What We Ask Every Client Who's Been To Rehab Before

TL;DR:

Dr. Tiffany Towers addresses the reality of multiple rehab experiences, acknowledging the exhaustion clients may feel while focusing on what could be different this time. She emphasizes identifying missing pieces from previous treatments and exploring how current life priorities might create new motivation for recovery success.

About Dr. Tiffany Towers:

Dr. Tiffany Towers brings a compassionate, non-judgmental approach to clients who arrive at Seasons after multiple treatment attempts. Her extensive experience across various treatment settings has shown her that relapse and repeated treatment episodes are often part of the recovery journey rather than failures. With her doctorate in Clinical Forensic Psychology from The Chicago School of Professional Psychology and her background working in diverse therapeutic environments, Dr. Towers understands the complex factors that contribute to treatment success and setbacks.

Her unique perspective combines clinical expertise with creative therapeutic approaches, drawing from her theatrical training at institutions like Yale School of Drama. This artistic background helps her see each client’s story as an evolving narrative rather than a series of failures. Dr. Towers recognizes that what didn’t work in previous treatments often provides valuable information about what might work now. Her approach focuses on curiosity rather than judgment, helping clients reframe their treatment history as data points rather than evidence of personal inadequacy.

As Clinical Director at Seasons, Dr. Towers has witnessed countless clients transform their relationship with recovery after multiple attempts. She understands that readiness for change operates on multiple levels – emotional, psychological, spiritual, and practical – and that these levels don’t always align during a person’s first or even second treatment experience. Her role involves helping clients identify what internal and external factors have shifted to create new possibilities for lasting recovery.

Video Transcript:

It’s not uncommon for people to be at multiple rehabs because of relapse or family pushing them to attend rehab again, and it can sometimes feel overwhelming or exhausting to consider going back yet again to rehab. So my question to you would be: “What would you want to be different this time around? What was the missing piece? Or how about at this time in your life, what has shifted in priorities for you that you want to address in your recovery journey that’s different from the previous times that you went into treatment?”

Key Insights:

Dr. Towers normalizes the experience of multiple treatment attempts, removing shame from what many clients view as personal failure. Her acknowledgment of feeling “overwhelming or exhausting” validates the emotional reality many people face when considering yet another treatment episode.

The questions she poses shift focus from past failures to current opportunities. By asking “What would you want to be different this time?” she empowers clients to take ownership of their treatment experience rather than passively repeating previous patterns.

Her inquiry about shifted priorities recognizes that people change over time. What motivates someone at 25 might be completely different from what drives them at 35 or 45. Life circumstances, relationships, health concerns, or career considerations can create new incentives for recovery that weren’t present during earlier treatment attempts.

The concept of identifying “the missing piece” suggests that previous treatments may have been valuable but incomplete, rather than total failures. This reframes past experiences as stepping stones rather than dead ends.

Reflection Questions:

• What internal shifts have you experienced since your last major change attempt that might support different outcomes now?
• What was missing from previous efforts to change that you now recognize as important?
• How have your priorities evolved in ways that might fuel stronger motivation for lasting transformation?

Related Topics:

This video explores treatment readiness assessment, reframing relapse as part of recovery, motivation enhancement techniques, learning from previous treatment experiences, and the evolution of personal priorities in recovery journeys.