The Benefits of an “In Vivo Treatment” Experience at Sunset House

When most people in the United States think of addiction treatment, they often think of the “28-day” inpatient treatment model”. While this component of the treatment process is beneficial and is often a necessary step for one to begin their journey towards long term sobriety, learning how to maintain sobriety in the “real world” is a crucial and necessary step towards freedom from addiction. The Extended Care model of treatment is a valuable and yet underutilized level of service that offers individuals an opportunity to develop recovery skills while simultaneously improving the daily living and coping skills needed to develop a healthier self-concept.

Recent Behavioral Health Studies have indicated the inverse correlation between length of time in sobriety and rates of relapse meaning, the longer one stays sober, the less chance for a relapse in the future. If this is true, why does the rate of clients with multiple treatment attempts continue to rise? Often, clients are willing to enter treatment at higher levels of care ( Detox, Residential and Partial Hospitalization) that offer short-term solutions in controlled environments. The desire or perceived need to resume normal activities such as obligations to families, friends, and employers often influences clients to not follow recommendations for continued treatment at lower levels of care. Simply, clients do not allow for the experience of continuing to pursue their sobriety formally while at the same time re-integrating into activities of daily living. The lack of preparedness and accompanying inability to apply the coping skills needed to navigate the complexities of employment, family obligations, and sobriety often contribute to emotional overload and relapse.

“In Vivo” treatment is a clinical approach that allows for the concurrent development of a lifestyle of recovery along with the potential for improved self-efficacy via real-world application of coping skills during a treatment episode. Over the past 25 years, Sunset House has offered our clients the opportunity to develop the relapse prevention and coping skills needed to maintain sobriety in a real-world setting. Clients at Sunset House are required to pursue/maintain employment, learn how / resume personal budgeting, and develop community-based sober support while at the same time living in a sober environment and processing feelings in both groups and individual sessions. Clients are offered the opportunity to explore, process, and share feelings associated with their experiences functioning in society in an environment that offers peer identification and support from an experienced clinical staff over a four (4) to six (6) month period. During this protracted amount of time, the clinical staff is able to assist clients in identifying their own cognitive distortions, fears of perceived incapability, and potential for self-sabotaging behaviors. Through navigating and successfully overcoming obstacles, our clients improve self-esteem, feelings of capability, and can establish a sustainable independent lifestyle of recovery.

About the Author:

Frank Galimidi CASAC, CAP, CRADC, ICADC, NCAC-II, SAP, Program Director Sunset House Inc.

Frank is a Florida Certified Addictions Professional (CAP), New York State Credentialed Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Counselor (CASAC), Illinois Certified Reciprocal Alcohol and Other Drug Abuse Counselor (CRADC), an Internationally Certified Alcohol and Drug Counselor (ICADC), and has a Bachelor's of Science in Psychology from Nova Southeastern University.

Frank is also a US Department of Transportation Substance Abuse Professional (SAP) and has worked in the chemical dependency field for the last 17 years. Frank can be contacted at fgalimidi@sunsetrecovery.org