By: Lakeview Health
Gina is joined by Joelle Dan, the Director of Marketing for Brooktree Heath and they discuss the holistic approach that is taken at Brooktree as well as some other unique aspects of their treatment center.
Podcast Transcript
Gina Thorne: Hello everyone, thank you for joining us. I’m Gina Thorne with the Lakeview Podcast Series and I’m joined today with Joelle Dann, Director of Marketing for Brooktree Health in Wexford, Pennsylvania. Welcome Joelle, it’s nice to have you. Joelle Dann: Hi, thank you. Gina: So you’re visiting us at Lakeview today for the first time and we’re excited to hear more about what you do at Brooktree Health. First, let’s talk a little bit about you. How’d you get into the field of addiction treatment? Joelle: Well, actually one of my friends who I worked with in another organization said, “hey, there’s Brooktree that’s opening and I want you to interview for it,” and he talked to me about addiction. I went there and the owner of Brooktree Health is in recovery and he was talking about it. I’m new to addiction; I’m not new to mental health. I worked with treatment foster care for about 10 years. So he was just talking to me about addiction and he was so passionate about recovery and everyone that I have talked to or met that had been working in recovery are just so passionate so I kind of was thrown into addiction, however, not mental health. The more I work with people in recovery, the more I am fascinated and dedicated to it. Honestly, the clients and the people that I get to work with, they just motivate me. Gina: I totally agree with what you’re saying. There’s something about working with people in recovery that gives you a sense of gratitude and helps you really see what life can be like if you’re working a good program. Well I’m glad to hear that you found yourself in this field to hear that you found yourself in this field. I would imagine, also, working in child and adolescent services and foster care, you probably saw some of the addiction stuff already. Joelle: Oh yeah, definitely. Gina: So it’s nice to be sort of honed in on that one particular area of recovery. So learning a little bit about Brooktree, they all specialize in CBT, motivational interviewing, you do a lot of family systems work. I understand that you’re a partial sober living program. Can you tell us a little bit about what that patient experience would be like if somebody were to come to Brooktree? Joelle: Sure. We are a partial program that we partner also with a sober living. Our partial program and IOP program is very holistic in its approach. It’s actually new to the area, it’s basically unheard of. We are 12-step based; we focus on mind, body, and spirit. We really work with the clients in a way that’s just new. We cater their lunches; we focus on holistic foods and whole foods and things like that, and in treatment too. Our therapists are certified in meditation and yoga and just really motivated in helping clients. We just really cater to helping the clients in a different perspective; we’re not bound by four walls. So our clients, because we partner with a sober living, our clients are in our partial program Monday through Friday, 8:30 to 3:30, and then when they leave us, they go to the sober living that we partner with, which is Greater Pennsylvania Sober Living, and they get to practice sober lifestyles as well and get to go outside in the community. They still get to go to a 12-Step program seven days a week, but we have a private gym membership that the clients get to go to seven days a week. We have nutritionists, masseuses that come to the program, really just focusing on what you want to do when you’re sober. If they want to go to a ball game, or rock climbing, or play laser tag, we take them to it and they’re with recovery coaches 24/7 and they get to see how to live sober. The bulk of the work really comes at Brooktree at the partial program; our Clinical Director is phenomenal, really is educated, and he’s been working in addiction for so many years, and I worked with him at the other facility as well, so I can really adhere to him and speak to him and he really bonds with the clients. We’re low in numbers so, right now we are at about 16 or 17, so clients get individual counseling twice a week. We do a family wellness program; we do an education piece with the families on Saturdays. We really work with them and show them that being in recovery is going to be a life-long thing, but it’s also going to be a commitment for the family. Gina: Sounds like you got great wrap around services to support somebody in their long-term recovery. Do you all take insurance? Joelle: We take private insurance, out of network only. And we run all the insurance information for the clients and we will accept whatever the out of network pays. It’s going to cost the client nothing out of pocket; we really work with the clients on that. Gina: Great. Well this is your first visit with us at Lakeview, so what can you tell us about your experience here so far? Joelle: Well the staff has been phenomenal; very friendly, very social, very knowledgeable. I can’t wait to tour the facility; I haven’t gotten an opportunity to tour it yet, so I’m really looking forward to that. I really like your philosophy, your approach, and the dedication I think that the staff shows the clients. I’m just really excited to tour it. Gina: Great. Well thank you for taking the time to visit with us. If someone needed to reach out to Brooktree and get access to services, how would they reach you? Joelle: Sure. They would call me directly on my cellphone; it’s 724-396-9129. We also have a website BrooktreeHealth.com and our office phone number is 724-934-0460. However, my cellphone, I answer it 24/7 so that would probably be the number that I would call. Gina: Well thank you again for taking the time to visit with us here in Jacksonville. For those of you that are listening and you have someone who is struggling with substance abuse and they need help right away, please ask them to look us up at lakeviewhealth.multiplica.dev or they can call us at 866-460-8416.
