As people in recovery make the transition into college and working life, it is vital to maintain and enhance his personal insight into his recovery and other personal issues. Outside stressors are abundant; as a recovering person, it is  wise to have someone to help understand and deal with them. This is where continued therapy is essential. Our therapists have experience with addiction, mental health and co-occurring disorders, family work, and several other issues that may be present. Therapy here is less focused on a young person’s past and the entire family system and more focused on building a resident’s life and all that entails. We will conduct once a month family therapy sessions. If there is some sort of crisis going on this may be temporarily increased. We also send bi-weekly email updates to the family members. If there is an urgent matter that requires immediate attention, our therapists and program director are always on call and able to be reached. We do encourage all parents to meet with their own therapists at home and to attend Al-Anon or Family Anonymous Meetings.

In addition to individual therapy, residents participate in a weekly community meeting where residents and staff share their concerns and appreciations for other residents. Most staff members attend this meeting, including the program director, program manager and all therapists. This is a time in which the entire community comes together and builds unity around challenges that may be occurring with individuals or within the community. If a resident is having any difficulties, typically someone in the community has experienced what he is going through and can give him helpful feedback. Additionally, a resident will have interactions with therapists in the Intensive Outpatient program. Residents attend In Balance intensive outpatient groups twice a week throughout the duration of phase 1 that focus on relapse prevention, substance abuse education, and group and experiential therapy to promote a healthy and well-rounded recovery. In addition to therapy, each resident works closely with staff that have over 50 years combined experience in recovery and with the 12-step model, some of them being graduates of the Transitional Living Program themselves! Residents are required to attend ninety 12-step meetings in first ninety days during their phase one of the program and maintain a working relationship with a sponsor of their choosing. All of this is focused on the resident achieving and maintaining mental health and wellness; allowing them to continue in their quest for sober living. A primary is also assigned to each resident and is a Life Coach designated to meet with the resident weekly to track his 12-step work, his physical health and activity, to review his bank account and spending and to review his overall mental health. The Primary then reports this information to the clinical team once a week. So, in any given week, a resident will meet with his therapist, the Intensive Outpatient therapist, his sponsor, the program director and his primary. This ensures the residents are constantly supported and that we have a collaborative perspective as to how they are doing. This provides very individual attention.