Addictions are extremely difficult to deal with and are nearly impossible to overcome without help. That’s why the first step in conquering your struggle is to find people who can effectively assist you. Because the severity of substance abuse varies, it’s important that you build a team that can assist you as an individual, and who have the skills and tools to guide you through treatment. In order to know how best to treat you, we have to know the type and extent of your addiction, as well as how it has impacted your physical and mental health. Healing from an addiction is about more than just “quitting.” It’s also about regaining your life and once again making it your own.
First, you will be screened to see whether you indeed do have an addiction or not. (If your screening indicates that you don’t, but you feel it’s affecting your life in a negative way, we will still do everything in our power to help you through counseling, education, or other means.) If your screening is positive, we will then assess the severity of the problem. This includes what the addiction is to, how dependent you are on it, how it has affected your physical health, your mental health, and how it has affected your relationships. Assessments will be administered through questionnaires and interviews, including the Addiction Severity Index Rating, which will ask about many aspects of your life related to an addiction and how it has affected you.
Remember that the evaluation is just the first step in the rehabilitation process. We are here to help you define the problem so that it can be fixed through professional attention and therapy. We have built up a network of health and wellness professionals that we know and trust, and depending on the nature and severity of your addiction, we will likely refer you to them for additional help. All of your information will be kept strictly confidential, and will only be shared with your permission.
