Today marks the beginning of National Recovery Month! Sponsored by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), this month is designed to spread awareness and understanding of mental health, substance use, and co-occurring behavioral health disorders, as well as people living and recovering from these disorders.
SAMHSA is an agency within the U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services (HHS), that advocates for advancements in behavioral health for the nation and improvements in lives of those living with mental and substance use disorders, and their families
Alvis, especially as of late, has been moving toward a behavioral healthcare model, offering billing through Medicaid and in-house psychiatry services providing medication and diagnoses. In-house services allow for better communication and higher quality service to clients from professionals who know the population of Alvis well. The current behavioral healthcare services at Alvis allow clients to receive optimal treatment in an empathetic, understanding environment.
We also have two programs primarily focusing behavioral health: Recovery Choices and the Amethyst program. Recovery Choices serves clients with past justice system involvement, as they receive transportation from halfway houses to reentry centers, where they take job training courses, receive counseling and individualized treatment plans, and have the opportunity to attain their GED, take university classes, and participate in activities with their family. The Amethyst program also offers many of the services that Recovery Choices provides, but it specifically serves women and their children, allowing them to live together on-site as they receive person-centered, trauma-informed care in a supportive setting, using evidence-based procedures.
NAADAC perhaps puts it best, when they claim that the main purpose of National Recovery Month is to celebrate “gains” that individuals with mental health or substance use disorders have made. We take this month to celebrate both small and large wins that our clients and former clients have made in taking ahold of their life and turning it around, 180 degrees for the better!
Addiction is an illness, and many times, addiction and behavioral health are co-occurring, which means that they are linked to the development of one another. Alvis has been a leader, not only in Ohio, but the entire nation, in addressing the very real pervasiveness of addiction and behavioral health disorders, as well as the need to provide resources to individuals and families affected by addiction and behavioral health disorders.
We celebrate those who have found the strength to ask for help and begin the process of changing their life for the better, as well as those (including thousands of our former clients!) who have done so.
Alvis is a nonprofit human services agency with over 50 years of experience providing highly effective treatment programs in Ohio. Our vision is that communities value a person’s potential more than their past. For more information on how Alvis can help you or to learn more about how you can get involved, contact us here.