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Tag: washington

  • One Washington County Is Treating The Opioid Crisis As A Natural Disaster

    One Washington County Is Treating The Opioid Crisis As A Natural Disaster

    What if the government used the natural disaster coordinated system to mitigate the opioid epidemic?

    In Snohomish County in Western Washington, officials are taking a unique approach to the opioid crisis by declaring it a life-threatening emergency, as if it were a natural disaster.

    As overdose deaths are threatening more lives than hurricanes and mud slides, they say it makes practical sense. Ty Trenary, former police chief in Snohomish County, thought that his rural community was not affected by the drug crisis.

    Trenary told NPR that at the time he thought, “This is Stanwood, and heroin is in big cities with homeless populations. It’s not in rural America.”

    A new poll by NPR, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health showed the truth: 48% of people said opioid addiction in their communities has worsened over the past five years.

    After Chief Trenary toured the local jails, he realized the problem was enormous. He witnessed over half of the jail inmates withdrawing from heroin or other opioid drugs.

    “It took becoming the sheriff to see the impacts inside the jail with heroin abuse, to see the impacts in the community across the entire county for me to realize that we had to change a lot about what we were doing,” Trenary told NPR.

    The idea to go the natural disaster route was the brainchild of Shari Ireton, the director of communications for the sheriff’s office. In 2014, a massive landslide in Washington killed 43 people. As the communications director, Ireton was in charge of organizing the press for field trips to the worst areas of landslide damage.

    “It was amazing to see Black Hawk helicopters flying with our helicopter and a fixed wing over the top of that,” she told NPR. “All in coordination with each other, all with the same objective, which is life safety.”

    Ireton had a moment of inspiration: what if the government used the natural disaster coordinated system with everyone working together, across government agencies, to treat the opioid epidemic?

    The county loved the idea, and a group was formed called the Multi-Agency Coordination group, or MAC group. The group follows FEMA’s emergency response playbook and is run out of a special emergency operations center.

    MAC includes seven overarching goals, which include reducing opioid misuse and reducing damage to the community. The goals are dissembled to smaller, workable steps, such as distributing needle cleanup kits and training schoolteachers to recognize trauma and addiction.

    MAC is too new to understand the scope of the group’s impact on the community just yet. Those being helped will surely feel that it is a positive direction for Washington and for addiction treatment.

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Cohort Based Recovery at The Clearing—What It Is and Why It Matters For People Seeking Residential Treatment

    Cohort Based Recovery at The Clearing—What It Is and Why It Matters For People Seeking Residential Treatment

    “We’re looking for more and better and different ways that are more effective in healing addiction.”

    The decision to seek residential treatment for addiction is not one that any family takes lightly. Addiction is a notoriously complex issue. When someone finally does decide to get the care they need, they’re often faced with an entirely new, complex set of questions. How much is reasonable to pay for treatment? What are the major differences between the programs? Is 12-step or non-12-step the best option?

    Though there’s obviously not one right choice when it comes to recovery, the recovery industry has become something of a monster in recent years. According to an article in the Daily Beast, the rehab industry now represents a $35 billion dollar pie—and many of the practices therein seem ultimately concerned with the bottom line rather than the long-term health of their patients. By way of example, most facilities use rolling admissions as a way to keep as many clients coming in and going out as possible. After all, the more clients who come in, the more insurance money can be collected and the more the industry can grow.

    Although this paints a somewhat sinister picture of an industry that does undoubtedly help many people, the question remains: is this the best way to do recovery? For Joe Koelzer, CEO and co-founder of the non-12-step rehab The Clearing in Friday Harbor, Washington, the answer is a resounding no.

    For their part, The Clearing emphasizes a cohort-based recovery model where all clients enter the same day and graduate the same day, completing their therapy programs together. “As it turns out, it’s a really great healing model,” Koelzer says. “It’s a much harder business model, which is why nobody else does it.”

    All jokes aside, Koelzer believes in the cohort-based approach as a response to the revolving doors of rolling admissions found at the majority of other residential programs. “When we decided to create The Clearing, we made a conscious decision to start with a blank piece of paper,” he said. “We said, ‘We’re not going to look at what everybody else is doing, we’re not going to look at what insurance wants to pay for. Let’s just focus on creating a program with the best chance of healing, what would it look like?’”

    The answer is a program that breaks most of the familiar recovery molds—including a defiance of 12-step dogma. The philosophy expressed is similar to one presented in an article in the Atlantic, which took the recovery industry to task for relying almost exclusively on the 12 steps as an outdated treatment protocol. In reality, according to the article, the success rate of such programs alone is between 5 and 10%.

    While this shouldn’t necessarily disqualify 12-step entirely, what’s clear is that this recovery philosophy was developed as far back as the 1930s—and there’s likely more to the story of addiction that needs addressing. “Our program does have a spiritual component to it,” Koelzer says, “but we mean true spirituality. We’re not preaching a dogma but rather we are working with each Participant to assist them through their self-discovery process.’”

    From the perspective of Koelzer and The Clearing, the approach that practitioners take to recovery ought to be a lot more fluid. “I don’t think we’re the answer for everybody. I don’t think anybody is the answer for everybody,” Koelzer says. “Almost nothing is the same as it was in the 1930s. We need to let our evolution, our new understanding of science, psychology and spirituality change the way that we heal. We’re looking for more and better and different ways that are more effective in healing addiction.”

    To put things in perspective, there are many things that The Clearing has in common with other programs—namely, evidence-based psychotherapy, holistic care methods, dual diagnosis support and a qualified staff. The primary difference, however, is in allowing clients to chart their own emotional journeys in a calm environment without the disruptions of people coming and going. “How do you create any kind of true consistency and safety within [a program that’s] always changing?” he says.

    Above all, according to Koelzer, the shift in addiction medicine that may need to happen is to slow the pace of treatment more generally. “The whole industry is built around the urgency of, you’ve got to go to treatment today.’” he says. “Well, you don’t have to go today. You’ve been doing this for 15 or 20 years. If you take the made-up urgency out of it, you can say: ‘Let me go to the place that I need to go rather than just the place that has a bed open.’”

    Reach The Clearing at (425) 678-3566. Find The Clearing on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google+, YouTube and Instagram

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Political Ad Takes Shot At Lawyer's Past Addiction, Criminal History

    Political Ad Takes Shot At Lawyer's Past Addiction, Criminal History

    “To be pulled in to a heated political race based on my own story of redemption is really painful,” said Tarra Simmons.

    Tarra Simmons never wanted to be the stuff of campaign fodder. 

    But months after winning her year-long battle to become a lawyer, the former prisoner was surprised to see her name dragged into a state senate race – as a political smear.

    The mailers supporting Republican Marty McClendon, which started showing up on Washington doorsteps this month according to KING-TV, denounced his Democratic opponent for supporting the “drug-addicted ex-con” in her hard-fought efforts to gain admission to the state bar. 

    “Emily Randall has consistently failed to back our law enforcement,” the flyers reportedly said, “yet Randall has supported Tarra Simmons, a drug-addicted ex-con who was denied admission to the Washington State Bar Association due to multiple felony convictions.”

    Simmons, who served time for gun, drug and theft charges, made national headlines last year after the Washington State Bar refused to let her sit for the bar exam, the test needed to become a lawyer. She’d already won a prestigious law fellowship, was a dean’s medal recipient at her law school, launched a non-profit and racked up years of clean time under her belt. But still, the bar said, that wasn’t enough.

    “Her acquired fame has nurtured not integrity and honesty, but a sense of entitlement to privileges and recognition beyond the reach of others,” the Character and Fitness board wrote in 2017. 

    But the Bremerton mom took her case to court, and won, scoring accolades and compliments from the state’s jurists.

    “Simmons has proved by clear and convincing evidence that she is currently of good moral character and fit to practice law,” the Washington Supreme Court wrote in its 33-page opinion. “We affirm this court’s long history of recognizing that one’s past does not dictate one’s future. We therefore unanimously grant her application to sit for the bar exam.”

    But despite the state court’s support, it seems, some political groups still aren’t on board with Simmons’ impressive turnaround – and Simmons took them to task for it in a neatly-worded Facebook post. 

    “Hey 26th District Republicans You left out the part about how the Washington State Supreme Court UNANIMOUSLY put the bar in its place,” she wrote. “I thought the right wingers believed in things like ‘redemption’. You know what? Part of me is happy over this nonsense. Because people only talk about leaders. I’ll take it as a compliment that you thought about me, and I’ll keep leading with truth while y’all sit up here and throw stones at people who’ve done their time and have fought through pain that would make you crumble. I’m proud of Emily Randall because she gets it.”

    The ad in question wasn’t actually paid for by Randall’s opponent. Instead, an outside group, the Washington Forward, The Leadership Council, reportedly funded the flyer.

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • The Clearing

    The Clearing

    Alumni of The Clearing praise the non-12 step approach which focuses on “self-counseling skills” and “learning how to love yourself” while you heal in a historic, fully restored farmhouse surrounded by the natural beauty of San Juan Island.

    Situated on a sprawling 43 acre estate that’s just a ferry ride away from Seattle, The Clearing is a holistic treatment center on San Juan Island that offers a progressive, non-12 step program to help men and women who are struggling with addiction, trauma, anxiety, eating disorders and many other conditions. Through its 28 day program, experts at The Clearing work to address all the underlying physical, mental, emotional and spiritual issues that contribute to an individual’s specific challenges. Residents at The Clearing (10 at most) stay in a historic, fully restored 8 bedroom farmhouse that’s as intimate as it is unique. San Juan Island itself features many miles of forests and scenic shoreline, dotted with little shops and harbors. While The Clearing manages to be secluded without being completely isolated and inaccessible, its remote setting helps residents remain focused on their recovery.

    According to former residents, The Clearing attracts a wide range of ages (anywhere from 25 to 60), with a good mix of backgrounds and personalities. “They were positive, focused, dedicated, and hardworking,” one person said of their fellow residents. “Ours was a diverse group, including retirees, entrepreneurs, musicians, and young professionals. All were positive, supportive, and our close-knit group was a highlight of the treatment experience for me.” Another former client agreed that their group was highly diverse: “We had gay and straight. Atheists and Pastors. Young and old. We all came together to learn the tools The Clearing had to offer to complete it with success.”

    Residents stay at the center for 28 days, and traditional 12-step work is eschewed in favor of spiritual psychology—an approach that resonated very well with the alumni who responded to our survey. “Our counselors told us that the 28-day program is basically the ‘crash course’ equivalent of a two-year Master’s in counseling, and I believe them. We learned SO much,” one resident said. “The emphasis is on self-counseling skills, and learning how to apply love to the parts of yourself that hurt in order to heal.”

    Several residents added that The Clearing’s staff doesn’t criticize or condemn 12-step programs so much as they simply provided a different path for its participants to take. Religion isn’t an emphasis of the program, either, though some former residents reportedly found it easy to incorporate their faith into The Clearing’s treatment approach.

    Accommodations are in the farmhouse, the centerpiece of The Clearing’s estate. Most of the alumni we surveyed said that they had a private room, though a handful did not. Even then, they proved to be positive experiences for everyone. “Most of us had no roommate. I actually did,” one person said. “I am a pastor and he was an agnostic. We had many pleasant conversations. We chose just to love one another.” Similarly, another resident wrote that “I adored my roommate” and “we still talk to each other often.” While The Clearing has a scheduled routine for its residents, chores aren’t a part of daily life—instead, alumni reported that their primary “job” was the recovery program itself. “It felt like school, but a different kind of schooling,” one person responded. “Instead of learning math, you are learning how to love yourself.”

    Food options were rated very highly by alumni. They praised the professional chefs for preparing a wide variety of healthy, home-style foods that suited any and all dietary requirements. “If there was anything in particular you wanted or needed food-wise, the chefs would make sure that you got it!” Snacks, drinks and coffee are available to residents 24/7. “Fantastic,” “delicious” and “absolutely amazing” are some of the other adjectives residents used to describe the menu items, with one alumni adding: “I wish I could live there just for the food!”

    The Clearing’s staff is “unfailingly kind and gracious,” according to one former resident, while another said they were both fair and firm with everyone. “We are humans and they treated everyone with love. If you had a family emergency and needed to go outside the rules, they accommodated [it] with love and care,” one person said. On the other hand, when asked for suggestions for improvement, one former resident felt staff communication could be improved, noting that “We all have different stories and everybody should respect that.”

    Consequences for breaking rules are fair: “If you did not show up for a class your electronics could be taken for the night.” And staff prioritizes the group’s safety. “One guy had to leave about 2 1/2 weeks in to the 4 weeks. He was often disruptive and the staff was more than patient with him. Although I was fond of him it was a relief when he left.”

    There are no doctors in residence at The Clearing, but alumni favorably rated the nurses and supervising psychiatrists as “caring,” “competent” and “helpful at all times.”

    Former residents agreed that recovery work is up to the individual here—not the staff. “They cared about your healing and it was authentic and real,” one alumnus noted, but “[The Clearing] is a program that you need to be committed to. If you want to come here and play games, not work and such, don’t. The problem you will have is from the other clients. People want to heal here.”

    Aside from being surrounded by the picturesque setting of San Juan Island, The Clearing offers a good number of activities and amenities to its residents. The center offers a modest gym with some fitness equipment, as well as acupressure, yoga and Tai Chi. There is no TV, causing one alum to remark that they should allow TVs, at least on Sundays for the people who don’t have visitors. Phones and computers are permitted on a limited basis. Nature hikes are also a regular activity, making use of the many trails in and around the wilderness. Perhaps one of the most distinguishing features of The Clearing is its onsite animal sanctuary. The sanctuary is home to a variety of animals, large and small, giving residents the special opportunity to connect with horses, sheep, goats, chickens, dogs, cats, turkeys, alpaca and more.

    Overall, residents at The Clearing were very pleased with almost all aspects of their treatment and most who responded to the survey reported that they’d been able to steer clear of the addiction or problem for which they sought treatment since leaving the facility. Some residents credited the tools they learned during their time in treatment, while others believed the “wonderful” aftercare program was just as critical as residential treatment, as it provided a “road map for continued success” in recovery.

    “Going to The Clearing was a turning point for me, and since then I’ve felt increasingly free from depression and anxiety,” one alumnus shared. “The tools they taught have served me well, and the love and support I experienced were truly a gift.” Perhaps the highest praise comes from the former resident who claimed to have been in nine treatment centers before coming here. “The Clearing has been the first to teach ways that can work,” they said. “Coping skills are great but if you can’t acknowledge and work on your core issues, nothing will last.”

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