Helping Frontline Medical and Behavioral Health Professionals Facing Substance Use Disorders Is Focus of New Recovery Centers of America Treatment Program in Massachusetts

WESTMINSTER, Mass., Nov. 23, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Recovery Centers of America (RCA), a healthcare network of substance use disorder treatment facilities on the East Coast and Midwest, announced today the launch of a new specialized treatment program to assist frontline professionals facing addiction to drugs or alcohol at its central Massachusetts facility, https://recoverycentersofamerica.com/locations/westminster/ located  50 miles west of Boston.

The COVID-19 pandemic has been difficult for everyone, but medical and behavioral health professionals are among those who have faced the most difficult challenges.

Overwhelmed with extra responsibilities, working long hours, and often providing emotional support to severely ill or dying patients when family members and friends are not allowed to visit the hospital due to restrictions, many of these dedicated professionals have developed substance use disorders as they seek methods to relieve the stress and pain associated with their work. It is estimated that 10%-15% of all medical professionals in the United States will misuse drugs or alcohol at some point during their career. Medical professionals are more likely to abuse prescription medications such as benzodiazepines and opioid narcotics.

Behavioral Health professionals too report facing the most difficult year of their professional lives and are struggling with burnout and stress which can lead to substance use disorders.

"These professionals on the frontline of the pandemic are our heroes and we need to help them by providing a safe, confidential, and affordable place to undertake the challenge of recovering from a drug or alcohol addiction, said Kat Stevens LHMC, CEO of Recovery Centers of America at Westminster. "That's why we created the Frontline addiction treatment program. We needed a specialized inpatient addiction treatment curriculum designed specifically for the unique needs of our medical and behavioral health professionals. We need to take care of each other more now than ever."

Meghan Wood, LHMC, is the Clinical Director of RCA Westminster and leads the new Frontline Program, "As behavioral health providers ourselves, we know firsthand how much additional stress the pandemic placed on a fulfilling but demanding profession. The importance of providing specialized treatment is paramount so these individuals can find support and focus on themselves after serving others during these devastating years."  

Whether a physician, nurse, therapist, counselor, pharmacist, any patient-facing medical or behavioral health professional struggling with drugs and alcohol, is eligible to be part of the RCA Frontline Program.

While in Frontline, patients will spend three to four weeks as part of a community of their professional peers, recovering alongside fellow individuals who share a similar life and work experience. Individual and group sessions cover many topics including: fatigue and burnout; coping with specific stressors of the field, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic; high-risk work situations; managing medications for others; coping with grief and loss; healthy prioritization of your own self-care; and forms of trauma—both long- and short-term and vicarious/secondary trauma, in work and in life itself.

The Frontline Program utilizes a variety of evidence-based clinical approaches including Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT), and Trauma-Informed Care.

The program provides patients a seamless transition to outpatient programs for continued recovery support, both in-person and virtual. Connections to a thriving recovery community, educational programs and sober events assist patients in their recovery journey after treatment through the RCA Alumni Association.

RCA Westminster offers other specialized substance use disorder treatment programs in addition to the new Frontline Program including the RESCU program for first responders, the PRISE program for patients who have multiple treatment episodes,Evolutions for patients over fifty years old, and Breaking Free for those who have experienced trauma. Nearby Recovery Centers of America at Danvers, located just north of Boston, offers theThrive program for LGBTQIA+ patients, a new Work-Flex treatment enhancementhttps://recoverycentersofamerica.com/substance-abuse-treatment/workflex/ to assist patients in maintaining work/school life balance, and a Spirituality treatment enhancement in addition to other evidence-based treatment programs.  

Recovery Centers of America at Westminster is a state-of-the-art 95-bed substance use disorder facility using a full spectrum of care from acute treatment services (ATS/detox), clinical stabilization services (CSS/inpatient), a range of outpatient services, and medication-assisted-treatment. Recovery Centers of America's two substance use disorder treatment facilities in Massachusetts, Recovery Centers of America at Westminster and Recovery Centers of America at Danvers, have both received designations as best U.S. treatment facilities that focus on addiction by  Newsweek magazine. For media interviews, please contact Terri Malenfant at [email protected].

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SOURCE Recovery Centers of America