Privacy and Confidentiality Your privacy and confidentiality are issues which any program should protect but which none of them do. So lets take a look at the factors that contribute and how we address them. First there are matters as small as a program’s duration. It’s pretty hard to disappear for 4, 6, or 12 [...]
Our 100th Issue!!!! Two years ago we sent out our first newsletter wondering how we’d ever find enough material to go beyond five or six issues. Now we don’t worry – ongoing research, questions from clients, callers, and readers, and articles from the various other newsletters, blogs, newspapers, and magazines keep us well supplied with [...]
“Why should I change? S/he’s the one with the problem! Hrumph!” Well, no, not really. Most of the time spouses, parents, and sometimes children, see the problem as drinking and the drinker as the one with a problem. Of course the drinker frequently doesn’t see things that way. That’s because the problems are more complicated [...]
“I’m calling to ask about your novel approach…” We recently received that call from a doctor who was thinking about referring a patient. We were caught off guard for just a minute, “novel” approach? We’re research based and even the research isn’t novel, new, or experimental. What we do with clients comes from the work [...]
“What is your success rate?” Understandably, this is a very important question and one that deserves a careful answer. But it’s also a tricky one from a number of directions and these too, need consideration. First, the important question isn’t “our” success rate but our clients’ success rate. That may seem like quibbling, but with [...]
Just what are the benefits of drinking? We’ve all heard and/or lived the horror stories about drinking, but if you are going to fix an alcohol abuse problem then you’d better spend some time figuring out what benefits you’re getting out of it. Why? Because you drink for the benefits – just as people do [...]
Why would you want to be a “powerless victim”? We often point out we don’t abuse alcohol because we’re dumb, or powerless, or diseased, but because it works. It’s a wonderfully effective way to very temporarily self-medicate loneliness, boredom, anxiety, and a number of other uncomfortable conditions. That being the case, it should be obvious [...]
That’s right – judges may no longer legally send you, or anyone else, to AA. Unhappily, a lot of judges, along with lawyers, haven’t gotten the message, or even more commonly, judges continue to order people to AA unless you object. Please note, all of these courts have ruled that Alcoholics Anonymous is a religion [...]
What About Insurance? Many callers wonder about using insurance to cover the cost of treatment. Generally speaking, if you have coverage for out-patient treatment then our program is covered to whatever extent your carrier provides. Coverage is usually extended to programs which are state certified, as ours is, and/or services provided by certificated counselors, which [...]
This week’s question and answer: “How does our program cost compare to others?” It’s always tricky to compare costs – especially in an area where the price range is so extreme. Intensive outpatient programs we’re familiar with range from $3750 to $17,500 and of course residential offerings run the gamut from $20,000 to $200,000 or [...]