Substance abuse has been increasing steadily in recent years, but recovery centers are abundant in Raleigh for those who need help.
Nearly 24.6 million Americans aged 12 or older in 2013 had used an illicit drug in the past month, according to the National Survey on Drug Use and Health initiated by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.
This is an increase from 8.3 percent in 2002, which is mostly due to an increase in marijuana use.
Off-campus resources, such as inpatient and outpatient services, are also accessible in Raleigh in order to help guarantee a successful recovery. Healing Transitions, formerly The Healing Place of Wake County, along with the Student Health Center and Counseling Center at NC State, are resources that students suffering from substance abuse and addiction may go to for help.
Healing Transitions, a private non-profit 501(c)(3) organization, has been providing shelter and recovery to those in need since it was originally founded in 2001. Healing Transitions offers recovery programs for drug and alcohol addiction in both inpatient and outpatient environments. The organization provides overnight emergency shelter, non-medical detoxification and a long-term, peer-run social model recovery program.
Its mission is to offer innovative peer-based recovery oriented services to homeless and underserved individuals with alcoholism and other drug addictions.
Jesse Bennett, a student studying social work at NC State and Healing Transitions’ transitional case manager, is one of the many people who help the nonprofit reach its fundamental goal of offering peer-based recovery programs and housing to those suffering from drug addiction and substance abuse. He says that Healing Transitions uses a variety of therapies in order to be successful.
“There are many pathways to recovery, including natural recovery (i.e. on one’s own), peer assisted and treatment assisted,” Bennett said. “The non-medical detoxification service relies upon skills developed through the CCAR Recovery Coach Academy as well as use of lived experience to help individuals safely detox and enhance motivation for recovery. The social model recovery program is peer driven, 12-step based and relies upon sharing of lived experiences, accountability and shared responsibility. A curriculum called Recovery Dynamics® is used for the educational component of the program.”
Some of Healing Transitions’ methods include assertive linkage to the existing recovery community, promoting recovery housing when transitioning from the program to the community, opportunities to return to the campus for support and service opportunities and telephone recovery support (along with other forms of outreach). They also offer life skills classes (budgeting, computer skills), fun activities and a sense of connection and community.
“Many of the people we serve have greater problem severity and problem complexity and lower recovery capital,” Bennett said. “Therefore a combination of treatment, peer-run recovery programs, recovery housing and active participation in addiction recovery mutual aid are the best combination of interventions.”
Healing Transitions follows a non-medical model of recovery. This means that the non-profit does not treat any medical or psychiatric issues patients may have. The organization does, however, have a health services coordinator on staff that aids patients in filling out prescriptions, and also helps them access community resources. Healing Transitions also has community resource partners that come in and assist individuals in gaining support through both counseling and psychiatrists.
NC State’s Alcohol and Other Drug Prevention Education program, which is separate from the Counseling Center, is an on-campus resource students can utilize in order to receive help in the recovery process. Dan Perry, the director of the program, is one of the staff members who helps aid students in recovery.
“The Alcohol and Other Drug Prevention Education program uses motivational interviewing and cognitive behavior techniques, but we do not cross the line into therapy,” Perry said. “This is accomplished through group classes and individual sessions with students. If, when working with a student, we find that they have a substance use disorder, then we support that student in making decisions on how to proceed with getting a higher level of care than this office can provide.”
The program often refers students to off-campus providers such as Alcoholic and/or Narcotics Anonymous, Al-Anon, Alateen and to NC State’s student-led Collegiate Recovery Community. This is done in order to further one’s support system, which is imperative to recovering students.
“Some of the most important steps someone should consider when entering recovery are asking for help, finding out resources that will be helpful and engaging with those resources to find the best fit. Understand that recovery is a process and there are professionals, such as Alcohol and Other Drug Prevention Education and the Counseling Center, on campus that can support for free, as well as students in our NC State Collegiate Recovery Community who are there for them,” Perry said.
If a student is not comfortable coming into the Alcohol and Other Drug Prevention Education program’s office, he/she can undergo a free, confidential screening on the program’s website.
