Participation in a Continuing Care Program is included as part of the patient’s recommendations for Moderate, Significant and High Risk DUI's levels of intervention. Continuing Care consists of 2 hours group sessions once per month, minimally for as long as necessary (usually between six and twelve months). The focus of the group sessions is relapse prevention and support for patients who have obtained abstinence that also identifies actions to be taken if relapse should occur; recommendations for continuing care may include a broad range of services to address patient's physical, mental, emotional, social, and spiritual health, including (but not limited to):
1. Specific and measurable patient involvement in the event that accountability by the patient is required for any case management or monitoring organization (i.e., circuit courts, offices of probation, Office of the Illinois Secretary of State, parole officers, employers, etc.); and
2. Community recovery support services that will maintain support and enhance progress made in treatment.
3. Psychiatric care
4. Appointments with primary physician and/or specialists
5. Family support groups and/or Al-Anon, Alateen
6. Nutritional counseling
7. Involvement in physical activity
We encourage regular participation in a 12-step program as part of the continuing care plan for patients with diagnosis of dependency.
We believe that treatment is only the beginning of changing. Our counselors not only work with the client to develop a comprehensive continuing care plan, but they also facilitate the family's continuing care plans as well.
Adult Children of Alcoholics - Home life Many adult children of alcoholics have grown-up dealing with their parents alcoholism. It is wise to study the effects of this lifestyle on children to see how we can repair the damage. An unhappy childhood can create long-lasting effects that carry into adulthood. Secrecy - When you grow up in the home of alcoholic parents, you tend to think that your household is the only one that has the problems that go along with alcoholism. Personality adjustments - Some children become troublemakers or family clowns. Other children may become peacemakers or very congenial, adjusting to any and all changes without fuss. Others become responsible, miniature adults. All of these behavioral traits are coping skills that the child develops as a means of coping with living in an alcoholic home. Children raised in an alcoholic home often suffer from physical, sexual, or emotional abuse. My mother was a loving kind woman while sober, but angry, argumentative, and verbally abusive when she was deeply under the influence of alcohol. Blame shifting - Some parents blame their children for their drinking and children may accept blame where none is warranted. Life in an alcoholic home is often filled with disappointments, lies, and numerous broken promises. This causes children not to trust, to learn poor communications skills, and to have trouble developing intimacy. They often have anxiety due to a lack of control over events, fears related to the uncertainties in their life, and guilt related to their sense of responsibility toward their parents’ activities.
