By: Lakeview Health
Gina Thorne is joined by Teresa Bennett from RECO Intensive, a program in Delray Beach, Florida, where they are very trauma-focused and help treat patients based off of something called a Healing Triad. Listen to find out more.
Podcast Transcript
Gina Thorne: Hello everyone, this is Gina Thorne and welcome to the Lakeview podcast series. I’m joined today with Teresa Bennett from RECO Intensive, a Delray Beach program here in Florida, and we’re here today to talk a little bit about RECO, but before we do that, welcome Teresa. Teresa Bennett: Thank you for having me! Gina: I’m interested in learning more about your background. How did you get into the field of addiction treatment? Teresa: I sort of came through working with trauma. I spent about 10 years working at the Department of Veterans Affairs with combat vets and survivors of military sexual trauma and in the midst of that, I realized how much the overlap of trauma to addiction, addiction back to trauma was just this constant loop and so treating one inherently meant treating the other and that was a bridge into that addiction treatment world. Gina: And you’re the clinical director and you’re also an LCSW. Teresa: I am. Yes. Gina: So how did RECO Intensive come to be? Teresa: So it started as an idea to create an IOP level of care that was equivalent to what would be found in say, a residential or PHP level of care, because so many people returning and transitioning to life really need something that’s going to help ground them, be a safe container, continue to learn the skills and tools for their own healing and recovery. We just felt like there was an area missing to go deeper into that work for people and to really create a foundation for their recovery back into the world. So we wanted to create something that was experiential that integrated a variety of ways to engage mind, body, and spirit, and both the trauma and the addiction. Gina: So one of the things that I think sets you all apart from a lot of IOP programs is that you are trauma-focused, very trauma-focused as a matter of fact. In looking at your website you talk a little bit about this healing triad. Can you discuss with us a little about what that means? Teresa: Absolutely. So the Healing Triad is three core components which all of our experiential practices fall within one of those three components. One is creative arts and expressive arts. So that’s everything from art therapy, to music, to any form of creative expression. We do a lot around life rescripting and people telling their stories and telling their stories of healing moving forward, of recovery moving forward and how that looks different than their stories of hurt and addiction. The second piece of the triad is equine facilitated psychotherapy which we do on site on an 8-acre horse farm. So we have access to the horses right out our side door from our facility which is really a two-story house. And so that piece helps them work on relationship issues, intimacy, trust building, all of those things, and co-dependency in the ways that relationships don’t work, boundaries and all of that, they work on in that piece of the program. The third piece is mind, body, and spirituality care inside the clinical context. So they really learn to integrate their mind and their body again out of active addiction, out of trauma, and engage with spirituality that takes them from higher power as just an idea, into a depth of a spiritual practice and path. Gina: Very exciting stuff which again, really seems to set you apart from some of the other programs out there which is really neat. RECO offers a trauma-conscious training and certification program. Can you describe the program for us and is anybody able to go? Teresa: Anybody is able to attend. It’s newly formed and we’re going to be doing our inaugural training in the early part of 2015 and the intentionality behind it was that, again, seeing addiction and trauma and seeing how much those two things interweave with each other, I wanted to create a way for people in the addiction field to really get a depth of knowledge in trauma and to be trauma-conscious so that whether or not they’re running a straight addiction program, or they’re adding a trauma track, or they want to focus in on trauma, as a program and as a company we’re not just offering treatment but we’re also offering a way for people to create a higher caliber of awareness and consciousness about trauma and all levels of treatment in all kinds of treatment centers. Gina: That’s fantastic! Do you have a date for when this training is going to happen? Teresa: It’s going to be February 2015, but I don’t have the exact date sorted out. The way it works is there are three levels to it. So someone can be certified at the basic level, the intermediate level, or at the advanced level, and they’re all going to take place from Friday to Sunday in these sort of weekend intensives which is both experiential and psycho-educational. Gina: That’s fantastic, and obviously folks that are listening are going to want to check back to your website to learn more about the dates and times for those trainings. So you and your partner Brian have both visited Lakeview today and visiting us for the first time, is that correct? Teresa: Absolutely, yes. Gina: So what are your thoughts about Lakeview? Teresa: I think, just from walking in the front door, it was unexpected. You’re used to seeing a very sterile environment often, particularly a facility that is so encompassing and has a medical team. I think Brian and I both spoke about how we envisioned more of a medical feel to the environment and to walk in and see waterfalls and beautiful art, and to see a clearly cultivated space, which reminds us of the kind of program we are trying to create at RECO, the kind of feeling that feels like a safe space. So to see that made it really feel inviting, and then to learn more about the areas that you guys specialize in was really great; the LGBTQ, the Christian track, and the extent of trying to also do whole-person recovery. Gina: Yeah it seems like there’s some great synergy between what we do here from a residential side and what you all are doing outpatient, so thank you for your feedback on that. If someone needed to access services at RECO how could they get in touch with you? Teresa: So they can go to our website which is www.recointensive.com or they can call our main number which is 561-808-7986. Gina: Thank you, Teresa, for joining us today. We had a really great opportunity to learn more about your services. For those of you interested in learning more about Lakeview Health, we invite you to visit us at lakeviewhealth.multiplica.dev or you can contact us at [Direct].
