preview

Friends of Youth and Lakeside Milam Recovery Centers Essay

Best Essays

Summary My internship, Friends of Youth, is closely connected with Lakeside Milam Recovery Centers and I therefore decided that would be a great place to learn more about incase I needed to refer any of my clients to them. In order to gain more information about Lakeside Milam I spoke with the administrator, Dan Labuda and the director of the inpatient facility in Burien, Mary Fredrickson. Dan provided me information about Lakeside Milam as a whole, while Mary gave me an intake look at inpatient treatment and gave me a tour of Lakeside Milam. The first thing I realized during my tour was that I was really uncomfortable. Mary explained that the inpatient facility we were touring which houses male and female adolescents and young women was …show more content…

Fisher and Harrison (2009), explain that inpatient treatment is positive for social interactions and decreased isolation. When touring the facility the patients were spending time together showing decreased isolation between them. The patients frequently have outings to activities such as a ropes course or attending community AA or NA meetings. Lakeside Milam has 24 hour care for its patients which make it less likely that the patients will use a substance while in treatment (Fisher & Harrison, 2009). Under the least restrictive environment the patients have the right to walk out the door of the facility at any time, the doors and windows remain unlocked from the inside. According to Fisher and Harrison (2009), a least restrictive environment can have positive results. “Clients should be placed in the treatment setting that offers the least amount of restriction, with the highest probability of success” (Fisher & Harrison, p. 147). My automatic reaction when Mary told me that the patients were in a least restrictive setting was that I did not understand how that could work because I assumed the patients would leave. Though inpatient treatment has many benefits, there is a risk that the patient will relapse once back in the community because they were not prepared to face the real world (Fisher & Harrison, 2009). Treatment Approach Not only is it important to look at a drug and alcohol facilities treatment setting, but

Get Access