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Clinical Interview

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Submitted By mazzanja
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Interview: Ava Solomon-Mazzanti, Ph.D, Palmetto Treatment Facility
Jennifer Mazzanti
Grand Canyon University

Introduction
Palmetto Recovery Center is located in Rayville, Louisiana and has been featured on the television program Intervention on the A&E network. The main facility is located twenty miles west of Monroe, Louisiana on seventy acres on Lake Lafouche. There are eight cabins, where men and women are housed separately, along with a physical fitness center, and a pavilion used for education and lectures. The main lodge houses offices and examination rooms. Palmetto has recreational facilities for tennis, volleyball, and fishing. All information about this facility and its programs were obtained from the facility’s web site and my interview with Ava Solomon-Mazzanti, Ph.D who is a therapist at Palmetto. This facility has a staff which includes five medical professionals and eleven clinical staff members. The program at this facility is based on the Twelve Step model of Alcoholics Anonymous which believes that addiction is a physical/mental malady that requires a spiritual solution. Addictions issues are addressed through therapy sessions, education, and the twelve step process. Along with drug and alcohol, special issues such as gambling and sexual addiction can be addressed as well. Palmetto accepts private insurance, third party carriers, and direct payment for services. Medicare and Medicaid reimbursement are not accepted.
The program at Palmetto has been providing treatment services for eighteen years and over eight hundred people have gone through the inpatient program. Palmetto can accommodate eighty-five to ninety patients in the inpatient program and ten to fifteen patients in each of the outpatient programs. Progress through the program is done in four phases. Phase one is based on step one a (of the AA/NA twelve step program), Phase two is based on step two and step three, Phase three on step three and four, and Phase four on step four and five. During each Phase assignments are given to intensify the concept of the step being studied. Completion of steps four and five (Phase four) is mandatory for graduation from the program.
Evaluation and Program Information Palmetto treatment facility’s purpose, as stated in their brochure and on their web page, is twofold: 1.To provide treatment that is effective and cost efficient, 2. To provide treatment for people of all walks of life, including a special program for impaired healthcare professionals. Palmetto provides treatment for alcohol and drug addiction through residential, day residential, and intensive outpatient programs. The treatment approach at the Palmetto focuses on individual needs beginning with an accurate evaluation of patient’s symptoms and living situation. A medical examination is given to identify physical problems that may have resulted from substance abuse and to treat concurrent medical conditions. The next step in the evaluation process is a psychosocial and substance abuse examination in order to identify issues that must be addressed in treating the individual and their family. If indicated by a prior phase of the evaluation process, a psychiatric examination and psychological testing will be included in the evaluation process so that any concurrent psychiatric issues may be addressed. When all phases of the evaluation process are complete, an individual treatment plan is created for the patient based upon all information. The determination of a need for detoxification services is done during the evaluation process. If these services are needed, the majority of patients can be provided these services in at Palmetto, unless the individual is determined to be medically unstable. In cases of medical instability, the individual is referred to a local hospital remaining under the care of Palmetto. The treatment program at Palmetto utilizes group, individual, and family therapy sessions which facilitate constructive confrontation to face core issues of shame. In addition to therapy sessions, twelve step meetings are held daily and attendance is mandatory for patients. Medication is used in the treatment process if determined to be medically necessary by the attending physician. The environment at Palmetto encourages basic living skills, non addictive coping skills, recognition of character defects, and development of a not self-centered and spiritual approach to life. Each facet of the treatment program is designed to help the client learn what drives addiction and to manage their response to this drive. Self management is gained through education, cognitive restructuring, emotive therapy, and learning to be addiction free by relating to themselves and to others in a healthy way. Daily meeting are held each morning by the multi-disciplinary staff members to evaluate progress and to update treatment plans. The goal of treatment at this facility is to give every client the opportunity to develop coping skills for building a long term, abstinence-based, self-sustained recovery which takes place in three areas: Physical, emotional, and spiritual.
Treatment Programs Residential treatment, also know as inpatient treatment, is based upon the therapeutic community model. Clients in this program learn to work together as a drug free community with the goal of problem solving. Education and therapy are used in carefully planned weeks. Clients in the residential program have no predetermined length of stay; rather the four phase system is utilized. Each phase has specific assignments pertaining to the NA/AA steps which must be completed before advancing to the next phase, as well as behavioral, emotional, and spiritual changes. Ninety days is the recommended length of stay in the residential treatment program. The Day treatment program is for those individuals who have advanced to at least Phase three of their treatment program. These clients reside at the Palmetto facility from nine a. m. until five p. m., Monday through Friday. Weekends can be spent at home. These clients are still required to attend a twelve step meeting daily. Patients who have completed an inpatient or an outpatient treatment program may be eligible to reside in the facility’s Recovery Home program. Patients in this program must be referred by a chemical dependency professional or a sponsor from either Narcotics Anonymous or Alcoholics Anonymous who can verify the patient’s participation in a twelve step group for at least thirty days. These residents must be employed or gain employment within two weeks of entry into the program. These individuals are also required to attend twelve step meetings. The intensive outpatient program is used as either a primary treatment program or a transitional treatment program following a residential treatment program. The outpatient program is based on a theory of addiction as a chronic, progressive, and potentially fatal disease. The length of participation in the program is based upon the individual’s needs and assessments from their counselor and physician but is generally six to eight weeks. The program addresses substance abuse and if needed co-occurring psychological disorders. The client participates three evenings a week to allow the maintaining of employment or education status. Clients live at home during the treatment program. The twelve step model is utilized in this program and education is provided on substance abuse and relapse prevention. Outpatient services are provided at facilities located in Monroe, Lafayette, and Alexandria, Louisiana. As with the residential program, ninety days is the recommended length of participation for clients. All patients are assessed using the same format as the residential program. The Professional Recovery Program focuses on the special needs of professionals, which may include (but is not limited to) healthcare professionals, attorneys, veterinarian. Through the use of meetings, this program is centered on care giving, work place and career issues, professional ethics, self image, and restoration of a balanced lifestyle. These meetings offer advice, support, and sober modeling from recovering individuals. Updates of progress are sent weekly to monitoring and licensing agencies, and to referral services. This program can boast a ninety percent success rate. Family counseling is integrated into all addiction intervention programs at Palmetto. With the goal of strengthening family relationships and empowerment for the client and their family, both are give the tools to resolve present and future problems cooperatively. Family is contacted within the first forty-eight hours of the patient being admitted to the program to discuss the individual’s therapy plan and treatment goals, as well as reducing confrontation and frustration with the patient’s behavior, and to increase family support for the individual not only while they are in the program, but as a lifelong process. The educational process for the family includes phone conferences throughout the patient’s stay, intensive weekends of five hours duration (which include education) that continue Monday with intense group therapy conducted by the patient’s therapist and homework assignments. Ava Solomon-Mazzanti Ph.D. is a licensed therapist at Palmetto recovery facility. She obtained a Master’s degree in Substance abuse counseling from University of Louisiana at Monroe. Her Doctorate degree in community counseling was obtained Mississippi State University. For the past thirteen years she has worked with dual diagnosis patients, the last eight of which were at Palmetto. Dr. Solomon-Mazzanti pursued this profession to help others to avoid the same mistakes she had made through the insight she has gained in her fifteen years of recovery. She considers seeing the transformation of the lives of others as the most satisfying aspect of her profession; the most frustrating aspect is the breaking through the denial and the codependency of family members. She would recommend Palmetto as a treatment facility because of the intensity of the program in following the Alcoholics Anonymous philosophy, the behavioral techniques used, the involvement of family, and challenge to the patients to become self-sufficient, accountable, and “sober”. Dr. Solomon-Mazzanti considers an individual’s return to relationships with people who are using drugs and or alcohol to be the biggest barrier to success. Compassion, empathy, and the ability to engage the individual and build up trust with the goal of being able to confront them effectively without being critical or insulting, are the attributes she considers needed for anyone considering pursuing this type of career.
Contact information: Palmetto Addiction Recovery Center 86 Palmetto Road, Rayville, Louisiana 71269 www.palmettocenter.com Email: info@palmettocenter.com 318-728-2970 or 1-800-203-6612 Ava Solomon-Mazzanti 318-366-3789 www.interventionamazzanti.webs.com

References
Palmetto Addiction Recovery Center (2011). Retrieved from: www.palmettocenter.com
Solomon-Mazzanti, A. (personal communication, November, 2011).

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