New program for mental illness, substance use disorder
WestBridge, a mental illness and substance use disorder treatment service in Manchester, has announced a new intensive outpatient program (IOP) set to open the first week of January. Stacie Lucius, chief of clinical services, talked about the program and how it addresses the need for varying levels of mental illness and substance use disorder treatment in the state.
What is WestBridge?
Our mission is to compassionately provide mental health and substance use treatment to individuals and their families. … We are a family-founded nonprofit, and the “family-founded” part is definitely important because it really speaks to who we are; we were actually started by a family who experienced the need for truly integrated co-occurring disorder treatment, meaning treatment for mental illness and substance use done simultaneously. They couldn’t find a treatment center like that for their loved one, so WestBridge was born out of that need. They also wanted an experience where family was involved in the treatment. They had experienced being left out of — or sometimes even blamed for, unfortunately — the experience that their son was going through. Having a family involved in treatment became a really essential part of our foundation. … We have our flagship services — residential and outpatient programs — in Manchester. … We incorporate evidence-based practices to promote resiliency and lifelong recovery. Historically, our outpatient model has been ACT, which stands for assertive community treatment. It’s an evidence-based practice that works with participants primarily in their own homes and communities instead of having the participants come into an office for the majority of their services. There’s a multidisciplinary team that works with participants to provide wraparound services and is available 24/7. There’s a lot of research on this model that shows that people are able to reduce or avoid hospitalization when they receive this wraparound, community-based care.
What is the concept behind the new program?
The new program is an intensive outpatient program, or IOP, which is an intermediate level of care for people who live in the community but need more structure and support than traditional outpatient therapy can provide. It’s not the same level of intensity as a hospital or residential program, but it’s more intensive than traditional outpatient therapy and psychiatry. … IOP often allows people to maintain other obligations in their lives, whether it be family, work or other things, while still receiving treatment, and, hopefully, that will prevent them from needing a higher level of care.
Who will this program serve?
It’s going to serve both men and women [age] 18 and up who are experiencing mental illness with or without a co-occuring substance use disorder. … We anticipate that we will get some people who just identify with the mental illness but not the substance use, but if they do [have a substance use disorder] then we are certainly equipped to treat that. … This is the first time we’ve formally expanded our services to include women as well as men. We initially only served men [age] 18 and over [in WestBridge’s existing programs]. We put a lot of dedication into really excelling at gender-specific treatment for men over the years, but it’s always been our goal to reach more people who can benefit from our services, and we’re really excited to expand our services to include women in this IOP.
Do mental illness and substance use disorders often co-occur?
There’s a very high correspondence. Many people who have mental health disorders also have a co-occurring substance use disorder and vice versa. People who don’t have a substance use disorder but have a mental health disorder are at a higher risk for developing a substance use disorder. A preventative approach is really important, to provide people who don’t have a substance use disorder with preventative education, resources and support.
What will IOP treatment look like?
First, we would do an intake assessment to determine what their needs are. … It’s typically three hours a day, three days a week, and the length of treatment ranges from 12 to 16 weeks on average. It offers primarily group therapy … with different groups geared toward topics like recovery and coping skills … but also [offers] individual therapy and case management. Family therapy and psychiatric consultations are available for those who need those services. … Some people may also need additional support in their community as far as housing and benefits and those types of things, or [assistance with] getting connected to additional resources in their community.
What need is this program helping to address in New Hampshire?
There’s always a need for different levels of care. Recovery is not linear and is not one-size-fits-all. It’s an individualized process. It’s really important to have varying levels of intensity of care to meet the varying needs of those seeking recovery, and we believe that our mission and core values can be applied to this different level of care.
Featured photo: Stacie Lucius. Courtesy photo.
