GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — With the ongoing opioid crisis, the fight to stem substance addiction of all kinds is taking new forms.
"It's very needed. Fifteen million people struggle with alcohol; 2 million people are addicted to heroin or opiates. There just isn't enough treatment as a whole across the country never mind Michigan," said Rae Green, president and managing member at Sanford House Addiction Treatment Centers.
Sanford's newest treatment center is an intensive outpatient program. Green says addiction is a very complicated disease.
"The treatment methods need to adapt to those very complicated situations," said Green.
This treatment involves individual, group and family work. It also generally includes three-hourslong sessions three times a week, allowing the patient to keep their job and responsibilities at home.
"From the beginning of the six weeks to the end, you literally see their brain healing," said Natalie Sernick, a limited licensed master social worker and intensive outpatient therapist at Sanford's newest facility.
Sernick knows outpatient therapy isn't a good fit for everyone, but can it can lead to success for some.
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