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Articles Library

About Women in Recovery and Gender-Specific Treatment

  • Relapse Prevention Solidifies Sobriety
    Relapse rates from addiction (40-60%) can be compared to those of other chronic illnesses such as Type I diabetes (30-50%), hypertension (50-70%) and asthma (50-70%). Like these other chronic illness, there is help and support – more commonly known as relapse prevention.
  • Mind-Body Therapy Study Results Revealed
    Residence XII recently participated in a research study funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse at the National Institutes of Health to assess the feasibility of delivering, and benefits of, a mind-body therapy called Mindful Awareness in Body-oriented Therapy (MABT).
  • Is There a Nurse in the House?
    Bev Mizuta knew working at Residence XII was meant to be. She has been in recovery for almost five years after completing the Residence XII inpatient program. Bev entered the program when she relapsed after 10 years in recovery from alcohol abuse.
  • Keep Coming Back to The Res for More Outpatient—It Works!
    I have the best job ever. I get to work with women at all levels of outpatient care here at Residence XII. Women completing the Intensive Outpatient Program often have questions about our other treatment programs including: “Why should I do Continuing Care?”
  • Are Women More Vulnerable to Alcohol’s Effects?
    To many, the idea that men are able to hold their liquor better than a woman is simply a cliché based on testosterone and ego. But according to extensive scientific research, it appears that this cliché is, in fact, grounded in truth.
  • Did You Know? Facts and Figures
    Did you know that about 4.5 million American women abuse alcohol and about 3.5 million American women misuse prescription drugs?
  • Gender-Specific Treatment for Women with Alcohol Dependency
    Alcoholism does not discriminate by race, culture, age, or sexual orientation. Alcoholism is a disease that robs women of their futures. It destroys families and the lives of women’s loved ones; and it robs communities of the fabric that weaves them together.
  • What Does Being Female Have to Do with It?
    Female addicts and alcoholics exhibit more depression and more suicidal tendencies than males, and report a far greater incidence of physical or sexual abuse as well a greater incidence of family substance abuse.
  • Let Violence and Addiction Yield to Safety and Recovery
    Being given the freedom to BE in a safe environment; to build a sober and clean life free of fear of recrimination, and free from physical  and/or emotional threats are primary aspects of recovery.
  • West Quality Improvement Award Winner: Integrating trauma care into substance use treatment
    Residence XII created a program that helps women with these often co-occurring problems

    (by Sharon Chambers, LICSW, CDP and Allison Kristman-Valente, BS, MSW, Behavioral Healthcare, May 2008)

    Residence XII in Kirkland, Washington, provides gender-specific substance use treatment for women. To address the high rate of women with substance use issues and co-occurring traumatic life experiences, Residence XII began its Trauma Integration Project in February 2007. Our primary objectives included integrating a trauma assessment into the intake form for our intensive outpatient program (IOP), incorporating a new trauma-related curriculum into the IOP, monitoring trauma symptoms of women engaged in the specialized curriculum, monitoring symptoms of reported substance use, and comparing discharge rates of patients pre- and postimplementation.

  • Be aware of relationship dynamics in women’s treatment
    (by Kristin Quinlan, PhD, Addiction Pro Magazine, 11/01/07)

    Across all major addiction treatment modalities—detoxification centers, residential treatment programs, and outpatient treatment with and without medication-assisted therapy—we see evidence that social support outside of treatment constitutes a key component for successful outcomes. For women in particular, being married or having a significant intimate partner relationship is generally associated with increased retention in treatment, particularly at the residential level.1 Given this evidence, it would seem that moving beyond the “identified patient” in the residential treatment context to account for intimate partner dynamics could be essential to a woman’s successful recovery. How can clinicians encourage those relationship dynamics that support a woman’s recovery, and mitigate those that might impede recovery?

  • Celebrating women’s differences
    (by Gary A. Enos, Addiction Pro Magazine, 03/01/07)

    With all of the discussion of gender-specific addiction treatment services currently taking place in the field, it is somewhat hard to believe that just over a generation ago almost no organizations were offering gender-separate programs structured to meet the needs of women and their families.

About Families in Recovery

  • Building Relationships That Last
    The truth is, that we really don’t fall in love, we grow into love. In our relationships, we don’t really give ourselves the chance to benefit from the wonderful opportunities that loving provides. In other words, all of us desire the excitement and the pleasure of the grand overture, but few of us are willing to stay around for the second act.
  • Recovery is a Family Process, Too
    In many situations, it is not unusual for family members to feel or appear more dysfunctional than the addict/alcoholic themselves. Therefore, family and friends need to focus on managing their own recovery in the same manner the alcoholic/addict does.
  • Alcoholism and Addiction—With Help, Families Do Recover
    Ask any child, partner, or parent with an alcoholic in the family and they will tell you that when someone they love drinks compulsively the effects are painful. Can families survive the devastating effects of alcoholism and go on to lead healthy, happy lives? The answer is yes.

About Addiction and Recovery in the Workplace