Effective treatment, deeper care, quicker results.
Integrated care is widely recognized as the premier standard for effective treatment. A 2005 National Alliance on Mental Health (NAMI) study definitively concluded, “It’s clear that mental and physical health are intertwined, and care for both should be linked together within health care delivery systems.”
The importance of integrated care cannot be highlighted or stressed enough. Since the beginning, this highly specialized and advanced treatment approach has been the foundation of our clinical care model at 1 Method. Treating all your issues simultaneously has been proven time and again to be a key component to our success because it has yielded proven results for yours. Integrated care is critical for effective treatment.
Integrated care begins with a knowledgeable multidisciplinary team that coordinates every aspect of your treatment so that all your issues are addressed and treated simultaneously. A highly qualified team that attends to all your issues at the same time is the most effective approach to treatment. Working together, they go deeper to identify, respond to and find the root causes of individual problems more quickly so that you can feel and see real results faster.
The integrated model is just a part of 1 Method’s comprehensive three-fold treatment approach. It is accentuated by a tailor-made, customized plan of care that is created to meet your individual needs. Comprised of 1-on-1 therapy, holistic measures and evidence-based treatments (that include psychiatry, mental health evaluations, medical screening, medication management, etc.), the integrated care program is routinely calibrated and fine-tuned to balance and meet the needs of your mind, body, and spirit. Secondly, we follow the Stages of Change model to ensure that we deliver your care in the right way at the right time. Unlike the ‘one size fits all’ approach that is rampantly found in other treatment programs, we hone in on your unique story and specific needs to make sure that you benefit from the best treatment options and practices that fit you. The third (and equally important) element that sets us apart is our unique Health and Fitness program that employs specifically designed protocols for dual diagnosis, addiction, and mental health issues. Together these three aspects work in conjunction and harmony with one another to help you heal on a physical, spiritual, emotional, and regenerative level.
Rehab is only one aspect of recovery. Integrated care achieves superior results because it focuses on more than basic recovery from addiction. By working on separate or several issues simultaneously, it helps you achieve balance so you can function at your optimum on a multiplicity of levels instead of just one.
The integrated care model is endorsed (among others) by:
- Surgeon General of United States
- National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)
- American Psychiatric Association (APA)
- National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI)
- American Society of Addiction Medicine (ASAM)
- American Psychological Association (APA)
- Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA)
Why is integrated care more effective?
Integrative care provides a range of treatment options and gives you the necessary tools to achieve success in life, health, work, and relationships. It helps you address issues and develop healthy skills and habits that will benefit you when coping with real life in the real world. Specific services vary depending upon your unique situation and needs but may include resources that promote healthy living in addition to directed addiction and mental health treatment.
Examples of distinct objectives within an integrated treatment plan to help promote lifestyle changes might include:
- Regular exercise
- Improving sleep habits
- Addressing any chronic medical conditions
- Improving communication skills
- Improving nutritional and eating behaviors
- Working on family relationships
- Addressing job skills and work-related issues
- Managing legal issues
Living with both a mental health disorder and substance abuse or addiction problem can be a deadly combination. The struggle is real and can lead to poor choices, obstructive behaviors, damaged work/family relations or financial hardship. Linking multiple services to your individual goals helps you get back on track, return to work, rebuild relationships, build a strong support network in recovery and the ability to lead a happier life with a clearer focus and renewed commitment.
What does an integrated approach look like and what should it include?
An integrated approach offers the greatest chance of success. Regardless of location, fancy cosmetics or the bells and whistles of amenities a rehab may entice you with or offer none of these have meaning if an integrated clinical approach is not part of the program. To know if the care provided by any treatment center falls under the guidelines of an integrated clinical model, it’s important to understand the key features of integrated care and ask the right questions.
For people living with a substance abuse disorder, dual diagnosis or mental health issues, an integrated treatment approach should be comprised of (at minimum) a combination of services that includes:
Stabilization
Stabilization combines 24-hour observation and support with a brief evaluation period. Blending medical, clinical, and psychiatric care, this time is dedicated to crisis respite, safety concerns, and helping you settle in comfortably. Checking into a program is a critical stage in addiction and mental health treatment. Stabilization is where treatment starts.
Preliminary or ‘Interim’ Treatment Planning
Planning your initial treatment in advance allows us to make better use of your time with us. We are deliberate about your care from the start. Your pre-admission and intake consultations help us design a preliminary plan that is ready to be implemented upon your arrival. While this plan will change and evolve during your stay, we don’t condone the use of cookie-cutter treatment plans. We focus personally on you.
Medical Detoxification
The purpose of medical detox is to provide you with a safe and comfortable environment for withdrawal from alcohol, drugs, and/or prescription medications. While detoxing, the program moves at your pace and we bring treatment to your bedside, if necessary. This range of services includes 1-on-1 therapy, counseling, psychiatry, a medical examination, lab work, and more. In an integrated program at 1 Method, detox and residential take place in the same location so you don’t get shuffled from one place to another. This helps prevent stress or disruptions in your care during the fragile early stages. Integrated services are the primary characteristic of the integrated model.
Collaborative Care
The goal of collaborative care is to foster a team atmosphere where everyone works together to help you succeed. When possible, we link the treatment team at 1 Method with your outside care providers like your doctor, therapist, psychiatrist, life-coach, etc. The ability to gather this information and process it gives us valuable insight into your medical and personal history as well as your needs, strengths, and goals. Collaboration helps us serve you better but we never communicate with anyone without your consent.
A Multidisciplinary Approach
At 1 Method your team of experienced health care professionals is skilled in different disciplines (e.g.: psychiatry, therapy, medicine, counseling, etc.). Each provides you with targeted care in their area of specialty. Although you tend to meet with members of your team 1-on-1, they share and exchange information and discuss strategies and your progress regularly. Thus, your collective experience at 1 Method is not the sum of the individual sessions you receive while here. Instead, each session builds upon and works in concert with the others to help you achieve better results faster. In standard non-integrated rehabs, problems are too often treated on an isolated basis (independently) or on the parallel level but not together.
This traditional approach is ineffective when treating addiction and mental health issues simultaneously as these are highly complex and multifaceted conditions that are often fueled and exacerbated by the coexistence of other problems. Some of these may include: (1) developing an addiction after self-medicating with alcohol, drugs, or prescription medications to cope with trauma; (2) situational depression that triggers anxiety, opening the door to symptoms of agoraphobia – which in turn prompts excessive drinking behavior; (3) a person with an undiagnosed bipolar disorder taking a stimulant drug, experiencing a substance-induced psychosis, randomly coming into police contact and subsequently being hospitalized on an involuntary basis.
The above scenarios are situational examples 1 Method regularly encounters that demonstrate the underlying complexities with most addiction and mental health-related problems. They are strong indicators of why a collaborative, team-based approach is essential to effectively treating the many variables that accompany these issues. Having a multidisciplinary treatment team in your corner is a vital aspect of the integrated model.
Family Treatment Services
Family members tend to absorb the brunt of addiction or the impact of mental illness. As a result of this turmoil, they are frequently the last to seek help. They are also less likely to take advantage of it after their loved one checks into a traditional rehab because they believe the problem is under control. Furthermore, any help they do receive tends to be generic and offered mostly in a group format or setting. At 1 Method (or any program with an integrated model) we change the paradigm by offering family members individual clinical services and support from the start. The integrated approach is designed to simultaneously address all your problems. That includes exploring what is happening in the family system, including communication issues and relationship dynamics. We offer loved ones 1-on-1 family sessions, couples counseling, and ongoing support post-treatment for one year. Learn more about our Family Services.
Comprehensive Diagnosis Review
A portion of every integrated model is dedicated to determining a substantiated diagnosis. Studies have shown that 88% of people seeking a second opinion receive a new or refined diagnosis. 1 Method recognizes that effective treatment depends on identifying the correct problem and making an accurate diagnosis. Thus, we coordinate a multidisciplinary team of experts to review your diagnostic history as it relates to mental and behavioral health. This is a critical component of the integrated approach and paramount to your success.
The Biopsychosocial Assessment
The “biopsychosocial model” is a time-tested approach to assessment that combines biological, psychological, and social factors that are interconnected aspects of your mental and physical health. Different from the biomedical approach, this more holistic point of view recognizes that you have unique thoughts, feelings, and a personal history that is distinctive to you. This evaluation is also an essential component in the integrated model of care. But just because a rehab provides biopsychosocial assessment does not always mean it offers an integrated model of care. To find out if a program is using an integrated model you must ask the right questions.
Mental Health Evaluation
To keep your care focused and on the right track, ongoing mental health evaluations are a requirement in the integrated model. Things change day-to-day (if not more quickly) during early recovery. What seems like depression on any given day may present or look like anxiety the next. This is particularly true if you are in need of medical detoxification. From the standpoint of brain chemistry, things are going to be all over the map for a while. Mental health evaluations are important check-in points that determine progress or refine your customized treatment plan to ensure you’re getting the right types of services.
Substantiated Diagnosis
We begin customizing your treatment plan upon arrival at 1 Method Center. One aspect of this comprehensive process is to approximate the time frame it will likely take us to achieve a substantiated (proper) diagnosis in your particular case. This period will vary for each case, but the goal is always the same: to correctly identify the problems in order to properly treat them. A proper diagnosis evolves from the collection and understanding of data from your treatment team across various disciplines. The proper diagnosis may be the same as your previous or preliminary diagnosis; it may differ or change based on new information or subsequent assessments. A prime objective of the integrated approach is to achieve a substantiated diagnosis as efficiently and precisely as possible. Without that, there is a strong likelihood that even the best intentions of enrollment will not lead to appropriate treatment or result in long-term success.
Customized Treatment Planning
At 1 Method, we build you a unique treatment plan that integrates a range of therapeutic and medical interventions with the goal of empowering you to heal from addiction, learn how to manage your mental health symptoms, and address any personal issues that may be problematic or create obstacles. Most programs say they provide individualized treatment plans but they often lack the resources and actual services or time to deliver the goods. Therefore, it’s important to know the program features that ensure treatment planning will be customized and tailored to your needs.
Individual Therapy
1-on-1 therapy is the foundation of healing and recovery. It’s what provides you with a safe and confidential forum to discuss past experiences, current issues, changes that are occurring in life, and your goals for the future. As treatment objectives are reached based on your customized treatment plan, you and your therapist will work together to create new therapy goals and adjust the treatment plan accordingly. In this way, individual therapy is paramount to the integrated model of care. It’s a primary ingredient that ensures your treatment stays on track, is results-based and goal-oriented, and remains personalized throughout your process.
Health and Fitness Program
Probably the most overlooked aspect of a truly integrated treatment model is an emphasis on health, fitness, and nutrition, especially during your treatment. An integrated approach treats all of you so that you feel better doing the program – in your mind, body, and soul. At 1 Method, we design a customized health and fitness protocol – for you– that’s based on cutting-edge neuroscience, Applied Breathing Science, and empirical measures from the field of Integrative Biology and Physiology. The approach is as innovative as it is effective. We have certified, experienced personal trainers, strength and conditioning coaches, chiropractors, bodywork experts, meditation teachers, yoga instructors and nutritionists on staff to provide you with an elevated level of 1-on-1, holistic and fitness-based care. Shortly after your admission, we begin your Health Evaluation. Based on the results and your personal goals, our team customizes a fitness plan designed to assess your current state of physical health and fitness and to meet your needs as well as your goals. This directly correlates to your clinical treatment plan (i.e., anxiety, depression, trauma, substance abuse, etc.) and is a critical element in the integrated approach offered at 1 Method Center. Feeling good is not only a state of mind. It’s also a state of your body.
Group Therapy
The integrated approach is comprised of a myriad of group modalities that may cover and include everything from education about mental health or specific conditions, to excursions (like hiking or surfing) with certified instructors. There are many different types of groups that may be a part of an integrated treatment program: SMART, Refuge, and 12-Step groups and other groups that focus on a specific aspect of addiction; support groups for people who share the same mental health issues, groups about dual diagnosis or geared to education about neurochemistry – even groups that help participants deal with a commonly shared life issue (e.g., parenting, legal problems, job seeking, etc.). Although the styles are as varied as the topics are endless, one thing is certain: the integrated model will always include group approaches.
Family Recovery Toolkits
Working together with loved ones to rebuild relationships that were damaged during active addiction and untreated mental health symptoms can play a significant role during treatment, especially if you’re planning on returning home to live with family after your stay at 1 Method. To that end, the integrated approach includes exclusive resources that empower family members to gain their own systems of support while you’re in residential or outpatient care. This helps loved ones to begin healing, better understand one another and encourages all members to learn and apply positive communication skills. Although related, these resources are distinct from family therapy and focus solely on teaching loved ones how to engage with the process of recovery firsthand.
Couples Therapy and Counseling
When married or in a serious relationship, engaging in couples work during treatment can be very important. The behaviors and attitudes corresponding to addiction and mental health issues can heavily impact every relationship. Therefore, a strong integrated clinical approach includes concurrent support for those impacted up to the point of enrollment at a treatment center.
An effective couple’s treatment process will attempt to change the way partners behave with each other. Couples need to feel confident that their partners are not engaging in ongoing behaviors or actions that can cause physical, psychological, or economic harm. Regardless of whether the issues are related to addiction or mental health problems, even the healthiest relationships are challenging for everyone and require attention and care. One aspect that makes them confusing is sorting out how partners truly feel about one another. Upon arrival at 1 Method, that question can be a loaded one that comes with surprising and sometimes painful answers.
Some couples engage in counseling knowing they both want to stay together and work on issues, but others come in unsure about whether they (or their partner) want to stay or call it quits. Despite the obvious difficulty, there’s no better time than the present to address these issues and questions. Throughout your stay, our program therapists can help you and your partner begin to explore emotions and honestly convey thoughts you haven’t been expressing to each other. Regardless of your personal intentions, it’s important to work towards forgiveness, even if that means separating with love. This is the foundation for true intimacy, embodied in the practice of the Three C’s: closeness, communication, and commitment. Each is critical not just for the health of your relationship – they also strengthen the foundation required to recover and heal from addiction and mental illness.
Throughout this 1-on-1 therapeutic process, our mission is to help you and your significant other see your relationship clearly in a more objective manner. It’s critical to stop the “blame game” and for each person to start taking responsibility for their part in the dysfunction of the relationship. From this standpoint, getting treatment may prove to be the best thing that’s happened in your relationship for a long time.
Couples counseling is healing and beneficial for any kind of romantic relationship, even when there isn’t a lot of friction, conflict, or uncertainty. If you want to do couples work during treatment make sure to ask the programs your researching if this service is included in the initial fee. Many traditional facilities charge extra if you want to do couples therapy while in rehab. At 1 Method, couples work is included in the cost of the program.
Progress and Case Review
Any legitimate model of integrated care will adhere to the strict guidelines for evidence-based practice (EPB). We are fully committed to following these guidelines at 1 Method and this means we constantly monitor your treatment progress during your time with us. The purpose is to fine-tune your plan of care and help you stay on track. Your clinical plan includes specific goals that relate to treating your unique issues. These are ‘target objectives’ and achieving them is considered paramount to healing and recovery. A primary tenant of the integrated approach (and any evidence-based practice) is to attach a timeframe to complete objectives, e.g.: 7 days to complete medical detox; 11 days to finish mental health, biopsychosocial, and medical/clinical evaluations, etc.
While in residential or outpatient care, some goals will obviously take priority over others – i.e., getting a proper diagnosis vs. choosing your new favorite color. Because your time is valuable, it’s critical to regularly review and evaluate your progress during treatment to make sure you’re on schedule to reach the most imperative milestones. This is how we calibrate your plan and make clinical recommendations. Looking at what goals you have and haven’t met ensures our suggestions are evidence-based because the results are factual and based on quantitative data. This process also helps you understand just how much you’ve accomplished and what work remains to be done in order to achieve those milestones. Your entire multidisciplinary treatment team conducts case reviews. This footprint of record provides an accurate, detailed history of your entire treatment history and progress. When completed, your therapist will advise you on what steps need to be taken to keep moving forward.
Aftercare Planning
Before leaving 1 Method, you will work with your treatment team to design a customized aftercare plan. Similar to a treatment plan, this includes a unique combination of support systems, 1-on-1 therapies, holistic measures, and all the necessary clinical, medical, and psychiatric services at your disposal to help you meet your ongoing needs and goals during and after your transition into the next phase of recovery. Within the integrated model, a comprehensive aftercare plan is considered to be of utmost importance for sustaining the progress you’ve made and ensuring you stay the course and follow a supportive, healthy path. Without aftercare, the entire process (and progress you’ve made) risks collapse. Conversely, a thorough aftercare plan (that’s followed) substantially increases the chances you will be able to recover for good.
In Summary
Integrated care is laser-focused and multi-faceted. It requires a cohesive team effort as well as attention to detail. Our founder has followed the integrated care model for well over two decades, not because it’s cheap or easy, but because it works. And to be clear, all of the programs at 1 Method include each of the attributes we defined for you here.
Learn More
Aside from integration, other aspects of our clinical approach are also endorsed by leading experts. A few that call for deeper understanding and exploration are:
Call us with any questions or send us a message. We’re here for you anytime.