FAQ
What is your philosophy for recovery?
Our philosophy is explained in more detail on the “Our Philosophy” page, but we are a clinically professional program that embraces evidence-based treatment from a systemic and comprehensive perspective. We believe addiction is a very treatable disease. We believe addiction treatment can be improved and we are committed to being part of that process.
Do you have an aftercare program?
Our aftercare plan is an important part of our treatment process at our luxury rehab center. We are committed to your sobriety for at least the first year following treatment.
Do you follow the 12-step model?
We believe in the power, strength, and hope of all recovery communities. We are not a “12-step” facility, but we want each patient to understand the 12-step process. We encourage patients to explore all possible formats during their stay, including SMART Recovery, and fully embrace one that suits them best.
What are your visiting hours?
After the detox phase, regular visits from friends and family are recommended and encouraged. Their full support and encouragement will be a source of strength and confidence for the recovering addict. They are also part of what we intend to treat.
Don’t come thinking you are just supporting your loved one—come ready to do some work yourself! There is a “guidebook for families in treatment” that will explain much more of the nuances and procedures of families visiting our Malibu rehab center.
What types of addiction do you treat?
Our staff and health professionals have experience in all aspects of addiction, including co-occurring eating disorders, co-occurring personality disorders, process addictions like gambling, pornography, sex, food, and of course, all aspects of chemical dependency, including alcohol, opiates such as heroin, OxyContin, and Vicodin, benzodiazepines such as Xanax and Klonopin, methamphetamines and amphetamines, crack and powder cocaine, inhalants, marijuana, and a wide variety of other legal and illegal drugs, as well as the myriad of cross addictions that come from things like methamphetamine and sex addiction.
What is your success rate?
Defining success as uninterrupted abstinence is one of the problems with a behavioral approach to treatment, so we don’t want to speak about success in that “old school” context (though we do measure it). What we can say is this: Of the 350 or so people who have gone through our program in the last two years, about 300 are doing well and are abstinent from their drug of choice.
Some of these 300 have had “slips” or more serious relapses, but with our support, they have responded to them in a way that can actually strengthen their sobriety. On a Subjective Quality of Life Index (SQLI) 98% of those who are doing well self-report a dramatic increase in the quality of their life.
We consider a successful response to relapse one that includes honesty, an understanding of why it happened, and a commitment of new resources to the issue. This “response to relapse” is one of the things that most distinguishes us from other programs, and one of the greatest positive things that can happen to a newly recovering patient.
To be clear—we do not encourage nor predict relapse. But it would not be addiction if relapse were not a possibility, and we have learned that it is in the response to relapse that we have a tremendous opportunity.
What makes you different from other treatment centers?
There are 4 main points that distinguish us from other drug and alcohol rehab centers.
1. Our systemic and comprehensive approach to treatment.
This innovative, evidence-based, and now proven successful program is the reason our Malibu recovery center is referred clients by professionals from around the country.
2. The quality of our staff and practitioners.
We spend time working together and train to work together to create a powerful team that surrounds each client and executes their treatment plan. Additionally, our Primary Therapists all have doctorate degrees in psychology, and our Case Managers all have at least a Master’s degree. No other treatment center can boast such an educational level of its front line clinical staff.
3. Our long-term commitment to the patient’s sobriety.
We want to be working with our patients throughout the first year of their sobriety. Most long-term rehabs will give you a follow up call once in a while; we want you to remain in constant communication, engaging the same professionals that you did while in treatment, perhaps by computer teleconference or phone, for as long as you can.
4. Our focus on individualized treatment.
At our Malibu drug rehab center, we believe each person requires their own assessment and treatment plan. We believe treatment only works when it is designed for you.
Why is treatment so expensive?
Successful drug and alcohol addiction treatment is a complex and resource-intensive process. Doing it well requires excellent staff, lots of time, and good individual support and management. (Anyone who tells you “it’s simple” is just trying to sell you something.)
The need for these resources is why addiction treatment cost so much.
You may want to also ask yourself, “How much does rehab cost as opposed to the cost of addiction?” The cost of addiction can be measured in lost income, health care costs, lost opportunities, lost jobs, lost relationships, and on and on. In monetary comparison it has been estimated that the cost of treatment is about one-tenth of the cost of addiction.
Years of lost salaries, lost business opportunity, legal costs of DUI, divorce, medical bills, property damage and liability for accidents, increased insurance costs, etc.—all these unpleasant events and more potentially await. Just because you have not had most of these happen, it does not mean they are not going to—very soon—if you do not get treatment.
And this estimate does not include the heartache of addiction—lost children and spouses, the deaths of loved ones and family due to addiction and alcoholism, family and friends avoiding you, the fear of court cases and of being incarcerated, the long-term effects addiction can have on those growing and developing around you… without help, these losses increase exponentially, and the heartbreak continues until the addiction is arrested and no longer rules your life.
