Many women who leave a residential or outpatient program find that a life of recovery presents a whole new set of challenges.
Our Addiction Aftercare (Continuing Care) Program provides women in recovery the practical tools and knowledge they need to succeed. It also provides the structure and accountability many women need after residential or outpatient treatment.
Continuing Care
Continuing Care is a group for women who have participated in the Inpatient and Intensive Outpatient programs. We meet once each week for an hour and a half and teach women how to use the recovery skills they learned in Inpatient or Outpatient and apply them to their daily lives. This step down from our other more highly structured programs helps a woman to continue to get stronger in her recovery.
This program is available to any woman who has been in residential, outpatient, or relapse prevention programs either at Residence XII in Kirkland, WA or another Seattle or national treatment facility. Read more in the FAQ
Addiction Aftercare Focuses on:
- Developing clean and sober friends
- Attending recovery meetings
- Maintaining good communication with sponsors
- Building community support with other women in recovery
Extended Care Outpatient Groups
Women can also attend ECOP groups while in Continuing Care or after completing Continuing Care. These groups are covered by insurance and open to all women in the community. Contact the assessment and referral department for more information – 425-823-8844.
Extended Care Outpatient
The extended care outpatient program (ECOP) is considered ASAM Level 1.0 outpatient treatment. These groups enhance and individualize ongoing outpatient services at Residence XII. Each group is 12 weeks and help women strengthen their recovery efforts through further exploration of:
- The connection between substance-use disorder and trauma
- Focusing on coping-skills practice to address relapse patterns and stress management
- Looking at the relationship to self, others and their body
Seeking Safety Group
Seeking Safety is an evidence-based practice developed by Lisa M. Najavits, PhD for individuals with substance-use disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder. This integrative present-focused group addresses issues related to interpersonal, behavioral and cognitive challenges. The group’s goals include establishing safety, coping-skills development, gaining control over PTSD symptoms and development of social supports and resources. It is included in Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s (SAMHSA) registry of evidence-based program/practices.
Topics covered in the 12-weeks include: healthy relationships, self-nurturing, asking for help, recovery thinking, what is PTSD: taking back your power, setting boundaries in relationships, getting others to support your recovery, discovery vs staying stuck, commitment, detaching from emotional pain through grounding exercises, coping with triggers and respecting your time.
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Coping Skills Group
The goals of this group include helping address and prevent relapse, reduce negative thinking, improve communication skills, manage stress more effectively and create healthier relationships.
Topics covered during the 12-weeks include: non-verbal communication, assertiveness, giving and receiving positive feedback, giving constructive criticism, resolving relationship problems, developing social support networks, managing urges, increasing pleasant activities, anger management, managing negative thinking, seemingly irrelevant decisions and planning for emergencies.
The Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) Coping Skills Group is taken from the evidenced-based curriculum developed by Peter M. Monti PhD, Ronald M. Kadden PhD, Damaris J. Rohsenow, Ned L. Cooney PhD and David B. Abrams PhD, “Treating Alcohol Dependence: A Coping Skills Training Guide.” This curriculum was created in a multi-site clinical trial supported by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism.
Helping Women Recover Group
“Helping Women Recover” is an evidence-based therapeutic intervention created by Stephanie Covington, PhD, LCSW. It is a gender-responsive and trauma-informed group that meets the needs of women with substance-use disorders and those with co-occurring mental health challenges. It is included in SAMHSA’s registry of evidence-based program/practices.
Topics covered in the 12-weeks include: defining self, self-esteem, sexism, racism and stigma, creating healthy relationships and supports, sexuality and addiction, body image, spirituality, prayer and meditation and creating a vision.
Continuing Care FAQ
How Long Is a Woman in the Continuing Care Program?
The length of time a woman spends in Continuing Care is based on various individual circumstances. We take into account how long she has been in Inpatient/Outpatient, what her individual needs for care may be, what her insurance company will cover, and, if she has been court mandated, what the legal system requires.
Why Is Aftercare so Important?
For women who have been in our Residential Program, Continuing Care provides a continuity of learning, support and accountability that is critical for her recovery. For women leaving our Residential Program, life outside Residence XII can be very scary and isolating. Continuing Care provides a supportive environment and a specially trained counselor who can now help her learn how to take her recovery skills and integrate them into her daily life.
For women in our Intensive Outpatient program who have been in treatment three days a week while juggling meetings, jobs and home life, Continuing Care provides a time and a place where they can focus on themselves, experience peer support, develop more skills, and learn more about potential hazards that may impact their recovery.
What Are the Benefits?
Besides developing greater life skills, and being held accountable for working on her recovery, one of the greatest benefits of Continuing Care is the relationships that develop among the women in the group. Through sharing their own obstacles and challenges, and how they handle them, the women build strong ties with each other and often create a strong support and social network outside the group setting.
Participants attend recovery activities together like dances, conferences and retreats and learn to trust each other knowing there will be no judgement based on their past behaviors. For many women, Continuing Care is the place where they build relationships that last a lifetime!
What Is Expected of Women in the Continuing Care Program?
We expect a woman in Continuing Care to attend her meetings, stay in constant contact with her sponsor, and work her steps.
At Residence XII, we suggest 90 recovery meetings in 90 days so that a woman can find a local Home group near the Seattle-Kirkland area that feels right to her and a sponsor, if she doesn’t already have one. Home groups are important—these are the people who will get to know the woman and her personality, and they may be the first to notice changes in her life that need to be addressed. A Home group is also where a woman will sign up for service work to the recovery community. Service work is critical—a woman is less likely to miss a meeting if she has a service job (i.e., make coffee, arrange chairs, etc.).
Weekly sponsor contact is also extremely important for a woman’s recovery. Her sponsor is the person who watches her back and keeps an eye on her progress. A good relationship with a sponsor is a relationship of trust, accountability and faith—if a crisis arises, there is someone she can go to for help.
Doing the steps is also a critical part of recovery. The steps help a woman continue her personal and spiritual development and if she doesn’t do them, she will stagnate. This is where accountability comes into play in a Continuing Care setting. If the group is on Step 3 and a woman is still on Step 1, the group will hold her responsible for moving forward. Effective group support is key to a successful continuing care program.