By Christina Janney
haze post
LinkThe Hays-based company has launched a dual-diagnosis program for people suffering from addiction and those with disabilities.
Program clients participate in individual or group therapy. The program offers addiction recovery groups for women and men, and soon she will be starting a group for adolescents aged 13-17.
LINK also offers outpatient addiction treatment services in Spanish.
This program is the only one in the region. The next closest dual diagnostic program is at Topeka.
Clients may be referred by social services agencies, health care providers, or they may refer themselves.
Link CEO Angie Zimmermann said physical or mental disorders are common with substance abuse disorders. This may include recovery from trauma and post-traumatic stress disorder.
According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, 37.9 percent of the 20.3 million adults with substance abuse disorders in the United States also have a mental illness.
Of the 42.1 million people in the United States with a mental illness, 18.2 percent also have a substance abuse disorder.
Zimmermann said people suffering from mental illness may use drugs or alcohol to numb the pain of their illness.
The LINK program aims to treat the whole human being, she said.
“If you treat the addiction rather than the mental health problem, the addiction will come right back,” she says.
Alisha Hammerschmidt, lead substance abuse counselor, gave the example of someone who has an anxiety disorder and uses marijuana.
“We need to look at the whole situation and understand if there is weed that is causing panic attacks. Is weed really helping panic attacks?” she said.
“Long-term, that circle has a lot of things in it and we’re going to jump into it, but I don’t want to discontinue one for the other. We’re considering all of that. need to do it.”
A LINK client of the program, who wished to remain anonymous, recommended the program to others with dual diagnoses.
“I have been battling addiction and mental illness for 15 years,” the client said in a statement. “I have had multiple treatments over the years and this program with both mental health and addiction is the best I have ever had.”
Hammerschmidt said the addiction treatment model lags behind mental health treatment as a whole.
Instead of having clients watch videos and fill out worksheets, Hammerschmidt uses a more interactive curriculum with clients. She plans to use youth groups and play therapy.
“The big problem with teens is that they don’t know how to have fun without drugs,” she says.
Adults also need to find ways to express themselves and calm themselves without using drugs or alcohol, she said. LINK keeps a cabinet with fidget spinners, stress balls, and other similar items that clients can use in groups.
LINK provides case management for dual diagnosis clients. This program assists participants with a variety of life skills. It can also be something as basic as budgeting, scheduling, or meeting food and hygiene needs.
Peer support is another component. Clients are matched with other clients in the program. It could be two women, two people of similar age, or two people with similar disabilities.
LINK offers paid recovery coaches who are companions to those who have been sober for at least a year.
LINK provides advocacy on both an individual and system-wide basis. A lawyer recently helped a client solve a landlord problem.
Our center is covered by Blue Cross Blue Shield Insurance. Treatment is covered by Medicaid, and many people with disabilities are eligible for Medicaid.
The program recently received two grants to help pay for services for those who are uninsured or underinsured. Dane G. Hansen awarded his $25,000 to this program and the Robert E. and Patricia Schmidt Foundation awarded his $100,000 to this program.
LINK has a coalition that meets quarterly to provide input on improvements to the dual diagnostic program.
For more information on LINK’s services, please call 785-625-6942 or 1-800-569-5926. You can also email Hammerschmidt. [email protected].
LINK operates in western Kansas including Cheyenne, Rollins, Decatur, Norton, Phillips, Smith, Sherman, Thomas, Sheridan, Graham, Lukes, Osborne, Wallace, Logan, Gove, Trego, Ellis, Russell, Rush, Pawnee and Burton. It serves 37 counties. , Rice, Greeley, Wichita, Scott, Lane, Hamilton, Kearney, Finney, Stanton, Grant, Haskell, Gray, Morton, Stevens, Seward, Mead.
