Thursday, January 10, 2008
Spy Games - The Treatment Center
The treatment center is a 90-day residential facility owned by Larry Smith and his wife Linda. Underneath the umbrella of STC are varied treatment programs specializing in specific addictions, such as eating disorders, depression, and sexual/chemical addictions. The program began as an extended care facility, but has since evolved into a multi-functional, highly successful rehabilitation program. The unique setting coupled with highly enviable success make STC worthy of investigation.
The program is fundamentally unique because its facilities are scattered throughout a beach community well known for wild parties. Primary care facilities for drug and alcohol treatment are usually places in remote areas and clients are restricted to the facility's grounds.
The Betty Ford Center is in the middle of a desert area surrounded by brick walls and guard gates at every entrance. Promises of Malibu is perched on top of a mountain top at the end of a long, gated driveway surrounded by thick, impenetrable shrubbery. In contrast, STC is an open facility located within the city of Newport Beach, California. Accordingly, clients can’t be confined to the grounds of the treatment center. There are no walls, no gates and no guards to keep them from leaving the city or entering the local bars and clubs. But despite this geographical spaciousness and freedom, STC is able to monitor its clients effectively.
STC is divided into individual sober-living houses along a one-mile stretch of beach front property anchored by the agora of the "Center". Each of the 80 clients must travel every day to the Center for group sessions, individual counseling, and various required activities. Throughout the 90-day rehabilitative process, the Center is the hub of the clients' re-entry therapy and discipline.
STC' title as "extended care" drug and alcohol treatment means that the length of stay is longer than other rehabilitation centers offer. For example, the Promises and The Betty Ford Center are both 28-day treatment programs, whereas STC is essentially a 90-day program. In addition, the clients enter STC after their stay at a 28-day primary care facility like Promises or Betty Ford. It should be noted that for the addict, "ninety day treatment" is a gross misnomer, and at STC, the average client stays at least six months. Many remain for over a year to ensure their recovery.
The program is fundamentally unique because its facilities are scattered throughout a beach community well known for wild parties. Primary care facilities for drug and alcohol treatment are usually places in remote areas and clients are restricted to the facility's grounds.
The Betty Ford Center is in the middle of a desert area surrounded by brick walls and guard gates at every entrance. Promises of Malibu is perched on top of a mountain top at the end of a long, gated driveway surrounded by thick, impenetrable shrubbery. In contrast, STC is an open facility located within the city of Newport Beach, California. Accordingly, clients can’t be confined to the grounds of the treatment center. There are no walls, no gates and no guards to keep them from leaving the city or entering the local bars and clubs. But despite this geographical spaciousness and freedom, STC is able to monitor its clients effectively.
STC is divided into individual sober-living houses along a one-mile stretch of beach front property anchored by the agora of the "Center". Each of the 80 clients must travel every day to the Center for group sessions, individual counseling, and various required activities. Throughout the 90-day rehabilitative process, the Center is the hub of the clients' re-entry therapy and discipline.
STC' title as "extended care" drug and alcohol treatment means that the length of stay is longer than other rehabilitation centers offer. For example, the Promises and The Betty Ford Center are both 28-day treatment programs, whereas STC is essentially a 90-day program. In addition, the clients enter STC after their stay at a 28-day primary care facility like Promises or Betty Ford. It should be noted that for the addict, "ninety day treatment" is a gross misnomer, and at STC, the average client stays at least six months. Many remain for over a year to ensure their recovery.
Labels: Spy-Games
