Page 53 - FOP June 2019 Magazine

The Courage to Change
Is it time for you to make a major life change?
If alcohol or drugs are affecting your work, family or personal life, there is a solution.
Taking the first step toward a healthy, sober life is possible and Harborview Recovery Center is here to help.
We provide a safe, supportive environment in which you can learn to use tools to stay sober.
Experts in Addiction Medicine
Personalized Residential and Outpatient Facilities
Onsite Access to Medical Care
Ongoing Support Networks
Confidential, Caring and Dedicated to Working with Chicago’s First Responders
Harborview Recovery Center
Amita Saint Joseph Hospital Chicago •2900 N Lakeshore Dr. Chicago, IL 60657 773-665-3398: Intake – Carol Brophy • 773-665-3371: Unit – after hours and weekends
Before billeting in the 15-bed recovery unit for a stay that in- cludes individual therapy, group therapy, seminars and physi- cal activity, Harborview clients first go through detox to stabi- lize medically and psychologically. They might be dealing with anxiety, depression or bipolar disorder, which can be caused by substance abuse.
A common denominator for officers who come to Harbor- view is the reluctance to risk breaking the façade that keeps them safe at work, which they believe maintains job security and personal safety. Another is the reluctance to take account of what’s going on in their lives.
“We try to get them to understand the biology of addiction,” explains Carolyn Wott, an addiction counselor at Harborview who has been in the field for five years. “They are not bad peo- ple. There is acute evidence of brain-based reasons for why peo- ple respond to drugs and alcohol.”
Addiction is a sickness. It’s a disorder. And that’s why treat- ment starts here.
A day in the life of treatment begins at 7 a.m. and goes un- til lights out at 10:30 p.m. In between is time for meditation, yoga, mindfulness, nutrition, physical fitness, recovery studies, pet therapy, music group and seminars in “Shame Resilience,” “Pharmacology of Recovery” or “Relapse Prevention.” There is time for family programs, meeting with alumni and even game night.
As part of its treatment philosophy, Harborview deploys “mo- tivational counseling” to get clients beyond the maladies that have brought them to the facility. Motivational counseling is in- tended to get them past thinking about the loss of their job or even legal problems and get them in touch with what’s possible.
“It’s finding out what values a person has and bringing that to the surface,” Dr. Baldinger reasons. “They have to find out why
being sober matters to them.”
Consequently, treatment is intense to get through and into a
police-related aftercare program in conjunction with the pro- fessional counseling division of the Department’s Employee Assistance Program. Officers can expect to be focused more on front-end treatment at Harborview and to talk about things that are very difficult.
“It becomes a very important part of the healing process by giving patients a feeling of being heard,” Pinkston adds. “We take a lot of pride in the respect and dignity given to the pa- tients.”
Officers who are sick and tired of being sick and tired have to be willing to open up and be honest about what’s going on. That is the biggest barrier to getting well and staying well.
“We want this to be an environment where people can let down their guard and see the human side of themselves,” de- clares Andrew Rintels, an addiction counselor who has been in the field for seven years. “We try to create a therapeutic alliance to build trust to talk about things that patients are not always forthright about.”
When clients achieve that alliance, they tend to wake up emotionally. That’s the change that takes place here and what Pinkston says makes it worth getting out of bed every morning to come to Harborview. Wott suggests that it would be interest- ing to take a video of clients when they are admitted and show it to them upon discharge so they can see the change that has taken place.
“Every day I ask myself, ‘Why do I do this?’ And every day I remind myself that you can help people change,” Dr. Baldinger offers. “If you can meet the challenge of getting people who are resistant to open up, not only are those people healed but entire family systems and social systems are rescued around them.”
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