Debunking Misconceptions and Treating PSB

www.santecenter.com

April 2021

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Integrity + Efficacy

When we founded Santé 25 years ago, we had a piercing vision to defy norms and create a better way to provide and achieve long-term recovery. This included individually crafted and customized addiction treatment experiences, unmatched compassion and impeccable care. Santé was an answer to the urgency accompanying the raging fire of the chronic and progressive disease of addiction and its many forms; inarguably we were an intentional push back against the managed care fiasco of the day. In today’s business nomenclature and hashtags, they call that being a spark plug, an instigator, a market disruptor. Back then, we called it integrity armed with focus, principles and clinical acumen. We still do.

Our maverick spirit of 1996 rallied around the ideas that treatment does work, that everyone deserves to be treated with dignity and that Santé’s clinical prowess could make a long-term difference in countless lives, even those with complex issues. As our same two families still own the company in 2021, these values and our DNA of integrity continues to show up in every part of our privileged work.

Trend-Proof Treatment

All clinical staff, even in those early years, are trained in trauma resolution techniques such as EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing), motivational enhancement therapy and Dialectical Behavior Therapy. We set the standard that long-term care is the best model to reduce recidivism and individualized treatment is the most efficacious. With a vision to work with the most difficult dual-diagnosis milieu, we intentionally only brought on Master’s or Doctoral level clinicians to work with our patient population and their family members. Our dedicated Intake and Admissions team, comprised of Masters level clinicians, were and are available at any time; this is not a call center. In addition to customizing each individual’s treatment plan, implementing trauma resolution treatment, and utilizing the most effective therapeutic modalities, we also rigorously included family education and intensive family therapy as part of our patient’s holistic therapeutic experience.

Please click here or below to read the entire letter from Co-Founder, Co-Owner M. Deborah Corley, PhD, LMFT, LCDC, LSOPT, CSAT, CMAT and Co-Owner George W. Straw, Jr.

Read the Full Article

Santé's Chief Operating Officer Sam R. Slaton, MEd, LPC-S, MBA, MHSM

and Medical Director Melissa Pennington, D.O., FASAM, CEDS were recently interviewed by Jeff Crilley for The Jeff Crilley Show.

Click here or below to watch the interview. Learn more about Santé and about what sets us apart.

Watch the Jeff Crilley Interview

Problematic sexual behavior is an ongoing, uncontrollable pattern of sexual thoughts and behaviors that prove problematic in a person’s life. This particular form of addiction or compulsive behavior is often misunderstood. Sensationalized or worst-case scenarios may make headlines – but are not the norm. Though “sex addiction” may be the more known name, there is a spectrum of clinical issues; to more accurately include everything under the umbrella, the term problematic sexual behavior (PSB) is used. If unaddressed, PSB can progressively get worse over time.

"Sexual behavior is so ingrained with who we are as human beings,” says Avery Rowles, MA, LPC, CSAT, Clinical Director at Santé Center for Healing. Avery considers it a privilege to walk alongside clients struggling with PSB. “If something is awry then we get to be part of their integration back to humanity. You get the essence of who the person is if they allow you in there. It is a beautiful thing to witness when somebody comes back to themselves. It is not about the sex but about where their soul went amiss.”

When is it a problem?

“Sexual behavior can become problematic based on factors such as pathology, co-occurring disorders, relationship conflicts, values conflicts, and health issues,” says Richard Blankenship, LPC, NCC, CPCS, CBTS, CPSBT. “It doesn’t have to be pathological or have a diagnosis to be problematic.” Blankenship serves on the board of directors for the Society for the Advancement of Sexual Health.

Signs that sexual behavior is becoming problematic include:

Preoccupation to the point of obsession for hours, even days.
Loss of control over sexual urges, thoughts or behaviors.
Negative consequences like problems at work and relationships or emotional decline.

Read the Full Article

Avery Rowles, MA, LPC, CSAT

Clinical Director

With Santé Center for Healing since 2016

Avery’s Passion for PSB & Sexual Health

Avery is the Clinical Director for Santé. She leads a dynamic, multi-disciplinary team that work hands-on with chemical dependency, process addictions, and co-occurring mental disorders. After spending the majority of career in addiction treatment, both as direct care provider and building teams in her role as director, she understands that treatment lies in utilizing the most up-to-date research and best practices to combat this deadly disease.

Avery specializes in Problematic Sexual Behavior (PSB) in women as they relate to chemical dependency. Problematic Sexual Behavior is an ongoing, uncontrollable pattern of sexual thoughts and behaviors that prove problematic in a person’s life. This particular form of addiction or compulsive behavior is often misunderstood.

The foundation for her passion starts with believing in the process of therapy. And as it relates to PSB Avery knows that this work takes you down to the root of somebody’s trauma, their attachment injury. Being able to work with people in a very deep psycho-dynamic level is a passion, healing those big wounds.

The fact that PSB is frequently judged and people (general population, those suffering, and even clinical professionals) shy away from it, Avery runs toward that which is so misunderstood. The work is not easy, but she shared what keeps her going, “It’s a spiritual experience to be in a therapeutic relationship with somebody who comes back to life. This work is really bringing people back to life.”

Click here for more information on PSB and treatment at Santé.

Courage to Look Within

It doesn’t have to be rational... so few things are with individuals suffering from substance use disorders. Otherwise, it would be easy to simply “just stop.” In active addiction, destructive paths are consistent. Needs of others aren’t considered. Relationships are non-existent, or strained to capacity at best. Addiction has the power to destroy.

It’s been called “the ritual of forgetting oneself.” Isolation. Drug use. Overpowering and destructive behaviors. Disconnection from emotion and feelings.

But then there is COURAGE. Courage to want something different.

Courage to stop long enough and in the stillness take personal moral inventory. To take a truthful and long look within yourself to identify negative thoughts, unflattering truths and personality traits to allow for growth and self-improvement. Courage to find another way. Courage to ask for help, reach out for help, and find help. Courage to be vulnerable with solid support systems (that perhaps you feel as though you don’t deserve) or sponsors who share hope, health and healing right where you are. Daily courage, effective treatment, recovery-supportive environments, relapse prevention plans and one day at a time… the courage evolves into a refusal to ever go back to devastating behaviors, choices and consequences.

And it all starts with a moment of courage…

Santé proudly awards The Rip Corley & Santé Center for Healing Scholarship to Jared Gerlach.

The Rip Corley & Santé Center for Healing Scholarship

in memory of Santé’s co-founder Rip Corley, LMSW, RN. This It is awarded to individuals in recovery from addiction for at least two years, having completed at least one year in college and pursuing an undergraduate degree from an accredited college and/or university.

Jared is from Boerne, TX. He is pursuing a degree in Business Administration at the University of Texas at Dallas. Jared shared, "Considering the peaks and valleys of my life, I can confidently state that I have never been stronger or more equipped to handle life on life's terms. This statement brings us to the recovery advantage. Experiential knowledge obtained through hard-fought lessons and bumps on the head is arguably the most effective. I know where bad choices lead to experientially and not merely in theory. I have also spent countless hours gleaning from the wisdom of those who have gone before and carry the physical and emotional scars to prove it....Learning how to make amends and seek forgiveness from God and others that we have wronged (vertically and horizontally) gives us power over our mistakes and lays a foundation of growth and certainty moving forward in life."

April 27, 2021

Alumni Online All Inclusive Recovery Meeting at 9 PM CDT

May 4, 2021

Alumni Online All Inclusive Recovery Meeting at 9 PM CDT

May 7, 2021

SIPER CE Event - 2 CE Hours (1 Hour of Ethics)

11:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m. CST via Zoom

"Assessing, Treating Binge and Ethical Considerations for treating Binge Eating Disorder (BED)" presented by Cherie Miller, MS, LPC

Click here to register

May 11, 2021

Alumni Online All Inclusive Recovery Meeting at 9 PM CDT

May 18, 2021

Alumni Online All Inclusive Recovery Meeting at 9 PM CDT

May 25, 2021

Alumni Online All Inclusive Recovery Meeting at 9 PM CDT

You are mission-inspired and results-driven. You chose your profession and calling for all the right reasons. Your work helps people in their most hidden and painful problems every day.

The importance of your work is underscored by how incredibly hard it is. Any given day might bring massive challenges with your clients or patients. Who else is in it for all the right reasons? Who can you trust to work alongside you, providing evidence-based and trauma-resolution care? Who provides the best opportunity for long-term recovery?

Google provides 350,000,000 results when searching “addiction treatment.” This is an overwhelming number of options that you can ascertain for quality, but can your clients or patients?

They look to you to:

Distinguish clinical experience and expertise from nonessential amenities and impersonal call centers;
Connect them to higher levels of care ready for the increasing complexity of their problems and to discover and begin to heal from the root issues underneath, therefore decreasing the likelihood of relapse;
Recognize other facilities may dress the part but lack integrity.

They look to you. And you look to Santé Center for Healing for expertise, integrity and long-term recovery…for all the right reasons.

Santé Center for Healing: What We Treat…

https://www.santecenter.com/miracles-happen-on-the-hill-flipbook/

Santé Center for Healing: Continuum of Care... https://www.santecenter.com/continuum-of-care-flipbook/

When you submit the "Santé Connections" form, your information is accessible to Santé's intake counselors, aftercare coordinator, and family therapists for referral purposes.

Santé provides quality care and programs for long-term recovery. If there is anything we can do to improve, please reach out to us. When you reflect on our continued collaboration and/or our shared clients who are doing well, share the experience on Facebook or Google.