Providing Pathways to Stability and Success with Navigation Services

Our Community Navigators are helping clients access the services they need to achieve their personal goals.

For more than 75 years, The Council on Recovery has served as the place to start for anyone impacted by addiction and co-occurring mental health disorders. We understand that we alone cannot prevent and treat substance use disorders, and have worked to form strategic partnerships with treatment centers, hospitals, schools, and other community services to progress our mission. The Council is proud to now officially provide Navigation services, in collaboration with United Way of Greater Houston, to help people navigate this network of resources and access the services they need to begin and sustain a life in recovery.

When someone is struggling with substance use disorders and potentially related issues like financial hardship, unemployment, lack of transportation, and homelessness, the road to stability can be long and confusing. For some, barriers such as shame and stigma, cost, lack of insurance, and simply being unaware of the resources available to our community can make stability seem impossible. Our navigators can help clients break through these barriers.

 United Way Community Navigators are coaches and personal guides who work one-on-one with individuals and families, helping them create their own personalized journey to financial stability and access services along the way. Community Navigators make important connections and referrals to services and help address potential obstacles.

Navigation services

Our Community Navigators are already changing lives.

When Rossana Ishee, MSW, LCDC-I, CHW, reached out to one of the clients participating in our Discovering Choices outpatient treatment program, he immediately expressed interest in our Navigation Services. In addition to client-centered coaching, Rossana was able to provide him bus passes, referrals to other agencies such as credit unions and health care, and teach SMART goal setting and evidence-based breathing techniques.

This client has not only successfully graduated from Discovering Choices, but is strong in his sobriety. He has also since received HVAC certification training, is employed full-time, attends classes at Houston Community College, and is working on his goal to get his own transportation!

To learn more about United Way Community Navigators, click here. If you or someone you love is impacted by addiction or another mental health disorder, or is in recovery and might benefit from Navigation Services, contact us today.

The Intersection of Eating Disorders & Substance Use Disorders

Eating disorders and substance use disorders share a significant overlap with each illness impacting the other. This presentation will review the areas of crossover between eating disorders and substance use disorders, as well as what distinguishes one from the other. Treatment strategies for comorbid presentations and interventions for emerging cases will be examined.

About the presenter: Dr. Catherine Ruscitti, PsyD, CEDS is a licensed clinical psychologist, a Certified Eating Disorder Specialist, and the Clinical Director at Eating Recovery Center of Houston. She is also the author of The Anorexia Recovery Skills Workbook: A Comprehensive Guide to Cope with Difficult Emotions, Embrace Self-Acceptance and Prevent Relapse.

The Council and Recenter Partner to Expand Access to Addiction Treatment Services

The Council on Recovery is excited to announce that we are providing our Discovering Choices outpatient treatment program at Recenter’s campus in the heart of Houston! This partnership will expand access to world-class addiction treatment services to those who most need them.

What is it?

Discovering Choices is The Council’s outpatient addiction treatment program that serves individuals who may not have the financial resources to afford them. Our dedicated, licensed staff conducts an assessment of all clients to gather information regarding the severity of use and how it has impacted daily functioning, in order to develop an appropriate treatment plan. Treatment will include individual counseling, process groups and psychoeducation.

Recenter is a nonprofit organization that provides programs and services to help individuals who are predominantly homeless recover from substance use disorders.

Who does this program serve?

Anyone over the age of eighteen and who meets financial and diagnosis criteria can receive these addiction treatment services. They do not have to be a current client at The Council or Recenter. For more information or to inquire about eligibility, please call 713-942-4100, and select option 3.

Why is it needed?

The cost of addiction treatment often prevents people struggling with substance use disorders and co-occurring mental health conditions from getting the help they need to live a life in recovery. Discovering Choices is provided at no cost to those who are eligible. While The Council currently provides this program virtually, providing it in-person at Recenter will benefit those who prefer in-person interaction with treatment providers and peers. People who also do not have their own means of transportation could also easily get to campus, as it is on a Metro rail line and bus route.

If yourself, a loved one, or a client/patient is struggling with substance use, contact us today through our website or by calling 713-942-4100, option 3. Click here to view and download the flyer for this program.

Grief and Addiction

This blog post is contributed by Lori Fiester, LCSW-S, ADS, CIP, CDWF, Clinical Director of The Council on Recovery

Grief is an often overlooked feeling in clients who are on the path of recovery. Research indicates unresolved grief can lead to addiction as the person searches to numb the feeling associated with grief.  If a person doesn’t have the coping tools to deal with the grief, they may search for a drug to decrease the negative feelings.

What is grief?

Grief is the natural reaction to loss. Grief is both a universal and a personal experience. Individual experiences of grief vary and are influenced by the nature of the loss. Some examples of loss include the death of a loved one, the ending of an important relationship, job loss, loss through theft, or the loss of independence through disability. 

When I think about grief in recovery, it’s often compared to an ending of an important relationship.  Substance use or other risky behaviors become our best friend or our lover. They are with us during the best and worst of times.  So when we start the journey of recovery, it’s important to deal with the feeling or we will find further issues down the road.  Grief is what you feel, mourning is what you do.  Grief can pass more quickly for those who are experiencing it if they take active steps to mourn the loss.

woman in grief

How do we deal with grief?

It’s been thought previously that if one is grieving, then they have to go through all the stages of grief, which are denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance.  What we have seen over the years is that grief is not a linear process. Those stages can happen at any time, and can and will be different for each individual. Grief can include sadness, depression, anger, fatigue, anxiety, isolation, increased irritability, numbness, not sleeping or oversleeping, digestive issues and headaches.   

If you are struggling with grief and addiction, it is essential to ask for help.  The Council can be that first step in this process.  And if we can’t help you, we can connect you to someone who can. Contact us today through our website, or by calling us at (713) 914-0556.

The Origins of Co-Occurring Disorders

This blog post is contributed by Izzie Karohl, NREMT, Policy Research Intern

SAMHSA’s 2020 National Survey of Drug Use and Health estimates that 45% of adults with a substance use disorder also have a co-occurring mental health condition. Because people with mental health conditions make up such a large portion of folks who seek substance use disorder treatment, it’s important to understand the complex relationship between the two co-occurring disorders.

This is the first blog post in a series that discusses current approaches to treating co-occurring disorders. But before we talk about treatment, we should start with one, deceptively simple question: why is the rate of co-occurring disorders so high in the first place? This blog post addresses the three most popular theories–the self-medication theory, the gene variants theory, and the kindling effect theory.

Self-Medication 

Drinking to cope with the distress of an underlying mental health disorder is self-medication. Sometimes, people develop a substance use disorder because the effects of drugs and alcohol alleviate symptoms of PTSD, bipolar disorder, depression, and/or anxiety, just to name a few. Part of recovery is learning how to cope with distress, and this can include symptoms of mental illness. However, it’s important that clinicians identify mental illness as an independent disorder so that the client receives appropriate psychiatric care. 

woman with co-occurring disorders

Gene Variants 

Numerous studies have demonstrated that substance use disorders and mental health disorders run in biological families. The gene variants theory proposes that specific genes linked to substance use disorders are also linked to mental health disorders. For example, you may have heard that people with untreated ADHD are more likely to develop a substance use disorder. The gene variants theory hypothesizes that genetic mutations which result in more hyperactive, impulsive, and reward-driven brains (ADHD) are also mutations that make brains more vulnerable to substance use disorders. Currently, scientists are identifying these specific mutations to create a “genetic risk factor” score that may be able to predict who is more likely to develop co-occurring disorders based on their DNA sequence. 

Kindling Effect 

When trying to start a fire, having one plank of wood only goes so far. But if you add lighter fluid and small sticks around the plank, the likelihood of a blazing flame skyrockets. That’s the basis of the kindling theory. Having an initial mental disorder, whether psychiatric or substance use, changes the neural pathways in the brain: strengthening some, lessening others, and making some more sensitive. These changes add kindling, making it more likely that a future stressor or behavior results in a secondary disorder. Unlike the gene theory that locates risk within one’s DNA, the kindling effect states that the progression of one disease and its changes to the brain are what make it more vulnerable to a second disorder. The kindling effect points to the importance of early intervention to prevent secondary disorder development.

None of these theories are ultimately “right” or “wrong.” Rather, each of them help to explain the various ways co-occurring disorders may develop. It could be that a person is (a) genetically predisposed to both disorders, (b) develops a psychiatric disorder early on and progresses, which increases the vulnerability to developing a substance use disorder and (c) copes with the first disorder by self-medicating. But no matter how a person’s co-occurring disorder came to be, there is effective treatment for both. People can and do recover from co-occurring disorders.

Read more about co-occurring disorders here.

Combatting the Stigma of Addiction

We have understood addiction to be a disease for nearly a century, yet shame and stigma continue to keep people from seeking treatment and support. This has always been the case, but skyrocketing overdose deaths, substance abuse, and suicide rates both locally and nationwide renew a sense of urgency in our mission to combat false narratives, beliefs and assumptions around this chronic disease. This is the first in a blog series exploring the many facets of stigma that perpetuate addiction. Before we dive in, it is important to start with the basics:

Addiction is a disease.

Contrary to the belief that addiction is an individual moral failing, addiction is a complex, chronic disease that changes the chemical balance of the reward center of the brain. It is caused by a combination of biological, environmental, and developmental factors, and according to the American Psychological Association, about half the risk for addiction is genetic. Long-term substance use can also change the parts of the brain that affect learning, judgement, decision making, self-control and memory.

Addiction is treatable. Recovery is possible.

There is not a cure to addiction, but it can be treated and managed. In fact, a study published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Institute on Drug Abuse found that 3 out of 4 people who experienced addiction went on to recover.

Recovery is a process of change through which individuals improve their health and wellness, live self-directed lives and strive to reach their full potential. Recovery from substance use disorders looks different for each individual and can consist of pharmacological, social and psychological treatment. Regardless of the route taken, we want people struggling with substances to know that a life in recovery can be joyous, fulfilling and whole.

Everyone is worthy of recovery.

We believe everyone is deserving of a chance to live a life of recovery, regardless of the path that brought them to our doorstep. Anyone who comes to us for help is welcomed with the respect and compassion they need to feel safe enough to begin this vulnerable process of healing and renewal.

If you, a loved one, or a patient is struggling with substance use, contact us today to inquire about treatment options.