DRUG AND ALCOHOL TREATMENT PROGRAM FOR PROFESSIONALS

Despite conventional notions of addiction, drug and alcohol dependency can happen to anyone. For this reason, Lakeview Health offers addiction treatment specifically for professionals at our Florida rehab center. Addiction is not strictly a problem for youth or the unemployed. It involves everyone, even professionals.  Professionals in the medical sector are at an extremely high risk of becoming chemically dependent. The rate of addiction in professionals is increasing. This is why we have made addiction treatment resources available for professionals part of our program.

Helping People Heal From Addiction Is Our Calling

The inpatient drug and alcohol treatment for professionals program at Lakeview Health is an addiction treatment program designed for business owners, doctors, commercial airline pilots, lawyers, executives, and directors of essential services. We recognize that people in high-powered positions are not immune to substance use issues. In fact, many professionals become dependent on psychoactive substances that they started taking in order to increase their productivity, improve their work performance, or get a good night’s rest to prepare for a high-stress job.
Like our inpatient rehab program, the professional program at Lakeview occupies the level of care between our detox and outpatient drug treatment programs. It serves patients with substance use disorders who are also struggling with a co-occurring mental health disorder, a history of trauma, or post-traumatic stress.

Why a Program for Professionals?

Professional occupations demand elevated levels of responsibility, accountability, and performance that separate them from other occupations. As a professional, you hold a license or official accreditation to do your job, you own a business, or you’re a member of your company’s executive leadership team. This often means that during a typical workday, you may have the lives, livelihood, and future of clients, customers, or complete strangers in your hands. At Lakeview Health, we understand that’s no small thing.

Professional Life Takes Its Toll

Having a large number of people depend on you is a tremendous responsibility. Career enrichment and skill development are important, but they also take time away from your personal life. You, your peers, and society at large hold you to a high standard because the decisions you make on the job have consequences that are disproportionately impactful when compared to other occupations.

High levels of stress engenders a deep internal obligation to appear in control, present a respectable public image, and handle everything that comes your way without showing weakness or emotion. People who define themselves by the work they do are at risk of burnout and developing unhealthy coping skills.

Taking Time Away From a High-Stress Job

It’s not uncommon for professionals – partially due to the high standards associated with their chosen fields – to develop an alcohol or substance use disorder as a result of trying to handle the pressures at work. What starts as a pattern of unwinding or letting off steam turns into an addiction that can have serious personal and professional repercussions.

We design our professionals program with these factors in mind, and with the full knowledge that you’re busy, you have a lot on your plate, and people rely on you every day. We tailor your treatment to meet your individual needs, help you work through the issues you need to work through, and allow you to return to full participation in your work, family, and social life in the following programs:

Start Your New Life Free from Addiction

Taking the first step is tough. We understand what’s going through your mind as you consider checking yourself into rehab. We know what it’s like to be afraid of recovery and sobriety. To get started, provide your contact information below, and one of our specialists will contact you within 30 minutes. They’ll help you begin the admission process and answer any questions you might have – but you have to answer the phone when they call!

Daily Life in the Professionals Program

In our drug treatment program for professionals, you live on campus in our gender-specific facilities – men in The Star and women in The Rose – and receive at least six hours of structured therapy per day. Additional recovery groups, exercise, wellness activities, and social support meetings round out your schedule.

The day begins at 8:00 am, concludes at 9:00 pm, with lights out at 11:00 pm. You eat three delicious and nutritious meals per day in gender-specific dining rooms. Healthy snacks are available between meals. You’ll participate in our professional treatment series group – a sequence of group therapy sessions designed specifically for the modern professional. This series provides the opportunity to interact with others who can relate to you, your story, and the issues common to professionals regardless of their area of expertise.

Going through the rehab process with peers allows you to share openly in a non-judgmental environment, accept personal responsibility without defensiveness, and develop the tools for personal growth and self-awareness needed for successful recovery, sobriety, and, ultimately, a safe return to work. The professional treatment series includes three group sessions per week over a period of six weeks. During these sessions, you’ll explore the following topics:

Treatment will also include one-on-one therapy, daily 12-step meetings, medical and psychiatric care, family therapy sessions (via phone), and an individualized combination of group sessions and integrative therapies, including but not limited to:

Small Groups for Large Gains

In our professional treatment program, patients reside in our gender-responsive facilities. Three times per week, you participate in a mixed-gender group to address issues unique to professionals. Your primary group includes five to twelve patients, while your gender-specific rehab community will include approximately twenty clients. These small primary groups and communities allow you to develop deep connections and form relationships with peers going through similar experiences and working through similar issues. This intimate, gender-responsive setting helps you feel comfortable communicating openly and honestly in process groups, building self-confidence, developing a strong peer support network, and focusing on recovery without unnecessary distractions.

How to Recognize Addiction in Professionals

Recognizing addiction in professionals can be a challenge because most professionals tend to hide their addiction. For some professionals, admitting they have a substance use disorder could mean the end of their career. To keep this from happening, they have to conceal their addiction.

However, some of the signs you can use to recognize addictions in professionals include:

Once you note the above signs, you must help your loved one seek addiction treatment for professionals as this can be the beginning of a downward spiral for them.

Evidenced-Based, Data-Driven Therapy

Our rehab program for professionals includes gender-responsive, trauma-informed modes of treatment tested by time and verified by decades of scientific research. You’ll participate in cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), motivational interviewing, family therapy, psychodynamic therapy, gestalt therapy, and medically-informed psychopharmacology as needed.

These evidence-based therapies provide the structure, insight, support, and skill-building that forms a solid foundation for your sustained recovery from addiction and related mental health disorders. A rehab aftercare program teaches you how to transform coping mechanisms from harmful to helpful, replace old, self-destructive habits with new, life-affirming habits, and give you the tools needed to continue your recovery journey after treatment.

Addiction in the Workforce

According to USA Today, approximately 100,000 professionals in the health sector across the country are struggling with chemical dependency. These professionals include technicians, doctors, and nurses. Additionally, the most abused narcotics include fentanyl and oxycodone. Working in the health sector during a pandemic can cause significant stress and unhealthy behaviors. Some professionals want to stay alert the whole day. Meanwhile, others are trying to numb the pain of upsetting outcomes. Whatever the reason, a problematic dependence on drugs or alcohol is unlikely to disappear on its own.

Why Are Professionals at Higher Risk of Addiction?

People are at risk of becoming chemically dependent regardless of their job title. Even people who appear responsible, accountable, and exceptional at their jobs have substance use problems. And, it is also uncommon to see professionals use drugs or drink alcohol.

Professionals may slowly turn to alcohol or drugs to alleviate the pressure they experience on a day-to-day basis. The long hours most professionals work through can be devastating. Also, being away from loved ones for long periods can have an overwhelming effect on anyone. To fill in the void, drinking alcohol becomes a daily experience. However, discovering the root cause of the addiction makes it possible for any professional to have long-term recovery.

The Effects of Addiction on a Professional’s Life

First, addiction causes you to become detached from your job. The more addicted you are, the harder it becomes to concentrate on your career. It also creates a barrier between you and your loved ones. The one thing every addict lives for is drugs or alcohol. This causes them to lose sight of everyone around them, including their family.

Once this starts to happen, you quickly start putting a strain on your relationships. In the workplace, addiction puts the people you serve at risk. For instance, a pilot under the influence puts his passengers at risk every time he flies a plane. And, the more the pilot drinks, the easier it becomes to cause an accident.

Finding Addiction Treatment for Professionals

Those who provide addiction treatment for professionals in Florida know the struggles professionals go through. This is why we have an addiction treatment program for professionals who need our help. We want you to take control of your life. Despite all you have been through, recovery is still possible.

Some of the services we offer include:

Contact our team at Lakeview Health today by calling 904.677.5010 to learn more about how our drug and alcohol treatment programs for professionals can help you return to a life you’re proud of.