In addition to helping relieve day to day stress, studies have shown that simply brushing a pet can bring a sense of calm and peace. Pets are an important part of a persons life, providing entertainment and companionship for patients who sometimes have no supportive family in their lives. The health benefits derived from pet ownership are conducive to a successful addiction recovery. The increased exercise necessitated by simply walking or playing a dog or other pet has been proven to help reduce blood pressure and supports overall healing.

Patients who are struggling with their rehabilitation find that a pet can provide a sense of belonging that they were unable to find on their own. Taking responsibility for another life provides them with a commitment in time and care. Simply put, pets add a sense of purpose to their lives by fulfilling a patient’s most basic need to be needed. Just as importantly, many times pets give a patient an outlet for communication when they do not feel comfortable talking with peers who may be judgmental by allowing them to talk through their problems with acceptance, love and absolute unconditional adoration.

One other major benefit of having a pet close by for recovery patients is the emotional support given so openly by an animal can touch parts of a patient’s psyche that is far more meaningful than support from doctors, staff and even other patients. Pet owners are shown to develop higher self-esteem and emotional security, both of which are factors in long term addiction recovery. For a recovering addict a favorite pet can help strengthen resolve, build determination and give them a sense of purpose and motivation. Being allowed the ability to stay close to a pet gives patients a much improved chance at full and total recovery because of the benefits provided by pet ownership.

Pets brighten our lives in so many ways it is simply impossible to list all of the benefits of pet ownership. For recovery patient’s however, the power and influence that pet ownership can provide cannot be ignored or overlooked. Patient’s who have struggled for years with addictions find unknown inner strength and resolve when allowed to remain close to their pets. Long time pet owners have known of these benefits for years, studies are beginning to prove it and the importance of pets is quickly being recognized and widely accepted in the recovery community as a viable support and treatment option. The pets benefit from the added attention and patients benefit in a myriad of ways that help improve health and overall stress.

Our treatment plans emphasize commitment, goals of treatment, relapse prevention, and maintenance of a healthy lifestyle. We are committed to the philosophy that we exist for the client’s well being and will tailor each client’s experience to their specific needs and circumstances. In a serene environment, we offer hope and healing through our lifelong commitment of support.

Malibu Recovery Center provides a specialized and person-specific approach to treat addiction. We work with individuals in all different stages of their recovery. Malibu Recovery Center provides support through detox, residential treatment, and through structured sober living, sober living and outpatient. Malibu Recovery Center is able to enroll clients whether they are coming from a treatment center and would like to participate in sober living, or they are clean and would like to kick off with structured sober living to learn practical tools to have a successful sober lifestyle. If they are living at a different sober living but would like to participate in outpatient or day treatment programs in order to keep active in their recovery, we are able to provide outpatient and day treatment services as they come and go from their selected sober living facilities. If you are working with a client that you believe could benefit from any of the services Malibu Recovery Center provides, we would like to work with you to provide the best possible care for your client as a team. We highly recommend that people follow their treatment advice if they choose to come to our sober living community following a 30 to 90 treatment program elsewhere. The staff at Malibu Recovery Center is committed to assisting this process to work with other professionals in order to create a smooth transition for the people involved. If you believe you, a friend, family member or client could benefit from one or more of the programs offered by Malibu Recovery Center please don’t hesitate to call us any time, 7 days a week, 24 hours a day. A supportive and trained professional is looking forward to speaking with you. Call now 866.547.6451

]]> http://maliburecoverycenter.com/featured-home-main/welcome-to-malibu-recovery-center/feed/ 0 http://maliburecoverycenter.com/detox/quality-drug-treatment-at-an-affordable-price/ http://maliburecoverycenter.com/detox/quality-drug-treatment-at-an-affordable-price/#comments Fri, 14 Oct 2011 23:52:38 +0000 admin http://maliburecoverycenter.com/?p=614 Read More]]> No individual should be dissuaded from seeking out quality drug treatment based on the cost of the treatment program. Drug and alcohol rehabilitation should be affordable for everyone, regardless of income. If you are struggling with finding a quality recovery center for your treatment but cannot afford a high price tag, our facility will work with you with several options available to help facilitate your care and ultimate recovery.

In reality, treatment costs amount to very little in regards to the long-term picture. When the whole picture is viewed in it’s entirety, treatment costs typically amount to the equivalent of a few weeks or months of drug or alcohol use. Although it is nearly impossible to put a price on the cost of drug and alcohol dependency, especially when it comes to the toll it demands of family and loved ones, there is no dispute when it is stated that the cost of treatment is typically high. For many struggling already with dependencies and fighting an uphill battle in terms of loss of income due to job loss, loss of productivity or the dollar cost of their addiction already, calculating in treatment options becomes yet another challenge on the road to recovery.

Patients today do have options when it comes to negotiating the expenses of a quality recovery program. With the cost of treatment skyrocketing, treatment centers that care enough to work with their patients are at a premium. With several different treatment plan options, and acceptance of most major health insurance coverage, our recovery center is focused on providing the best possible treatments for drug and alcohol related problems. Simply put, we put our patients first when it comes to treatment options and believe everyone has a right to the best possible options when it comes to coordinating their rehabilitation program.

If struggling with a current drug or alcohol addiction, you owe it to yourself as well as your friends and family to investigate the financial options offered at our center. In the long run, you will save not only your quality of life once rid of the dependencies, but you will be investing in your own future and the future of your family by allowing us to work out a treatment program that is both successful and affordable.

Compulsive and sometimes-uncontrollable drug craving, med-seeking, and use that persist even in the face of negative consequences characterize drug addiction. For many people, drug addiction becomes chronic, with relapses occurring after drug rehab and even after long periods of abstinence.

Over time, a person’s ability to choose not to take drugs can become compromised. Drug seeking becomes compulsive, as a result of the effects of prolonged drug use on brain functioning. Behavior becomes unpredictable.

The compulsion to use drugs can take over an individual’s life. Addiction involves not only compulsive drug taking but also a wide range of dysfunctional behaviors. Addiction leaves people and their loved ones at increased risk for a wide variety of illnesses. These illnesses can be brought on by the addicts’ behaviors, or because of toxic effects of the drugs themselves.

Drug rehab is not always simple. Effective drug abuse and drug rehab treatment programs typically incorporate several components directed to particular aspects of the illness and its consequences.

Despite scientific evidence establishing the effectiveness of drug rehab and drug abuse treatment, many people believe that drug rehab is ineffective, mostly because of unrealistic expectations. Many people equate addiction with simply using drugs and therefore expect that addiction should be cured quickly, and if it is not, the drug rehab is a failure. In reality, because addiction is a chronic disorder, the ultimate goal of long-term abstinence often requires sustained and repeated treatment as well as transitional living. drug rehab is the beginning of recovery, but not the end of the disease.

Scientists continue studying alcoholism. Some of the more exciting investigations focus on the causes, consequences, treatment (such as drug rehab), and prevention of alcoholism:

• Genetics: alcoholism is a complex disease. Scientists have identified chromosomes where genes involved in increasing a person’s risk for alcoholism are potentially located. Researchers are working to be able to identify and measure the specific contribution of each gene to the complex behaviors associated with drinking.
• Treatment: Three commonly used behavioral treatments for alcohol abuse and alcoholism are: motivation enhancement therapy, cognitive-behavioral therapy, and 12-step involvement. Other therapies that have been evaluated and found effective in reducing alcohol problems include drug rehab and transitional living.




• Medications: There are a range of new medications being developed based on the results of genetic and neuroscience research. Neuroscience research has already led to studies of one medication—naltrexone as an anti-craving medication. This drug, in combination with behavioral therapy, has proven effective in treating alcohol craving. Naltrexone, often started in drug rehab, targets the brain’s reward circuits and is the first medication approved to help maintain sobriety after detoxification from alcohol since the approval of Antabuse in 1949.
• Combined medications/behavioral therapies: Medications work best with behavioral therapy. Studies are taking place to determine which of the currently available medications and which behavioral therapies work best together. drug rehab is a suggested setting for these studies.
  Be especially scrutinizing as you determine the drug rehab program that meets your specific needs.

Malibu Recovery Center introduces compassionate care in a healing environment. Services include:

• Detox and / or medication management
• Residential Treatment
• Day Treatment
• Parent and Teen Outpatient Services
• Adult Outpatient Services
• Alumni / Aftercare

Symptoms

The main symptoms are confusion, disorientation and agitation and other signs of severe autonomic instability (fever, tachycardia, hypertension). Other common symptoms include intense hallucinations such as visions of insects, snakes or rats (or stereotypically, pink elephants or tiny figures). These may be related to the environment, e.g., patterns on wallpaper that the patient would perceive as giant spiders attacking him or her. Unlike hallucinations associated with schizophrenia, delirium tremens hallucinations are primarily visual, but are also associated with tactile hallucinations such as sensations of something crawling on the subject – a phenomenon known as formication. delirium tremens can sometimes be associated with severe, uncontrollable tremors of the extremities and secondary symptoms such as anxiety, panic attacks and paranoia.
delirium tremens (DT’s) should be distinguished from alcoholic hallucinosis, the latter occurring in approximately 20% of hospitalized alcoholics and not carrying a significant mortality. In contrast, DT’s occurs in 5-10% of alcohol-dependent people and carries up to 5% mortality with treatment and up to 35% mortality without treatment.[5] DT’s are characterized by the presence of altered sensorium; that is, a complete hallucination without any recognition of the real world. DT’s have extreme autonomic hyperactivity (high pulse, blood pressure, and rate of breathing), and 35-60% of patients have a fever. Some individuals experience seizures.

Causes

delirium tremens can occur after a period of heavy alcohol drinking, especially when the person does not eat enough food. It may also be triggered by head injury, infection, or illness in people with a history of heavy use of alcohol.

It is most common in people who have a history of alcohol withdrawal, especially in those who drink the equivalent of 7 – 8 pints of beer (or 1 pint of “hard” alcohol) every day for several months. delirium tremens also commonly affects those with a history of habitual alcohol use or alcoholism that has existed for more than 10 years.

The exact pharmacology of ethanol is not fully understood: however, it is theorized that delirium tremens is caused by the effect of alcohol on the benzodiazepine-GABAA-chloride receptor complex for the inhibitory neurotransmitter GABA. Constant consumption of alcoholic beverages (and the consequent chronic sedation) causes a counter-regulatory response in the brain in attempt to regain homeostasis.

This causes down-regulation of these receptors, as well as an up-regulation in the production of excitatory neurotransmitters such as norepinephrine, dopamine, epinephrine, and serotonin – all of which further the drinker’s tolerance to alcohol and may intensify tonic-clonic seizures. When alcohol is no longer consumed, these down-regulated GABAA receptor complexes are so insensitive to GABA that the typical amount of GABA produced has little effect; compounded with the fact that GABA normally inhibits action potential formation, there are not as many receptors for GABA to bind to – meaning that sympathetic activation is unopposed. This is also known as an “adrenergic storm”. Effects of this “adrenergic storm” can include (but are not limited to) tachycardia, hypertension, hyperthermia, hyperreflexia, diaphoresis, heart attack, cardiac arrhythmia, stroke, anxiety, panic attacks, paranoia, and agitation.

This is all made worse by excitatory neurotransmitter up-regulation, so not only is sympathetic nervous system over-activity unopposed by GABA, there is also more of the serotonin, norepinephrine, dopamine, epinephrine, and particularly glutamate. Excitory NMDA receptors are also up-regulated, contributing to the delirium and neurotoxicity (by excitotoxicity) of withdrawal. Direct measurements of central norepinephrine and its metabolites is in direct correlation to the severity of the alcohol withdrawal syndrome. It is possible that psychological (i.e., non-physical) factors also play a role, especially those of infections, malnutrition, or other underlying medical disorders – often related to alcoholism.

Treatment

Pharmacotherapy is symptomatic and supportive. Typically the patient is kept sedated with benzodiazepines, such as diazepam (Valium), lorazepam (Ativan) or oxazepam (Serax) and in extreme cases low-levels of antipsychotics, such as haloperidol or even stronger benzodiazepines like temazepam (Restoril) or midazolam (Versed) until symptoms subside. Older drugs such as paraldehyde and clomethiazole were the traditional treatment but these have now largely been superseded by the benzodiazepines, although they may still be used as an alternative in some circumstances. Acamprosate is often used to augment treatment, and is then carried on into long term use to reduce the risk of relapse. Acamprosate, also known by the brand name Campral, is a drug used for treating alcohol dependence. If status epilepticus is present, seizures are treated accordingly. Controlling environmental stimuli can also be helpful, such as a well-lit but relaxing environment to minimize visual misinterpretations such as the visual hallucinations mentioned above.

• DBT combines standard cognitive-behavioral techniques for emotion regulation and reality-testing with concepts of mindful awareness, distress tolerance, and acceptance, largely derived from Buddhist meditative practice. The key elements of DBT are conventional behavioral therapy and cognitive therapy, along with its signature concepts of dialectics and mindfulness.
• DBT is a cognitive-behavioral treatment approach with two key characteristics: a behavioral, problem-solving focus blended with acceptance-based strategies, and an emphasis on dialectical processes.
• DBT is a type of cognitive-behavioral therapy. Its main goal is to teach the client skills to cope with stress, regulate emotions and improve relationships with others.
• DBT expands on the methods of cognitive-behavioral therapy by including techniques and skill sets that encourage validation, respect, and equality within the client-therapist partnership. Dialectics is a discussion aimed at integrating seemingly incompatible concepts. In this case, therapists and clients work together on strategies of change and acceptance that lead to safe and productive methods of managing conflict.
• DBT combines the basic strategies of behavior therapy with eastern mindfulness practices, residing within an overarching dialectical worldview that emphasizes the synthesis of opposites.
• DBT is a blend of change (behavior therapy) and acceptance (mindfulness training) approaches woven together by a set of philosophical assumptions, a biosocial theory, and multiple modes of treatment. DBT integrates both behavioral change and acceptance throughout all aspects of treatment.
o As a behavioral treatment, DBT relentlessly pursues changing a range of maladaptive behaviors using standard behavioral principles and procedures (contingency management, shaping, stimulus control).
o As an acceptance-based treatment, DBT provides an unwavering emphasis on client validation, mindfulness skills, and an underlying assumption, that, in some moments of life, efforts to change what inherently cannot be changed may exacerbate problems, rather than solve them.

What is the goal of DBT?

• The pragmatic goal is to identify and implement an optimal solution to each problem that arises in a fluid context, while being completely willing to let go of any solution, as needed, in response to new problems or evidence that any one solution does not appear to be helpful.
• DBT helps people that react abnormally to emotional stimulation and who don’t have any strategies for coping with these sudden, intense surges of emotion. DBT is a method for teaching skills that will help in this task.
• DBT emphasizes balancing behavioral change, problem-solving, and emotional regulation with validation, mindfulness, and acceptance of patients.
• DBT is a comprehensive cognitive-behavioral treatment for complex, difficult-to-treat mental disorders.
• DBT serves 5 fundamental functions for the patient
1. enhances behavioral capabilities (skills training)
2. improves motivation to change (by modifying inhibitions and reinforcement contingencies/individual behavioral treatment plans)
3. assures that new capabilities generalize to the natural environment
4. structures the treatment environment in the ways essential to support client and therapist capabilities (programmatic emphasis on reinforcement of adaptive behaviors)
5. enhances therapist capabilities and motivation to treat clients effectively.

In DBT, these functions are divided among modes of service delivery, including individual psychotherapy, group skills training, phone consultation, and therapist consultation team.

How It Works? The 4 Key Elements of DBT
1. mindfulness
• The core component of DBT
• mindfulness is the awareness of one’s thoughts, feelings, motivations, and actions
• The practice of mindfulness involves focusing one’s awareness on the current moment
• mindfulness is about living in the moment, experiencing your emotions and your senses, and being aware of them
2. Interpersonal Effectiveness
• Communicating personal needs
• Learning effective strategies to say “no”
• Minimizing/coping with interpersonal conflict
3. Emotion Regulation
• Identifying and labeling emotions
• Increasing behaviors that lead to positive feelings
• Taking action based on reason rather than emotion
4. Distress Tolerance
• Overcoming difficult periods of discomfort through acceptance of current situations
• Learning crisis survival strategies: distracting, self-soothing, improving the moment, thinking of the pros and cons)

Who benefits from DBT / What does DBT treat?
• Depression
• Substance Use Disorders (addiction/alcoholism)
• Bipolar Disorders
• Eating Disorders
• Impulse-control Disorders
• Anxiety Disorders
• Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder
• Post Traumatic Stress Disorder
• Psychotic Disorders
• Borderline Personality Disorder

The modality of treatment provided to clients will depend on the status and/or outcome of each person’s current condition. There are a variety of antidepressant medications and psychotherapies that can be used to treat depression. Some people with milder forms of depression may do well with psychotherapy alone. People with moderate to severe depression will often benefit from antidepressants. Most do best with combined treatment: medication to gain relatively quick symptom relief and psychotherapy to learn more effective ways to deal with problems that include anxiety and/or depression.

Malibu Recovery Center introduces compassionate care in a healing environment. Services include:

• Detox and / or medication management
• Residential Treatment
• Day Treatment
• Parent and Teen Outpatient Services
• Adult Outpatient Services
• Alumni / Aftercare

Depression is an illness that involves the body, mood, and thoughts. It affects the way a person eats and sleeps, the way one feels about oneself, and the way one thinks about things. “depression” is not the same as a sad mood. It is not a sign of personal weakness or a condition that can be willed away. People with depression cannot merely “snap out of it” and get better.

Sometimes we hear people casually say, “I’m depressed,” when they have had a bad day at work or an argument with a loved one. In these instances, we are not really “depressed,” but we are temporarily feeling sad, frustrated, overwhelmed, or stressed. These normal feelings come and go and are different than the more pervasive feelings associated with clinical depression. However, if depression persists for a period of two weeks or more, or is particularly distressing, then it is probably time to consult a mental health professional or a physician. Untreated depression can also increase a person’s risk of suicide. Up to 15% of those who are clinically depressed die by suicide.

If you suffer from chronic pain such as back pain, neck pain, TMJ, RSI, or other painful disorders, quite often a holistic program that emphasizes psychological insight is extremely effective. Redefining and understanding your pain as part of the entirety of your suffering can transform the pain into something you can control and ultimately solve.

Gaining control of the chronic pain can help you regain control of your life and transform your personal growth in remarkable directions.

Malibu Recovery Center is committed to providing an atmosphere that encourages compassion and recognizes the uniqueness of each individual. Assuring a safe and pleasant facility, we offer programs blending client education and accomplished research.

Malibu Recovery Center’s programs encompass the medical, physical, psychological, social and spiritual aspects of our clients so that they may address their chronic pain. Relieving chronic pain is a process. Receptors in the skin and other tissues send impulses through the nerves to the spinal cord. The impulses then travel to the brain. It is the brain, not at the point of injury, where the sensation of the chronic pain is registered. chronic pain can sometimes be difficult to control or manage and can get in the way of relationships and daily activities. Medications help people control chronic pain but for many people, addiction takes over and medications are no longer effective.

Malibu Recovery Center offers assistance to clients in sorting through the issues that chronic pain can create.

chronic pain is universal. Malibu Recovery Center introduces compassionate care in a healing environment. Services include:

• Detox and / or medication management
• Residential Treatment
• Day Treatment
• Parent and Teen Outpatient Services
• Adult Outpatient Services
• Alumni / Aftercare

Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy(CBT) is an empirically supported treatment that focuses on patterns of thinking that are maladaptive and the beliefs that underlie such thinking. For example, a person who is depressed may have the belief, “I’m worthless,” and a person with a phobia may have the belief, “I am in danger.” While the person in distress likely holds such beliefs with great conviction, with a therapist’s help, the individual is encouraged to view such beliefs as hypotheses rather than facts and to test out such beliefs by running experiments. Furthermore, those in distress are encouraged to monitor and log thoughts that pop into their minds (called “automatic thoughts”) in order to enable them to determine what patterns of biases in thinking may exist and to develop more adaptive alternatives to their thoughts. People who seek CBT can expect their therapist to be active, problem-focused, and goal-directed.

CBT has been shown to be as useful as antidepressant medication for individuals with depression and is superior in preventing relapse. Clients receiving CBT for depression are encouraged to schedule activities in order to increase the amount of pleasure they experience. In addition, depressed clients learn how to restructure negative thought patterns in order to interpret their environment in a less negative way. CBT for Bipolar Disorder is used as an adjunct to medication treatment and focuses on psycho-education about the disorder and understanding cues and triggers for relapse. Studies indicate that clients who receive CBT in addition to treatment with medication have better outcomes than clients who do not receive CBT as an adjunctive treatment.

CBT is also a useful treatment for anxiety disorders. Clients who experience persistent panic attacks are encouraged to test out beliefs they have related to such attacks, such as specific fears related to bodily sensations, and to develop realistic responses to such beliefs. This treatment is very effective for those who experience such problems. Clients who experience obsessions and compulsions are guided to expose themselves to what they fear and beliefs surrounding their fears are identified and modified. The same is true for people with phobias, including phobias of animals or phobias of evaluation by others (termed Social Phobia). Those in treatment are exposed to what they fear and beliefs that have served to maintain such fears are targeted for modification.

CBT for schizophrenia has received considerable attention in the United Kingdom. While this treatment continues to be in its infancy in the United States, the results from studies in the United Kingdom have stimulated considerable interest in therapists in the U.S., and more therapists are conducting the treatment now than just a few years ago. In this treatment, clients are encouraged to identify beliefs and their impact and to engage in experiments to test their beliefs. Treatment focuses on thought patterns that cause distress and also on developing more adaptive, realistic interpretations of events. Delusions are treated by developing an understanding of the kind of evidence the person uses to support the belief and encouraging the client to recognize evidence that may have been overlooked that does not support the belief. Furthermore, the assumed omnipotence of “voices” is tested, and clients are encouraged to utilize various coping mechanisms to test the controllability of auditory hallucinations.

While the above summary is not comprehensive, it provides a brief overview of the principles of CBT and how it applies to various presenting problems. CBT’s focus on thoughts and beliefs are applicable to a wide array of issues. Because CBT has excellent empirical support, it has achieved wide popularity both for therapists and consumers. Those who may receive CBT training include psychologists, psychiatrists, social workers, and psychiatric nurses.

Malibu Recovery Center staff understands the need to be alert to signs of BPD which include withholding, dishonesty, or antisocial tendencies, since these have an adverse effect on prognosis. One of the preliminary questions confronting families/friends is how and when to place confidence in those responsible for post-treatment for the patient. Generally speaking, the more experience the the staff has had working with borderline patients, the better. Most often, a good “fit” with the new treatment options is the “key” to success.
The symptoms of the disorder can be as difficult for treatment and post-treatment facilities to experience as those experienced by family members. Most facilities are apprehensive about working with individuals with this diagnosis.

What is Borderline Personality Disorder?
Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) is a most misunderstood, serious mental illness characterized by pervasive instability in moods, interpersonal relationships, self-image, and behavior. It is a disorder of emotion dysregulation. This instability often disrupts family and work, long-term planning, and the individual’s sense of self-identity.

The disorder, characterized by intense emotions, self-destructive acts, and stormy interpersonal relationships, was officially recognized in 1980. The complex symptoms of the disorder often make it difficult for those seeking stability therefore evoking feelings of anger and frustration in finding suitable treatment, with the result that many facilities are unwilling to house and/or treat persons with these symptoms.

What are the Symptoms of Borderline Personality Disorder?
A pervasive pattern of instability of interpersonal relationships, self-image, and affects, and marked impulsivity beginning by early adulthood and present in a variety of contexts, as indicated by five (or more) of the following:

• Frantic efforts to avoid real or imagined abandonment.
• A pattern of unstable and intense interpersonal relationships characterized by alternating between extremes of idealization and devaluation.
• Identity disturbance: markedly and persistently unstable self-image or sense of self.
• Impulsivity in at least two areas that are potentially self-damaging (e.g., spending, sex, substance abuse, reckless driving, binge eating).
• Recurrent suicidal behavior, gestures, or threats, or self-mutilating behavior.
• Affective instability due to a marked reactivity of mood (e.g., intense episodic dysphoria, irritability, or anxiety usually lasting a few hours and only rarely more than a few days).
• Chronic feelings of emptiness.
• Inappropriate, intense anger or difficulty controlling anger (e.g., frequent displays of temper, constant anger, recurrent physical fights).
• Transient, stress-related paranoid ideation or severe dissociative symptoms.

Considerations about Borderline Personality Disorder
1. BPD rarely stands alone. There is high co-occurrence with other disorders.
2. 75% are women. This number may, in part, reflect that women more often seek treatment, that anger is seen as more acceptable in men, and that men with similar symptoms often enter the penal system receiving a diagnosis of antisocial personality disorder.
3. 75% of patients self-injure.
4. Although a chronic disorder that is resistant to change, we now know that BPD has a good prognosis when treated properly. Such treatment usually consists of medications, psychotherapy and educational and support groups.
5. In many patients with BPD, medications have been shown to be very helpful in reducing the severity of symptoms and enabling effective psychotherapy to occur. Medications are also often essential in the proper treatment of disorders that commonly co-occur with BPD.
6. There are a growing number of psychotherapeutic approaches specifically developed for people with BPD. Some of these have been in use, tested in research trials, and appear to be very effective; the newer ones are very promising. Malibu Recovery Center provides treatment that is effective and offers hope.
7. These and other treatments have been shown to be effective in the treatment of BPD, and MANY PATIENTS DO GET BETTER!
Many facilities continue to deny meaningful input from family members of a client with BPD. This situation is especially frustrating for family members, who often provide the sole financial support for everyday living expenses, and much of the moral support, but who receive little or no response from treatment and/or aftercare. Families are especially distressed when the treatment plan is not supported by aftercare, and especially when the patient becomes isolated from their therapists. Given the importance of the family in establishing functional relationships in the lives of people with borderline disorder, families should actively seek “family friendly” treatment.