Respect & Dignity are Found Here

There’s a famous line that should best describe the Full Life approach to addressing concerns about alcohol and other drug use. “People may forget what you say, but they’ll never forget how they felt when you said it.”

While we hope individuals and families remember at least some of what our counselors say, we are strongly committed to treating people with respect and dignity. There’s enough shame that our clients heap upon themselves without us adding to it. Regardless of whether this is your first or fiftieth attempt at sustainable recovery, Full Life is committed to providing professional, respectful, skills-building care for the whole family.

We begin with a thorough assessment. We have no vested interest in the outcome of the assessment other than making sure we provide individuals and their families with the best possible service with the utmost respect.

If addiction has developed, Full Life can help. Here’s how:

• Referrals:
  • We refer to programs around the country based on the needs, preferences and resources of the family. Just like one’s experience in kindergarten shapes how they feel about school, getting a good fit for treatment can really shape how someone feels about recovery.*
• Long-term Aftercare:
  • Once the foundation for recovery has been established, we hope to provide long-term aftercare support for both individuals and their families. This can include individual, couple, or family counseling, as well as involvement in one of our many group offerings.** Our IOP was specifically developed for those who know they have addiction and know they need recovery. Some people begin immediately after discharging from a higher level of care, while some recognize they need more support and coping skill development following a return to use.
• Family Support Throughout the process with counseling, education and other supports.

*We do not provide primary addiction treatment for those who need to learn about addiction and recovery.
**IOP, DBT, Parent-to-Parent, & Meditation groups are currently offered. Full Life also hosts a few different mutual support meetings. Call the office for more information.

• Readiness for Change: Understanding readiness for change, as described by Prochaska & DiClemente
• Testing: Bioanalytical data can be very helpful to provide objective data to support or dispute clients’ self-reporting; therefore we incorporate a variety of tools to test breath, urine, blood and collagen. Similarly, we value standardized instruments in the assessment process, such as the ASI-MV, SASSI, SOCRATES and sometimes even more advanced instruments such as the MMPI or Millon.
• Coping Skills: Appreciating that improving coping skills can help many clients ~ those whose alcohol or drug use is risky AND those whose use has developed into addiction. Learning DBT skills (dialectical behavioral therapy hyperlink this), meditation/mindfulness practices, therapeutic yoga, & aromatherapy can help individuals rely more on themselves and their skills and less on alcohol or other drugs to get through hard times. See our Alternative Therapy page to learn more about what we offer.
• Recovery Coaching: Sometimes the best person to learn from is someone who has “been there.” Recovery coaches help those in early recovery learn what it really means to build one’s life around recovery and to create a lifestyle of recovery. Whether it’s answering questions about 12-step recovery, accompanying clients to their first local AA/NA/DAA meetings, or being a sober companion through especially challenging times, recovery coaching services are an important complement to Full Life’s clinical programming.
• Therapeutic Approaches/Modalities: In therapy, our counselors apply a variety of therapeutic approaches based on their own training and therapeutic style, including (option to hyperlink all of these to reputable pages concerning these therapies):
  • Motivational Interviewing: Recognizing that heavy confrontation is rarely effective when you may not be ready for big changes. We help you go out at your pace. Motivational Interviewing as described by Miller & Rollnick and Motivational Enhancement Therapy, however, can be far more helpful and demonstrate consistency with our commitment to respectful care.
  • EMDR – Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing
  • DBT – Dialectical Behavior Therapy (can hyperlink to own or other’s?)
  • ACT – Acceptance and Commitment Therapy
  • CBT – Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
  • Gorski-CENAPS Model of Relapse Prevention in our IOP and our Professionals Relapse Prevention Group because we understand that sometimes relapse is part of recovery.
• Services for Families: Parents, spouses, siblings and partners need recovery too, but most really want to learn what’s happening to their loved one and how they can help. Our Parent-to-Parent program offers free support for parents, and all family members are encouraged to seek counseling to learn how to best support their loved ones in recovery and themselves.
• Community: Believing that recovery generally happens in groups, we encourage our clients to explore all mutual support groups to determine which is best for them. Some options include (added hyperlink to local or national groups):
  • Alcoholics Anonymous
  • Narcotics Anonymous
  • Refuge Recovery
  • SMART Recovery
  • Church-based recovery groups, e.g. Celebrate Recovery