The Golden Triangle Recovery Center is a place where people with substance abuse problems go for help.
Starting this month, counselors at GTRC will offer therapy for adolescents suffering from those same addictions.
The Golden Triangle Recovery Center”s Adolescent Treatment Program begins May 24 and will run through July 30. Members of the program — designed for people ages 13 through 17 — will meet five days a week throughout the 10-week program for two-hour group therapy sessions.
During group therapy sessions, members will be educated about the effects of substance abuse, but also will discuss other topics, such as coping skills, spirituality, relationships, family and successful behavior, GTRC executive director Michael Valentine said.
It is important to treat substance abuse problems in teenagers before they become adults, said Roshni Trehan Ladny, adult Intensive Outpatient Program therapist at GTRC. Many of the adults who attend therapy sessions at GTRC trace their addictions back to their teenage years, she said.
“In working with the adult clients in the group, a lot of them do tend to have substance abuse problems and addiction problems stemming from back when they were young, and they progressively got worse,” Ladny said. “So, it”s better to prevent things now rather than treat them later.”
Along with the group therapy sessions, each member of the Adolescent Treatment Program will participate in individual therapy sessions. Group members will meet with a staff member weekly to discuss and work through individual issues, set goals and monitor their progress.
Family members or guardians of Adolescent Treatment Program members also will be asked to attend family therapy sessions every three weeks. Family involvement is another key aspect of the recovery process, said Jaimie Walker, head of family programming at GTRC.
“It is so important to incorporate their parents throughout the education they”re receiving here because a lot of parents don”t realize what to do when their kids are using,” Walker said. “A lot of parents don”t even know that their kids are using. If these kids have stronger social ties at home, they”re less likely to go out and engage in deviant behavior.”
Valentine said he has been asked by several people to begin a treatment program for youth. Both he and Ladny said it is difficult to determine how many youth in the area are suffering from substance abuse problems.
“A lot of times, the amount of youths that use – you can”t really assess the true amount because there”s not a lot of full disclosure — a lot of them don”t get in trouble with the law,” Ladny said. “So, a lot of times, the only ones you”re hearing about are the ones who got in trouble with the law, unless the parents are aware of it and want to make a change.”
Ladny said psychology has always been her calling and she enjoys helping clients at GTRC overcame their addictions.
“Substance abuse is so broad,” she said. “A lot of people don”t understand the implications of addiction. You don”t just have addiction, normally. You have a host of other problems: personality disorders, depression, bipolar disorder. Even in some cases schizophrenia.”
Many of the clients at GTRC have encountered a lot of “difficult situations” growing up, Ladny said.
“I think there is this pre-conceived notion of what a standard drug addict is supposed to be and I don”t think it could be farther from that,” she said. “It”s really not like that at all. With this type of population, once they do have some type of improvement, you can feel this great change in them. They can start out completely incapacitated with no job and no desire to live, but months later they”re at the opposite end. It”s very fulfilling to know you”ve changed somebody”s life.”
“And they help change our lives, too,” chimed in Beth Faulkner, a DUI counselor at GTRC. “It”s not a one-way street. When you see these people for 10 weeks, you become a part of their lives and they become a part of yours. You see them from the first day they come in, where they”re still going through withdrawals and they can”t sit still and they”re vomiting in the bathroom. Then, 10 weeks later, they have a steady job and they”re talking to their families they haven”t seen in five years and they”re a completely different person. It”s amazing. It really is.”
Teens can be referred to the GTRC”s Adolescent Treatment Program by schools, law enforcement, juvenile court or by other means, but they also can contact GTRC and sign up without a referral. The 10-week program costs $2,000. Payment plans are available.
Medicaid and Bluecross Blueshield do not cover treatment at GTRC, but several other insurance companies, like Aetna, United Behavioral Health, Signa, Ceridian, Magellan and ComPsych are known to pay for treatment, according to information provided by Valentine.
“Like anything in life, give it a chance,” Ladny advised. “Be a little bit open-minded. If you”re open-minded in the first place to use drugs, which a lot of people are very open-minded if they”re going to use drugs, be open-minded to see how not using can improve your life.”
The Golden Triangle Recovery Center is located at 322 University Drive, Starkville. For more information on the Adolescent Treatment Program or other programs at GTRC, call 662-324-2230, or visit www.gtrcinc.com.
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