How to Enter ARMS
From the first moment that families contact ARMS, we serve as their advocate, offering the expertise they need to identify their treatment options and make informed decisions. The enrollment process is different for each patient, and not everyone chooses to enroll in ARMS, but these guidelines fit most young people.
Informed Treatment is Effective Treatment
When a family contacts ARMS, our clinical coordinator begins gathering information to create an individualized treatment program. We seek a basic understanding of the young person’s situation and give parents information about ARMS, its components, and what will happen at the first appointment.
An Intensive Assessment
Our expert addiction clinicians give patients a comprehensive assessment to determine their level of substance use and any other contributing factors that may be present, including ADHD, bi-polar disorder, or manic depression, and begin discussing the treatment options they would like to pursue. We also review any pertinent records, in order to learn childhood history and current presenting symptoms, and often seek a psychiatric consultation. Our multidisciplinary team then writes a report that offers an assessment and treatment recommendation.
Treatment Takes Many Forms
At the same time patients are meeting with an addiction clinician, parents have the opportunity to speak with their assigned Recovery Coach, who will offer guidance and support throughout the entire recovery process.
Even those young people who refuse to seek treatment can still benefit from regular follow-up meetings aimed at improving their lives through goal setting and decision-making that is based on enhancing their overall health and well-being.
Caring Support Throughout Recovery
When patients do enroll in ARMS, we help them decide on the best way to proceed with their treatment after speaking with their families and any appropriate healthcare providers, including school guidance counselors, therapists and the staff at any treatment programs they may have attended.
One week after their initial assessment, we meet with the patient for a follow-up appointment. Family members are also supported as they deal with the recovery process and may choose to attend our family support group.
We then make a level of care recommendation, which sometimes includes couples counseling or treatment for parents, as well working with family members to develop the tools they need to rebuild their relationship with the young person, which has often been damaged by the substance use. Common treatment goals include improved family relationships and anything from decreased usage to total sobriety.
We provide ongoing recovery support and management, relapse risk assessment and relapse intervention planning.
Some patients’ families may request a more intensive intervention. We can refer them to a long-term residential treatment program, which is often a good choice for patients whose home or school environment is not conducive to recovery, or an outpatient treatment program. We then provide ongoing recovery support and management, relapse risk assessment and relapse intervention planning.
Families can decide to pursue treatment on their own or make a three-month commitment to working with ARMS. Every three months, our addiction clinicians assess patients and recommend the level of care, if any, they need for the next three months.
