continuous abstinence combined with (Medication and clinical management for MH) active involvement in a twelve- step program.
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Addiction and mental illness is present in most families a minimum of seven or eight years before the family recognizes it and/or reaches out for help. The family system is often compromised from living with the impact of addiction. Family members struggle with enabling behaviors, denial, anger, hurt, lack of trust and a variety of stress related issues that interfere with their ability to be objective and/or effective with supporting the addicts initial recovery efforts. Family members need to take back their energy to focus on taking care of themselves while learning the practice of setting and maintaining healthy boundaries all attempts at monitoring their loved-one prevent them from engaging their own healing process.
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The recovery process is a time for both the addicted/MH and family members to begin restoring their relationship. Monitoring service provides a vehicle for all parties to direct and vent their concerns without further damage to the already stressed and compromised relationships. The monitors act as a third party mediator while providing objectivity to help members process their experience, explore and identify options and focus on healthy solutions. Addicts/MH respond better to third party accountability!!!
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Acceptance of Treatment/help is the first step of a recovery process for both the addicted/MH and his/her family members. Often family members are so hopeful and relieved when their loved one accepts treatment. They believe that the addicted/MH person will be fixed, cured or at the very least so changed after treatment that they will no longer desire to use drugs or alcohol. Treatment only provides abstinence, education and an introduction to recovery tools.
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The most critical time for an addict’s/MH recovery begins after successful completion of treatment. It is important for everyone involved in the recovery process to remember that recovery is a lifelong process and the first year is the most challenging.
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Addiction has hijacked the addict’s brain, therefore it will take him/her significant time and effort to develop new patterns of thinking, behavior and practice. It takes continuous repetition of replacement behaviors and reframing of thoughts to transcend addiction. Reengaging in the use of substances and related behaviors no matter how minimal prolongs this process. That being said, it takes a while to build a sober network of friends that become an available source in the new life-style. Monitors bridge the gap between treatment completion and establishing a consistent sober network and life-style.
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Family members are usually confused with how they should act around their loved one after treatment. They are also hypersensitive to the addict’s/MH mood and behaviors and go out of their way to help prevent the addict from relapsing. They often have difficulty distinguishing what constitutes a healthy boundary verses attempts at controlling the addict. They are so used to picking up the pieces (caretaking) for their loved one that they unknowingly interfere with the addict’s/MH ability to assume responsibility for himself. The enabling process lowers the addict’s/MH confidence and self-esteem thus setting him up to remain dependent and irresponsible.
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Monitors take the guess work out of how to handle a particular situation or crisis. Monitors also help family members who are in disagreement with one another come to agreeable terms or terms that can be acceptable to all parties. The Monitor is a designated mentor who will provide consistent consultation, access to recovery solutions and resources, help create individual accountability, help with integration into the recovery community and serve as an advocate for both the family and addict/MH while helping to prevent relapse/regression.
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