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Welcome to Lakeside...

What to Expect...

At first you may be uneasy or even scared about entering Lakeside's inpatient programs. These are normal feelings when coming to an unfamiliar place with many strangers as companions. We have designed the program to make you feel at ease as quickly as possible and to move you into the work of recovery.

The LMRC Patient Guidelines booklet outlines your rights and responsibilities as well as the rules of our community and a schedule of daily activities. Your treatment buddy will help you learn your way around the campus and get acquainted with your fellow patients.

Our program is designed to help you focus on the disease of addiction, come to terms with its toll on your life and most importantly learn new skills to enable you to begin a stable recovery. We think it is important that you understand how the program works.

The lectures and films you will attend have been created to give you our best information and insight into the nature of the disease, its effects on you and your loved ones, the attitude you need to face the disease, and tools you will need to begin to get and stay in recovery. We find most patients, regardless of whether they have had prior treatment or not, are sadly uninformed and uneducated about the disease of alcoholism and drug addiction. We ask that you listen carefully and ask all the questions that come to you in the course of treatment.

Information is useless unless it is applied to your life. Your color group sessions are a time of processing what you learn and how you can make use of the knowledge in your life. In group you will be asked to grapple with the tough issues that are shared by all members and deal with the often unpleasant feelings that arise out of facing the ravages of your disease. The group will be facilitated by an experienced counselor who will move the discussion along and offer insight when necessary. All members of the group must see it as a safe haven in which whatever is shared must stay in the group. Members act as mirrors to give feedback, support, and encouragement in their spiritual journey to recovery.

You will be asked to undertake reading and writing assignments to further the process of self-discovery and learning, culminating in the writing and recitation of a "first step," a recounting of the effects of the disease on each aspect on your life.

Your counselor will meet with you to create your treatment plan, a specific set of tasks to deal with the unique problems that your disease has cauased. Given a copy of the plan, you need to follow the path it outlines in order to resolve the issues that may block your sobriety. Some problems may be resolved easily while others will need to be addressed after you leave inpatient treatment. Your counselor will also help you create a recovery plan that outlines specific traps that you must avoid or address if you are to be successful returning to your daily life.

At the beginning of your stay your health will be evaluated by our nurse practioner. If you require medication for withdrawal it will be prescribed by the ARNP and administered by our nursing staff. Early recovery brings with it some aches and pains that you previously self-medicated. In some cases the nurse practioner may not perscribe medication especially if it disrupts the central nervous system which needs time to heal from the dysfunction caused by drug use.

The other staff you will have contact with on a daily basis are our associates. The associate's job is to see that the community runs smoothly, insuring that patients attend all events, monitoring the campus and observing patients' compliance with the rules of our center. They man the counseling center, admit new patients and generally oversee your welfare. Associates can answer your questions about the operation of the center and generally help you with day to day problems. If, however, a pateint is found breaking the community rules, the associate is charged to intervene and report noncompliance to the counselor and treatment director who will decide the consequences of the violation.

Alcohol/ drug addiction is defined as a progressive chronic disease of the brain that affects how we think, feel, and act. It will take time for you to understand how deeply the disease became ingrained in your way of living. It takes time to learn the new ways of thinking, feeling, and acting. We ask that you use your time wisely and take charge of your recovery using the tools of the program. Thousands before you have travelled the same path and are living happy, sober lives. You can too.

Contact us now at Lakeside-Milam Recovery Centers for FREE Drug & Alcohol evaluations...