Treatment professionals define addiction as a lifelong illness, but too many programs still treat addiction like an acute-care issue, with little attention to what happens to the patient after “primary treatment” ends. In an era of accountable care, successful addiction treatment centers will be the drivers of recovery-oriented systems of care, serving a wider range of patient needs beyond substance use outcomes alone. This session will offer an overview of how treatment centers can be more patient- and recovery-focused, from the time a patient enters treatment to the post-discharge period. Attendees will receive guidance on the elements that are essential to any recovery-focused treatment organization.

 

Upon completion of this session, attendees will be able to:

 

 

 

 

 

Every patient in early recovery encounters a unique set of high-risk situations, and possesses individual coping deficits and/or skills. This presentation will teach participants how to initiate skill building to counteract issues such as low motivation, low self-efficacy, and anxiety with more effective tools. Relapse prevention counseling is based on the understanding that lapses result from predictable and potentially controllable events, not personal failings and character flaws. The presentation will emphasize that in a continuing-care environment, a lapse can be seen both as a crisis that could lead to a full-blown relapse and an opportunity for new learning that can prevent a negative long-term outcome.

 

Upon completion of this presentation, attendees will be able to:

   

 

 

 

 

 

How should the addiction treatment community define the role of the treatment center in a person's recovery after “primary treatment” has ended? Does it even make sense in today's world to talk about “primary” treatment services in the standard way? Panelists will offer information on how, and at what stage of treatment, a facility should focus on helping to build patients' recovery capital. They will discuss the key elements of ensuring a smooth transition between a treatment stay and life in the community. The importance of establishing lasting relationships with the other community organizations that make up a coordinated and recovery-oriented system of care will also be highlighted.

 

Upon completion of this session, attendees will be able to:

 

 

Substance use treatment programs now have numerous vehicles for maintaining contact with patients post-treatment, and patients now can use technology to stay connected more conveniently with sources of recovery support. This session will discuss the emergence of recovery-focused apps, online support meetings, client tracking services and other programs that leverage the power of the latest technology. How are these services affecting the role of the clinician, the sponsor, and other individuals in a patient's recovery support network? What are the logistical and ethical implications of this new world where patients in theory can be in touch at any time through any number of communication channels?

 

Upon completion of this session, attendees will be able to:

 

 

 

 

 

Recovery residences are no longer a marginalized component of the continuum of care for people with addictions. They have emerged in many states and communities as a true partner with treatment facilities, buoyed by adoption of quality standards and in some locations by a commitment of government support. This keynote presentation will discuss the evolution of sober homes into quality-driven organizations in recovery-oriented systems of care. This session will focus largely on developments and trends in California, where sober homes' fight for legitimacy continues to be waged in local communities and the courts.  Strategies for achieving effective partnerships between treatment centers and recovery residences will also be shared.

 

Upon completion of this session, attendees will be able to:

 

 

 

 

 

A treatment center's former patients can serve as an invaluable resource for a facility. They can offer much-needed support to other patients who are at earlier stages of their recovery, and even as more treatment center marketing migrates to the Internet they remain a primary source of referrals, potentially enhancing the reputation of your facility in the community. This educational session will explore how treatment centers are leveraging the potential of their alumni, from both a business and clinical standpoint. Topics will include: advice for how to structure the alumni services role in the organizational hierarchy; ideas for meaningful alumni activities; and strategies for keeping alumni involved long after they have left a program.

 

Upon completion of this session, attendees will be able to:

 

 

 

 

 

Panelists:
Jennifer Musselman, MA Clinical Psychology, MFTI, CEO/Founder, S'Well Life Inc.; Executive Advisor, Strategy & Innovation Profound Treatment, S'Well Life Inc. Consulting & Profound Treatment Phil Scherer CADC-CS, NCGC-II, MISA-II, ICCS, CIP, Chief Clinical Officer, New Directions for Women
Mendi Baron, LCSW, CEO and Co-founder, Evolve Treatment Centers

 

Just as family engagement can be critical to a patient's success during treatment, ongoing family and community support remain essential to building a meaningful long-term recovery. This panel discussion will outline how treatment centers are working to maintain contact with families as part of ongoing recovery support, as well as establishing ties with important community partners that enhance individuals' recovery capital. Strategies for overcoming systemic barriers to greater family and community involvement will be addressed, along with approaches to overcoming potentially negative influences in the family and community.

 

Upon completion of this session, attendees will be able to:

 

 

 

 

 

Addiction treatment programs often cite their “success rates” by relying on patients' self-reporting of abstinence at six months post-treatment. But, a growing chorus of leaders in the treatment community consider this a woefully inadequate measure of success. This closing keynote presentation will seek answers to a number of crucial questions: How should we define “recovery”? What variables, in addition to being alcohol- or drug-free, are essential to consider? What tools are available to treatment providers to arrive at more reliable measures of long-term outcome? Is what providers are doing in treatment working, and what must be done to improve patients' prospects for a meaningful life in recovery?

 

Upon completion of this session, attendees will be able to: