There is a new program airing tonight on VH1 called Sober House with Celebrity Rehab‘s Dr. Drew Pinsky. The show follows Celebrity Rehab clients through the extended care, or transitional living, experience. Throughout extended care/sober living rehab history owners of rehabs have been approached by various media organizations requesting permission to document the sober living experience with cameras. Every extended care rehab I have worked at has been approached, including NTS. While the offer is always tempting, the rehabs I have worked for have always declined because we feel that the sensationalization of clients struggling with a serious addiction isn’t quite ethical. There are arguments to be made for both sides though. On the one hand it exploits a person’s personal struggles with addiction, but on the other hand it educates the public on the process of addiction and the rehab experience. With the new show Sober House the public will, for the first time, be able to see where the real work of staying sober starts. Everyone in the treatment business knows that 30 days of primary treatment is not enough for anyone. That is why every primary 30 day facility in the Nation, with the exception of a few, now offers extended care treatment. Sober living and extended care treatment is exponentially more intense and requires much more operational man power than people think. Most people think that “sober living” is just what the name implies, a residence where people who are sober live together. But, it is actually much more! Running a sober living, or transitional addiction treatment program, requires a much more experienced and savvy staff than primary treatment requires. The freedom a sober living arrangement allows makes it much harder to keep track of a client’s progress and because clients are experiencing the “real world” for the first time sober, it creates a plethora of crisis that the treatment staff have to deal with on a daily basis. So I expect Dr. Drew’s new show, Sober House, to be much more interesting than Celebrity Rehab could ever be. NTS Treatment Centers
Author
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Paul Alexander is the CEO, President & Founder of Northbound Treatment Network in Newport Beach, California. He believes wholeheartedly in transformational leadership, organizational health and effective, fully integrated substance use disorder and mental health treatment. With over 27 years of experience in behavioral healthcare, Paul has extensive knowledge of “in vivo” treatment modalities, clinical development, operations, strategy, marketing and financial planning. He has been widely recognized for his development of collegiate-based residential treatment programs for students in recovery and authored a research study at The University of California confirming this modality’s effectiveness.
Paul’s comprehensive professional experience, willingness to innovate, and emphasis on organizational health are vital factors in Northbound’s continued success. Paul received his Certified Addiction Treatment Specialist training at Saddleback College in Mission Viejo, CA, and was awarded Outstanding Alumni Service Award in 2002. Paul holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Criminology, Law and Society, Summa Cum Laude, from University of California, Irvine, and a Juris Doctorate degree from Loyola Law School of Los Angeles. Paul currently serves on The National Association of Addiction Treatment Providers (NAATP) board. In addition, he serves on The Family Recovery Foundation board and The CarePossible board in Orange County; both organizations are committed to raising funds for family recovery and treatment for former military personnel. Paul is in recovery himself and lives in Orange County with his wife Silvana and his two young sons, Noah and Dean.
