142 - How to know if I am going to a good Treatment Center or not?

Real Recovery Talk

Benjamin and I will give you advice on the questions you should ask and how you can research recovery and addiction centers. There are seven key questions or points you should discuss when you are looking for a center.

#1 Confirm that the person who answers the phone actually works at the facility and isn’t a hotline operator. Make sure you are speaking to someone at the center, not an answering service. A team member can give you a better idea of what is going on at their treatment center and details about daily living and structure. When someone calls Rock Recovery Center, Ben and I see you, sit in on meetings, and follow-through with your recovery.

#2 Seek an organization that provides a list of full-time healthcare and addiction facility team members, along with their credentials. Find out the client-to-staff ratio in the system that you are looking to go to or place your loved one. Ask about the longevity of the staff and the turnover rate.

#3 Check with state and federal agencies to see if complaints have been filed with the center or its staff members. Look for places that are licensed through your local children and families, Joint Commission, or other reputable organizations. Look at Google reviews, but read the reviews, don’t just look at star ratings. See what people are saying about the center.

#4 Do not use a facility that offers perks such as free flights, rent, food, cash, drugs, or other open items in exchange for joining their program. This is an illegal offering from the facility or a client / patient broker.

#5 Look for a facility that is associated with a medical institution, depending on what state you are looking for treatment. Some states, like Florida, have better small care treatment facilities. Ask about caseload to doctor ratio - make sure the large facility doesn’t have a large client to doctor or therapist ratio. More than eight to 12 clients per therapist aren’t going to give your loved one good care. Also, ask about staff turnover.

#6 Abstinence, for long-term, is, in our opinion, the best form of treatment. We have had clients tell us their drug of choice and don’t consider themselves to be sober when they are on “treatment drugs.” Clients who have been on Suboxone can get hooked on this for years and are very sick when they get off their secondary drugs. Some centers will not take addicts who are on these drugs.

#7 Check for accreditation for the facility you are looking into for your loved one. Review that facilities are doing activities to improve their standards.

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Show Notes:

• [05:56] #1 Confirm that the person who answers the phone actually works at the facility and isn’t a hotline operator.
• [11:15] Ben does his best to personally greet clients when they arrive at Rock Recovery Center.
• [12:10] #2 Seek an organization who provides a list of full-time healthcare and addiction facility team members, along with their credentials.
• [17:16] Read Google reviews to see what others are saying about the facility.
• [19:30] #4 Do not use a facility that offers perks such as free flights, rent, food, cash or other free items in exchange for joining their program.
• [22:16] Avoid places that are involved in illegal activity, they cannot be trusted.
• [25:10] Be wary of treatment centers that first ask you what type of insurance you have.
• [30:13] Ask about case load to doctor ratio - make sure the large facility doesn’t have a large client to doctor ratio.
• [33:09] Our discussion about using drugs to get off of addiction.
• [36:36] Ben talks about our success rate at Rock Recovery Center and the benefits of abstinence based therapy.
• [40:54] You can’t relapse if you’re not sober. Suboxone and other drugs are more addicting than the illegal drugs people are trying to get off of.
• [45:40] Ben and I discuss the checkboxes for staying accredited.
• [47:39] Give us a call or email us with questions!

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