Choosing Your Inpatient Program
No one facility works for every individual. Most facilities are oriented for one specific gender or for a particular drug of choice. LIME Tree isn't right for everyone, but if you're unsure, these are some questions to ask.
Care Elements
What Type of Care
Do YOU Need?
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Spirituality?
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Evidence Based Practices?
Most facilities should use at least some evidence based practices. Look at the program to determine how much research supports it.
A spiritual component has been shown to produce better results too, but it's not for everyone.
LIME Tree incorperates both spiritual and evidence based practices. All Recovery Lighthouse programs are based on the Matrix IOP, a model with over 30 years of evidence to support it.
21 days is the minimum standard.
90 days is the standard maximum.
Some programs extend for 6 months or more. It's up to you to determine what you need. It's also important to ensure that aftercare is provided. After leaving an inpatient facility, many people lose faith and relapse due to a lack of significant aftercare.
After their 30 day stay at LIME Tree, graduates can transition easily into the Recovery Lighthouse Matrix Intensive Outpatient Program.
Program Duration
How long is the program?
What aftercare is offered?
The Ratio
How many clients is each counselor assigned?
If the answer is 4-8, then it is probably a good program.
Another question to ask is if there 24 hour supervision.
This is probably one of the most significant areas to question. This ratio determines the level of individualized care provided. A high ratio means that each counselor has less time to spend per client, and can thus provide less of an individualized approach.
LIME Tree has one full time staff member, a night manager, and only eight beds. This means that we can provide highly individualized care, and staff is on duty 24 hours every day.
It's an important consideration. Not everyone can afford an $80,000 program. Some factors that may play a role are listed below.
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Insurance
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Income level
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Insurances accepted
Recovery Lighthouse operates under the Access To Recovery (ATR) grant, so eligible clients (female Missouri residents with a history of substance abuse) pay nothing out of pocket. Even the meals are included.
Some programs are extremely removed from the stresses of life. It is important to consider what type of environment you are looking for because the reality is this: life is stressful. While giving the clients the ability to focus on themselves is important, we believe teaching them to manage the stresses of life is important too.
Women in LIME Tree are responsible for their chores - helping clean, cook, do their own laundry, and doing homework - and being responsible for their own schedules.
Do clients have self-care time?
Are there passes off campus?
Questions like these often determine what programs won't work for a client. Many programs don't permit clients to leave the facility.
We want to prepare our clients for the real world. They learn to manage their time and prioritize tasks that are important to their recovery. They are also usually permitted time off the property once they have completed a probationary period.
Life
What's the program like?
Environment
How realistic is the program?
The Cost
Be realistic.