Message to Our Parents
"I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for your inquiry into the In Balance Living program. Our program is designed to ease the transition from an intensive treatment program to the outside world. Your son’s recovery experience up to now has been in a structured and constrictive environment. It was extremely beneficial for his needs then, but he is now ready to move forward and begin facing the realities of everyday life. However, he has not yet gained the skills necessary to negotiate the challenges of life as he has little experience outside of the restrictive environment of treatment. Our program offers the perfect solution by allowing the freedom to navigate the challenges of everyday life, while still providing an appropriate amount of structure, accountability, and support. Our goal is to teach your son the practical application of the recovery tools he has gained thus far and to teach him how to integrate college, work, relationships and his social life into sustainable recovery. Our program is designed according to a phase system (outlined separately in this packet). In order to successfully graduate from the program, your son must complete all of the expectations and be making progress that indicates he is equipped to live independently.
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The minimum amount of time needed to complete the program is six months. However, the average length of stay is 8 months as often more time is needed to successfully complete all treatment goals. One reason for this is that advancement through the phases includes concrete milestones, such as graduating the intensive outpatient program and completing 90 meetings in 90 days, as well as behavioral milestones that indicate that your son is ready to advance to the next phase. Another reason for this is we find that any length of time less than six months leads to a mentality we call “Short Timers Syndrome”. This makes it difficult for a resident to invest and commit to the process of the program. We end up hearing statements such as, “I am only going to be here for 3 months what’s the point in getting a job”? Or we hear, “What’s the point in reaching out to create relationships if I am leaving soon anyway?” This mentality and these statements tend to create difficult barriers for our residents to overcome unless they are with us for a minimum of 6 months. This 6-month period also allows enough time for residents to practice the 12 steps in a manner that is necessary for them to be successful when they graduate. The final phase of our program is crucial to the success that we strive for after graduation. During the final phase, we simulate independent living as much as possible while still providing feedback to your son based on our observations of his successes and challenges this new freedom presents. This is where later success is best measured as their success in this phase of the program indicates a huge level of internal commitment and motivation – both of which are vital to a successful and healthy recovery.
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Sincerely,
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Tiffany Gallego
Program Director"
PARENT TO PARENT
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At In Balance Living we understand that as parents you have often been bystanders in the turmoil of active addiction and that your journey has been difficult and full of uncertainty in regards to how to help your son. Parents often are unsure how to build or continue to build an adult relationship with their son and help support the independent living skills their son needs to be self supporting and live independently as an adult.
To support the family and continue strengthening family relations, our treatment team of life coaches and therapists help to strengthen relationships and open lines of communication so the recovering family can move forward towards wholeness. Families will have a scheduled one hour family session per month to help build communication and parents will also receive bi-monthly reports on their son’s progress from the therapist. This also helps the parents in acclimating and adjusting to any of the obstacles a family may face in supporting their son in the early recovery process.
To further concretize the skills and goals being addressed in family sessions your son will also be allowed home visits to practice communication skills and establish the adult relationship you have all worked so hard for. Family visits are structured around recovery, family interactions, goals and expectations the family has.
"Hello! My husband and I returned a few days ago from our trip to Tucson for Alex's graduation from TL. We had a really great trip helping Alex get moved into his new apartment with another TL grad. The graduation ceremony was amazing! I mean that word does not begin to describe the evening, Alex, and the community he has built through his time with In Balance. I want to express to you the very deep gratitude I have for the In Balance Programs and all of you wonderful supportive people who are a part of the program and have been part of Alex's recovery and "growing up" process. As I sat at the big long table with staff, alum and fellow clients at the TL graduation, and listened to the words spoken by everyone, I was overwhelmed/overjoyed by the strong, supportive, recovering community who love my son and have his back. As a mother living a thousand + miles away, I cannot begin to express the feeling of peace I have knowing how strong Alex's "Tucson Family" is. I am so proud of the work Alex has done. I know the road is very hard for him at times. I am grateful that my husband and I had the support to continue to help Alex stay on the path he has been on. I have no illusions that things are all easy from here on out. He is a person with many ups and downs (which can be deep) but he has two years of sobriety under him, strong recovery, friends, IBTL staff, Jacquie (LOVE HER!), more maturity and a family that will do anything to support him.
Thank you so much for everything!"
-Former In Balance Living Parent
Message to Our Residents
Congratulations!! You have worked hard and have just completed drug or alcohol treatment. During your time in the program you and your family worked hard to understand feelings and behaviors, and have probably discovered some of the underlying reasons that led to your addiction. You have been sober for several months, which is something you probably thought was impossible, and have managed to live a life without drugs or alcohol. All of these things were difficult to do and you should be proud of your accomplishments. Again, congratulations!
Unfortunately, intensive inpatient treatment is not enough for many people. While you were in the structured and supportive environment of rehab, making positive changes, the outside world continued as they were before you left. Many of your friends have continued using and all of the places that remind you of the “good old times” are still in existence. Your friends may approach you and think that you are the same person you were before you went to rehab. What this means is that if you want to continue on your hard-earned journey of recovery, it is going to be very difficult when put back into your old environment. In fact, many young people return home and realize that sober life in the real-world is very different than it was inside the walls of treatment. This often results in depression, anxiety, loneliness, confusion, even relapse. To most of you, this is the last thing that you want. You have worked so hard to get to where you are and you are feeling good about yourself and your accomplishments.
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In Balance Living offers you an alternative solution. Instead of returning home, only to find difficulty, you can live in a recovery environment that nurtures and supports the positive changes you have made. Additionally, we help to create more positive change so that you are eventually strong enough to function independently in the real-world without the use of drugs or alcohol. Within the walls of In Balance Living, you will have many of the freedoms of real-life such as college, work, cell phone, internet use, dating, driving and a social life, while still maintaining enough structure to gradually ease you into independence. You will be surrounded by peers that have similar experiences as you but are all striving for the same goal: healthy recovery from drugs and alcohol. You can learn to navigate life, have fun, and create friendships without being drunk or high; something that you probably do not have much experience with. In Balance Living provides a safe and supportive recovery environment in which you can address individual challenges and learn skills to help you make the transition to living a sober life in the outside world. You will gain a sense of confidence in your abilities to interact with others without the buffer of substances. While in the program, you can attend school, get a job, or both. Additionally, when you are creating your new sober life, you will be surrounded by people who are there to support and guide you through any challenges you may encounter. You will have the opportunity to work with a 12 step sponsor and become connected to the vast recovery network that Tucson has to offer. In fact, many young men who come to the program benefit so much from this community that they decide to make Tucson their home, even after completing the program.
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We ask you to take an honest look inside and consider what would be the most beneficial for you and your recovery. In Balance Living has many positive things to offer you that cannot be found in your old environment. You deserve the opportunity to continue creating positive change in your life while forming new and nurturing friendships and connections. There is no need to gamble on your recovery because In Balance Living provides you with a place where your recovery is sacred and people understand just how hard it was to get to where you are today. We firmly believe that being sober and in recovery has to be FUN or else no one would do it! We add fun every opportunity we get. We do outings such as paintball, snow boarding, indoor and outdoor rock climbing, hiking, hockey games, football games, martial arts etc. The weekends are centered on something you guys would look forward to. Take the next step and call us today. We look forward to hearing from you!
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A Typical Resident: A typical In Balance Living resident is a young man age 17.5 – 28 whom has completed a primary treatment program. He has a commitment to remaining sober and exploring recovery. Not every resident will come in with the ability to say “I am committed to remaining sober the rest of my life and I am excited about it!” It is often the case that they have realized being sober right now benefits them and they are willing to “give it a try”. That is where we come in and build upon that willingness. He is in need of additional support and direction before stepping out into the "real world." He chooses to be at In Balance Living and has not been forced to be here- he wants to be here. Even if that choice comes from not wanting to be without his parent's support – he is still choosing to participate and creates the willingness we need.