If you’re struggling with thoughts of suicide, PLEASE call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 1-800-273-TALK (8255).
Veterans need our help. Riverside Recovery’s VALOR program specializes in treating veterans who are struggling with addiction and mental health issues.
Riverside Recovery is a comprehensive recovery treatment center serving people struggling with addiction and co-occurring mental health issues. We offer multiple different treatment programs designed specifically to meet the needs of people battling these debilitating illnesses. One of the programs we’re proud to offer is VALOR, a specialized treatment program dedicated to helping military veterans receive the full spectrum of care needed upon returning home from active duty. Their needs are unique and specific to their experience, and we are committed to making sure they receive the support they need.
Veterans return home with a whole host of complex issues pertaining to addiction and mental illness. Many suffer from acute, debilitating cases of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), depression, anxiety, and other mental health issues. Some veterans might leave home with existing substance abuse issues and mental illnesses that are compounded by their experience in the military, while others might develop entirely new cases while serving. Veterans have experienced years of trauma, violence, destabilization, and fear. They might come home suffering from flashbacks, nightmares, insomnia, panic attacks, mood swings, and suicidal thoughts and behaviors. They might struggle with memory problems, relationship issues, or have trouble concentrating. Finding or maintaining employment might prove difficult upon returning home. They might be filled with feelings of hopelessness and despair.
Some veterans have experienced combat-related PTSD, which, like all of these issues, calls for specialized treatment programs tailored to their unique experiences. We specialize in helping veterans heal from substance abuse issues, with trauma healing being a critical component of their recovery. Our offerings include military-specific process groups that allow everyone to share their experiences in a private, confidential setting that is both supportive and nurturing. We work with veterans on learning important coping strategies, both in their daily lives with life skills development and with their emotional coping skills through psychotherapy sessions and other forms of therapy. We help veterans learn to express their thoughts and feelings with expressive art therapies and we prepare them for their post-treatment life with extensive relapse prevention education.
Furthermore, we help veterans heal their fractured and wounded family relationships with specialized family programs that allow veterans and their families to work together towards recovery. As is the case with many addicts, veterans’ struggles with addiction can affect their family units as much just as much as the veterans themselves. When veterans return home, family members are often shocked and overwhelmed to find their loved ones drastically altered. They fear the mental and emotional damage might be irreversible and irreparable. They worry for their loved ones’ safety, especially if they are self-harming, deeply depressed, or showing other signs of distress. They often don’t know where to turn, simply because they’re unfamiliar with issues around addiction, mental health, and recovery. The families of veterans need support in their recovery as well, and Riverside Recovery’s VALOR treatment programs include them in the recovery process, leading to important healing for everyone involved.
The opioid epidemic is the deadliest in U.S. history, with veterans at increased risk for developing opioid dependence and abuse issues. Veterans are twice as likely to die from opioid-related deaths as are civilians, but the numbers are growing exponentially for both demographics. We’re seeing numbers rise across the country, in large cities and rural towns, with everyone from young people in early adolescence experimenting for the first time to grandparents whose substance abuse issues with other drugs go back many years. Many veterans become dependent after being prescribed opioids for pain management due to injuries they sustained during active duty. Others are looking for ways to numb their mental and emotional issues that can emerge from being exposed to active combat, from being deployed multiple times, and from being separated from their homes and families for extended periods of time. Others are struggling with paralyzing mental health conditions that are understandably triggered and/or caused by the horrors of combat. Many are suffering from a combination of multiple factors, and for many veterans, these addiction and mental health issues are problems they’ve never shared with others. Perhaps these are issues that they don’t feel comfortable disclosing or seeking help for, and that they don’t fully understand themselves.
We are thrilled to announce that Riverside Recovery will be featured in the docuseries “Addiction Unplugged” premiering on A&E on Sunday, August 17th at 1 pm ET and airing additionally on A&E’s sister network FYI. The series will highlight the opioid epidemic and will profile the many people struggling with addiction, along with their families and loved ones whose lives have been seriously and adversely impacted. The docuseries will also profile different individuals, organizations and communities that are working to save lives and put a stop to the epidemic. We are proud to be featured in this series that profiles not only the struggles we go through as recovering addicts but also our stories of hope, redemption, courage, and triumph. It’s so important that we continue these critical conversations around addiction and mental health so that people feel safe seeking much-needed support, so that they stop isolating themselves and suffering in silence, and so that everyone who is struggling feels inspired and compelled to reach out for help.
Riverside Recovery is committed to helping you get back the life you love. Our treatment programs include multiple forms of therapy, family workshops, and mindfulness-based relapse prevention education. Call (800) 871-5440 for more information.