Serenity View Recovery Center strives to adapt and change with the growing needs of our patient community while maintaining integrity in working with the tried and true, evidenced-based and therapeutically sound methods, which we know have proven effective in addiction recovery. One trend we have recognized has been the “pink cloud” a patient will get on when they have been in treatment for a few weeks, begin to feel better, and feel like they are “good to go”. These patients are adamant that they have all the tools they need in order to stay sober, regardless of what the treatment team has recommended. In an effort to keep the patients engaged in treatment, we have re-vamped our programming mid-way through treatment to include more exposure to outside meetings, followed by service work out in the community.
We also offer a sober outing. During this outing, the patients leave campus with staff and alumni and have a night out where they are exposed to potential triggers and “life outside of the bubble”. Examples of outings include, going to a restaurant with a bar, going bowling, going to the movies, going to a ball game, etc. The following morning, there is a designated process group to discuss and process with their peers how they handled their night out. Alumni are invited to attend these outings, which can not only offer the patients another supportive relationship to be bolstered, but they can also talk to someone who has gone through this very program and maintained sobriety. The more sober, supportive contacts the patients can make while in treatment, the greater their support network will be when they leave treatment. We offer a foundation for recovery, and because of the nature of this disease, the short amount of time they are allotted in treatment must be maximized in order to offer the patients the greatest chance of recovery for life.