Best Alcohol Treatment

When searching for an alcohol treatment program, there are many choices out there. Everyone is probably saying they have a great program. It is up to you to be able to figure out which ones really are the best alcohol treatment programs.

Some things to consider are whether you want a more private alcohol treatment program or one that is public, whether you want a cookie cutter, group-only approach, or if you want individualized therapy as part of your treatment, do you want to be in a peaceful setting or a hospital-like setting, do they do detox, and how much do you want to pay.

If you want an alcohol treatment program that costs about as much as many of the famous hospital-like environments with many beds, that provides treatment for you as an individual, does alcohol detox, in a beautiful beachfront setting, then Paradise Recovery is for you. Give them a call today: 1-866-478-9898. A counselor will be there to help you.

Holistic Drug Rehab

What does a holistic drug rehab really mean? It should mean a drug rehab that takes a multi-faceted, integrated approach to the treatment of addiction.

You know the saying "man does not live by bread alone"? Well, addiction is not overcome by just one method alone. The latest studies show that a more broad and varied approach is needed to treat addiction. Why is this? Because addiction is multi-factorial. That means it has many different causes. Addiction also has many different factors that keep it going. That's what is called the "fuel" behind the addiction. Addiction is expert at keeping you off-balance and off-track. A disease that has many different causes and which fuels itself in many different ways, requires a combination of multiple types of treatments.

Thus, for most people group therapy or the 12-steps alone is not the answer. Individual therapy is not the answer. Neither is family therapy, medication, yoga, acupuncture, education, nutrition, or exercise. Actually, the answer lies in a unique combination of many of the above elements. Just one without another can't treat a disease that has so many different faces. The elements that you will need in your treatment may not be quite the same as the elements another person might need. The unique combination and differing intensities of these treatments that is tailored to what you need is what produces a truly individualized addiction treatment approach.

That's why it is important to select a holistic drug or alcohol treatment program for yourself or a loved one. And not just one that says they are holistic. Select one that has a truly integrated approach, one with many facets that work in a harmonious way to help you overcome the disease of addiction.

Drug Rehab: Trust vs. Mistrust

When seeking help for an addiction affecting your personal, love, work and social lives you are making an important step towards recovery and health. One of the fears is that you will not be able to function without the addiction. This is not true. A major component of this disease is "thinking errors". Often our thinking problems can become barriers to recovery. In actuality, we cannot live with the addiction.

Trust is difficult for most people, especially addicts. However, trust is necessary to build a therapeutic relationship with your providers at the rehab. Also, you need to trust the program you are engaged in -- that it helps millions of people to stay sober and sane! Most of all, you need to trust yourself. This may be the most difficult, since we don't trust ourselves. This becomes part of surrender...surrender to a process of transformation and change, which will bring you back to loved ones, co-workers and most of all...bring you back to yourself!

The more you trust, the process of recovery becomes clear and inviting. Eventually, you will think "How can I live without recovery!"

If you, or someone you love is in need of addiction treatment, please call our toll-free 24/7 HelpLine at (866) 478-9898 today!

"I know God wouldn't give me anything I can't handle, I just wish He didn't trust me so much" Mother Teresa

Recuperatio Primoris!(Recovery above all else)

Private Rehab: The 10 Commandments

When choosing a rehab for your recovery services, you want to know what is the standard, so you can make your choice with an informed perspective. The following are a list of 10 key components that should be present in a quality rehab experience:

#1 Thou shalt be engaging with each potential client.
The quality rehab puts resources and high level staff up front in their call center. Each caller is a potential client. A client of either your rehab, or another rehab. We make sure you get the help you need. Hopefully with Paradise Recovery. If not, then with another quality facility.

#2 Thou shalt be respectful, yet frank with the client.
It is the responsibility of the rehab to inform you what they've found what works! You are not an expert in addiction recovery. They are. However, the staff should have a respectful and professional manner. For many clients it is a matter of life or death, so the work is critical. The message needs to be clear and consistent. Our message is: "Recuperatio Primoris (Recovery above all else)!"

#3 Thou shalt not be over accommodating.
When choosing a private rehab primarily whether the facility has a "private flat screen television" or "total use of your cell phone" or "days for shopping sprees" works against you and a sustainable recovery. All these things have NOTHING to do with your recovery. The quality rehabs know what their mission is: To help you transform from an addicted person to a person in recovery. They do this by providing you with a structured, practice-based environment with consistency. You can watch all the television shows, cell phone conversations and shopping sprees after you leave your treatment experience.

#4 Thou shalt offer quality individual recovery-focused psychotherapy.
Most addicts are dealing with not only the substance addiction, but also an emotional instability or even a major mental illness. Therefore, individual therapy is crucial to discover the family or origin issues, childhood traumas, personal belief systems, practice expression of feelings/emotions.

#5 Thou shalt not advertise non-scientific rates of success..
Some facilities are bold enough to say they have "the cure" of addiction. This is just not true. Be careful not to be sold a twenty-first century "hair growing tonic". Scientifically, there is NO cure for addiction. In fact, relapse is often inevitable, but the difference is how you manage the relapse makes all the difference.

#6 Thou shalt offer traditional and complimentary medical interventions.
Many facilities accept you for admission during the detox phase of recovery. It is critical that you are care for by medical professionals that monitor and intervene with the best supports possible to make your detox as comfortable as possible. Working with a registered dietican during this phase of your treatment is critical to provide the necessary vitamins and nurtrients needed to get you through the detox.

#7 Thou shalt not cater to laziness and sloth during the first ninety days of treatment.
Your primary treatment program (rehab) should be a rigorous, scheduled program filled with individual, group, family and community groups that attempt to transform you away from addiction and self-desctruction to a life of healthy, right ordered living. Choosing a program that permits you to be lazy and not work their program is not doing you any good. They're just taking your money.

#8 Thou shalt use the 12-Steps as a foundation and offer alternatives to those needing another path towards recovery.
It has been proven time and time again that the 12-Steps and 12-Traditions of AA have worked for millions of women and men for over 50 years. Of course, some people, for ligitimate reasons, do not wish to engage in the 12-Steps. However, a program needs to assess WHY the person is not willing to engage in a process that has proven to work. If they insist, then other options are open to them: Christian-based/Scripture recovery, Intensive therapies (individual, group and family) along with acupuncture, neurofeedback, EMDR, etc.

#9 Thou shalt work on an optimal aftercare and monitoring program after discharge from the program.
It has been said, that a program is only as good as its aftercare approach. A quality program understands they cannot sustain your recovery without establishing the scaffolding needed for you to rest upon during moments of relapse. Monitoring is seens as an optimal way for an individual to stay clean and sober after they complete at least 60 days of primary treatment and have a sponsor to call in difficult times.

#10 Thou shalt have follow-up contact with the client after they complete the program.
The therapist making contact with you after you leave the program is an important offering. You have done good work with this therapist and hopefully, if you completed the program, have established a healthy relationship (maybe for the first time in your life) with someone. That they call you reguarly for up to one year, is critical in maintaining that trust and hopefully a sustained recovery from alcohol, drugs or whatvever your addiction may have been.

These commandments are designed to assist you when choosing your private rehab. Paradise Recovery obeys all the above commandments and subscribes to best-practice principles with each and every client that comes through our beachfront home in Honolulu, Hawaii.

Call us today and speak with one of our recovery counselors at (866) 478-9898 24-hours a day.
Recuperratio Primoris!

DUIs and Living on Borrowed Time: Getting Help Today for Addictions

When an alcoholic or drug addict is caught driving while intoxicated (DUI) there often is a sudden fear and exposure of a self-destructive path that prefers going unknown by others. A phone call to your spouse or parent, spending a night in jail, the legal processes, etc. are all disturbing events for professional women and men who are drinking or using drugs and deciding to operate a vehicle.

Some sources state there have been 250,000 fatalities associated with DUIs in the past ten years in the U.S. More and more states are instituting ignition interlock systems for drivers charged with a DUI. The dangers of driving while intoxicated are countless and the physical, emotional and spiritual costs are significant.

Some people see a DUI as a proverbial "wake-up call" and seek help. Before you lose your privilege to drive and loss your license, which often makes your ability to work difficult, it is wise to seek a rehab stay today and begin to embrace recovery!

If you, or someone you know is manipulating the legal system secondary to a DUI, please have them call our 24-hour HelpLine at (866) 478-9898 and speak with one of our recovery counselors.

Recuperatio Primoris!

Dr. Bill Heran
CEO and Co-Founder
Paradise Recovery, LLC

Double Trouble: A few considerations when treating Dual Diagnosis

When an addict is struggling with a mental illness (e.g. Major Depressive Disorder, Anxiety, PTSD, psychosis, schizophrenia) and a co-morbid addiction disease process, we call this DUAL DIAGNOSIS. Only a small percentage of treatment centers are designed to treat persons with dual diagnosis. It presents a challenge for programs that believe you need to treat the addiction before you treat the mental illness.

When you focus on the addiction treatment the mental illness reminds you its around, and when you only focus on the mental illness, the addiction feels "neglected and alone" and will remind you that it is a force working against health and recovery. Both are considered detox and causes insanity and death!

Recovery requires full attention on both: the mental illness and the addiction disease. A person cannot be full alive when their mental illness is not stable. The same applies with addiction: you are not in recovery when you are continuing to use and further create insanity and chaos in your life and the lives around you.

If you or a loved one has a dual diagnosis, call our 24-Hour HelpLine at (866) 478-9898 and speak with one of our recovery counselors. Don't delay...both of these diseases require your full attention today!

Recuperatio Primoris,
Dr. Bill

"Personal transformation can and does have global effects. As we go, so goes the world, for the world is us. The revolution that will save the world is ultimately a personal one" Marianne Williamson

The Addicted Brain: Breaking free and training your Brain to Coherence and Recovery

We know from recent nuclear medical technology, that addiction clearly changes the brain and is often resistent to reverse. PET Scans, FMRIs, Neuro- and Biofeedback have shown how the brain responds to toxic substances, or even "toxic", addictive behavioral patterns in our personalities.

When you choose a high quality rehab today, you need to ask them if they pay attention to any diagnositc interventions that offer detailed evidence as to how your particular brain may have been responding to your addiction(s). After a thorough assessment, the clinician usually begins a series of sessions that attempt to train the brain away from cravings and towards more coherence and increased functionality in the key centers of your brain.

Clients at Paradise Recovery have testified to the efficacy of the treatments. It not only identifies areas that may be under-functioning, but also assists with higher levels of performance, which many of our clients desire in their high performing jobs and career choices.

The brain’s reward system (Harvard Medical School Newsletter)

Addictive drugs provide a shortcut to the brain’s reward system by flooding the nucleus accumbens with dopamine (the neurotransmitter focusing on pleasure). The hippocampus lays down memories of this rapid sense of satisfaction, and the amygdala creates a conditioned response to certain stimuli. Stressors or something associated with substance use can trip the mental machinery of relapse.

Without the substance, you can see how detox and treatment needs to begin to reward the brain with non-toxic substances, and practice healthy ways to affect pleasure and manage pain without drugs, alcohol or other self-destructive, mood altering substances and behaviors.

If you or someone you know is addicted to a substance or behavior, you should call our 24- Hour HelpLine at (866) 478-9898 today! We have a trained recovery counselor waiting to assist you and your loved ones.

Recuperatio Primoris! (Recovery above all else)

Dr. Bill

Fight or Flight: Common Responses to Addiction Recovery

When making a decision about seeking treatment for an alcohol or drug addiction, often there's a primal response to either confront the situation or flee and never stop running. We call this the fight-or-flight response. Animals clearly react to acute stress in one of two ways: they will attack (confront), or they will flee (flight) and take shelter in a safe place. This response is an automated response that goes back to pre-historic behavior to protect oneself against lions and tigers on the prowl!

As humans, we too, react in similar ways when we are confronted with stress. Even though this response is more physiological, it also has psychological and emotional consequences.

Often, the "tiger" we're either attacking or avoiding is inside our minds. Whether it be a childhood learned response, or supported by parents and loved ones, your response to stress is significant and requires attention. Especially, if your response is creating problems in your life!

Addiction is often a response to stress and chaos in our lives. Ironically, we may think that alcohol, drug, sex or gambling are ways to reduce stress, but you just have to ask millions of people in recovery...it isn't! The illusion is that when I am high and have adjusted my mood, then I'm in control and all is well in the world. Sorry to burst your bubble, but when you think you have control, while addicted to a substance or a process, then that is when you are precisely "out of control" and most likely "out of your mind!"

Turning to trusted friends, loved ones and letting them know of your stress and permitting them to support you and maybe even "lighten" the load, would be a MUCH better way to cope with stress.

If you or a loved one is seeking help for addiction treatment, please call our 24-Hour HelpLine at (866) 478-9898 today!

Recuperatio Primoris, (Recovery above all else!)
Dr. Bill

Alcohol Detox (Detoxification) or Social Detox?

Alcohol detox is something most alcohol rehab programs do not offer. If they do offer alcohol detox, it is something that is known as "social detox". Social alcohol detox is basically that you get support from people around you while you are "jonesing". Imagine having full-blown alcohol withdrawal symptoms while people around you are giving you encouragement. That's great! Did you know that alcohol detox can be fatal? What about when you begin to have seizures related to your alcohol withdrawal, or when your blood pressure shoots through the roof? How will your social supports be helpful? Will you be rushed to the hospital? Will it be in time? Will the staff recognize the warning signs that you are in medical trouble?

Obviously, with any serious alcohol detox, a social detox is not safe. It's that simple. Alcohol detox needs to be a medical procedure that is undertaken at the direction and orders of a physician who has experience in this area. Many people die every year when they stop drinking alcohol cold-turkey and do not get the appropriate medically-monitored detox.

Alcohol detox is the beginning step of a lasting recovery. Please do it safely.

John Neuhaus, M.D.

The Family and Alcohol or Drug Treatment

Getting a loved one into alcohol and drug rehabilitation can be the most difficult gesture of caring a loved one can do. In their addiction, the alcoholic/addict my be fully blind to the destruction their addictive behavior is wreaking on those around them. Family members often find that direct reasoning is insufficient if not entirely futile. Denial runs deep with he active drinker or drug user; and when approached they may very well turn on the messenger often with counter accusations and open hostility.

As a result, many wives and husbands, sons and daughters, fathers and mothers will look the other way and ignore the problem. They will allow the use to continue, joining with the addict in minimizing the reality they face. Many families work hard to adapt to the alcoholic, creating a family structure that looks as if it supports the drinking. Family members begin to adopt specified strategies that allow them to adapt to the admittedly crazy behavior of the alcoholic/addict. Family members can often begin to look crazy themselves.

For the alcoholic/addict to heal, the family must also heal with them. Beginning with the simple step of getting their loved one into a detoxification and alcohol rehabilitation center, family members can start to address those behaviors they have developed over the years of substance use. They can begin to mend the tattered relationships, heal past wounds, and reestablish the family on the sounder footing of sobriety and recover together.

Paradise Recovery, like other substance abuse rehabilitation centers, focuses a great deal time and attention on the family as a whole. Family therapy, family week, and directed visitation all serve to keep the family unit together as the healing continues. The adage indicates that it takes a village to raise a child. And sometimes it takes a family to heal an alcoholic/addict.

Addiction Recovery: The Wounded Healer!

Many times when an addict or alcoholic has maintained significant time in recovery, they have strong desires to help others, particularly other alcoholics and addicts hurting. This is a very strong and often effective phenomenon that has touched the lives of many recovering addicts and alcoholics. In an executive drug treatment program or alcohol treatment program, you will find that many of the staff have been personally touched by addiction.

The wounded healer is someone who uses her or his painful life experiences as tools to assist people in need. Often the person in recovery can immediately relate to the suffering of another addict or alcoholic and provide strength and hope through their experiences. Most of the famous healers throughout history were men and women who suffered first, then transformed their suffering into strength to not only help themselves, but others as well.

The smart wounded healer knows when she or he needs to refer to a professional. We need to emphasize the "healing" that needs to take place. We cannot permit our woundedness to direct our actions, it is our experience of healing and strength that acts as support and guidance for the person in need.

Let us all work on our woundedness, so we can become better healers for those of us in need of help and recovery! Together we can make a better and healthier humanity!

Happy Easter from Paradise Recovery!

Recuperatio Primoris,
Dr. Bill Heran