What Can Divine Healthcare Services, Inc. (DHCS) do for my Substance Use Disorder?

Our Outpatient Substance Use Disorder Treatment programs address substance abuse through comprehensive and collaborative services and we work closely with patients who have a current or past history with substance abuse. Providing the most accurate level of care can help the patients gain the best treatment available and prevent potentially serious complications.

Our treatment services include the following;

Individual and Group counseling

Counseling can take place in an individual or group session. By speaking with our staff, patients gain a better understanding of their substance abuse and the factors contributing to it. In group therapy, each patient may share their stories and learn from the experiences of others, decreasing feelings of loneliness and isolation common to active addiction.

Comprehensive Case Management

Our staffs work with patients to guide them through the care service. They help advocate on behalf of the patient, ensure continuity, and remove barriers to accessing the care. They also continue to coordinate between the patient and the prescriber and provide necessary recovery support to the patient until full recovery.

Medication-Assisted Treatment (MAT)

In DHCS we identify patients with substance use disorder, provide the necessary information on MAT as a potent treatment, allow the patients to take decisions and if acceptable, provide easy access to treatment up to recovery support.

Recovery Support Services (RSS)

RSS are aftercare support services designed to help individuals become and stay engaged in the recovery process and reduce the likelihood of relapse. RSS emphasizes the patients’ central role in managing their health and recovery and promotes the use of effective self-management and coping strategies, as well as internal and community resources to support ongoing self-management.

We also utilize an array of industry-recognized evidence-based practices in order to provide effective substance use treatment services. These include Cognitive-Based Therapy (CBT) and Motivational Interviewing (MI).

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)

Cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) is a therapeutic approach that seeks to reshape negative or self-defeating thoughts and behavior. CBT is aimed at both thought and behavior change (i.e., coping by thinking differently and coping by acting differently). CBT includes a focus on overt, observable behaviors – such as the act of abusing a drug – and identifies steps to avoid situations that lead to drug abuse
Our counselors combine elements of behavioral theory, cognitive social learning theory, cognitive theory, and therapy into a distinctive therapeutic approach that helps patients recognize situations where they are likely to use substances, find ways of avoiding those situations, and learn better ways to cope with feelings and situations that might have, in the past, led to substance. We seek to help the patient increase his coping skills so he will not use drugs in high-stress situations.

Motivational Interviewing (MI)

Motivational Interviewing (MI) is a patient-centered, empathic, but directive counseling strategy designed to explore and reduce a patient’s ambivalence toward treatment by paying particular attention to the language of change. As a patient-centered care we apply a collaborative approach to our treatment services that emphasizes respect for the patient (adult and youth) and care that is responsive to an individual’s preferences, needs, wellbeing, and values. Our counselors understand how youth’s cognitive processes differ from those of adults. This helps us create and have good conversation and strategic approaches in youth’s treatment in MI.

Don’t postpone the treatment you need today. Treatment is about developing healthy ways to cope. Call us today.

Understanding Anxiety Disorder

Understanding Anxiety Disorder

Anxiety is the body’s natural response to stress.  It’s a feeling of fear or apprehension about what is to come and it is an expected part of life.  When an individual experiences anxiety that is persistent, seemingly uncontrollable, overwhelming, and these anxious feelings begin to interfere with everyday life, it becomes a disorder.  Anxiety disorders have one thing in common – the anxiety occurs too often, it’s too strong, and it’s out of proportion to the present situation.

Anxiety disorders are the most common and pervasive mental disorders in the United State, affecting 40 million adults in the age 18 and older, or 18.1% of the population every year.  An estimated 31.1% of U.S. adults experience any form of anxiety disorder at some time in their lives

The exact causes of anxiety disorders are not fully understood.  Life experiences such as traumatic events appear to trigger anxiety disorders in people who are already prone to anxiety. Inherited traits also can be a factor.

Types

There are several types of anxiety disorders:

  • Substance/medication-induced anxiety disorder

Use of certain medications or illegal drugs, or withdrawal from certain drugs, can trigger some symptoms of anxiety disorder.

  • Agoraphobia

Someone having an intense fear of being in a place where it seems hard to escape or get help if an emergency occurs.  One may panic or feel anxious when on an airplane, public transportation, be in open or enclosed spaces, or standing in or being in a crowd.

  • Generalized anxiety disorder (GAD)

A person with GAD feels excessive, unrealistic worry and tension with little or no reason.  They may frequently imagine the worst that could possibly happen about future, health, finances, family members, etc.

  • Separation anxiety disorder

Separation anxiety is often thought of as something that only children deal with; however, adults can also be diagnosed with separation anxiety disorder.  Someone feels scared or anxious when a loved one leaves. Anyone can get separation anxiety disorder.  If you do, you’ll feel very anxious or fearful when a person you’re close with leaves your sight and will always worry that something bad may happen to the person.

  • Selective Mutism

This is a type of social anxiety in which young kids who talk normally with their family don’t speak in public, like at school.  It is often associated with extreme shyness, fear of social embarrassment, compulsive traits, withdrawal, clinging behavior, and temper tantrums.

  • Specific Phobia

Someone feels intense fear of specific situations or things that are not actually dangerous, such as heights or flying in an airplane, receiving injections, fear of blood, fear of specific animals.  The fear goes beyond what is appropriate and may cause one to avoid ordinary situations.

  • Social Phobia

This is when a person feels overwhelmingly worry and self-consciousness about everyday social situations.  A person getting obsessively worries about others judging you or being embarrassed or ridiculed.

  • Panic disorder

When a person feels sudden, intense fear that brings on a panic attack.  During a panic attack, a person has sudden and intense physical symptoms like a heart attack.  Symptoms can include shortness of breath, heartbeat, dizziness, numbness, or a tingling sensation caused by over-activity in the body’s normal fear response.

Symptoms of Anxiety

The most common symptoms of anxiety include:

  • Increased heart rate
  • Difficulty sleeping or insomnia
  • Trouble concentrating
  • Irritability
  • Restlessness
  • Muscle tension
  • Chest pain
  • Uncontrollable worry
  • Fear
  • Physical discomfort
  • Tingling
  • feeling on edge

Treatment Options opens in a new window

Anxiety disorders are treatable, and the vast majority of people with an anxiety disorder can be helped with professional care.  One of the measures of treating anxiety disorder is by psychotherapy or “talk therapy”.  Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) is an example of one type of psychotherapy that can help people with anxiety disorders.  It teaches people different ways of thinking, behaving, and reacting to anxiety-producing and fearful objects and situations. CBT can also help people learn and practice social skills, which is vital for treating social anxiety disorder.

It can be challenging and frustrating to live with an anxiety disorder and may not go away on their own.  They may get worse over time if you don’t seek help.  The constant worry and fear can make you feel tired and scared.  It’s easier to treat if you get help early.  We in Divine Healthcare Services, Inc. are here to help!

How To Treat Alcohol Addiction.

Alcohol addiction is a complicated illness that affects each person differently.  It can result in many medical complications and can also occur with other mental health and substance abuse disorders creating an increased risk for suicide.  People with alcohol addiction drink regularly and in large amounts and when it becomes severe are given the medical diagnosis of “alcohol use disorder” or AUD.  They develop a physical dependency over time.  When their bodies don’t have alcohol, they experience withdrawal symptoms.  There’s no clear cure for alcohol addiction.  Overcoming alcohol addiction can be a long process that requires both personal dedication and various treatments or therapies. The optimal treatment plan will depend on personal circumstances, including:

  • prior history of alcohol dependence
  • level of support from family and friends
  • personal commitment to becoming and remaining sober
  • financial situation

Seeking professional treatment for alcohol addiction is very necessary as quitting alcohol without any type of medical intervention can lead to severe withdrawal seizures and even death. The goal of treatment is to replace negative coping skills and patterns with positive cognitive behavioral skills and coping skills that work for the person. Like any substance abuse or mental health disorder, determining the treatment levels of care is necessary in order to provide the best care.  Levels of care range from residential treatment and partial hospitalization to intensive outpatient treatment and regular outpatient treatment.

Here at Divine Healthcare Services, Inc., we understand that what works for one person may not be successful for someone else. We also understand that the rehabilitation process may be longer for some clients than others. That is why we offer a variety of treatment options, ranging from individual counseling and therapy to group support sessions. If you’re ready to face your addiction, make an appointment with us!

COVID-19 is here. How is Divine Healthcare Services, Inc. operating?

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought most economic and social activities to a defining low level or even to a halt.  For many, it has brought various level of stress to their live experience.  Some individuals must have been social substance users prior to the pandemic and may find themselves in aggravated positions of diagnosable disorder, and may be finding it difficult to reduce the substance use, or to stop using them.  Some individuals must have had a mild to moderate substance use disorder but experienced an increased level of use that may include withdrawal syndrome, cravings, and certain reactions to substances that they have never felt before.  Those who were in active substance abuse ended up pushing their addiction into overdrive. For those in recovery from an SUD, social isolation is a risk factor for relapse.

While the COVID-19 pandemic has brought a dramatic increase in stress and substance use to many people, we want to reach out to help.  In these extraordinary times, people are going through different versions of difficulty, and anyone that is supportive will understand that extra help right now is a good thing.  The right thing to do is seek help and address the substance abuse problems.  Reaching out and engaging healthcare providers like us will help establish a new foundation of health that will lead to a better life.  There is no shame or blame to be found in struggling during these times.

We are here for you!  We hold ourselves to the highest standard of providing health care services to our patients.  We utilize guidelines from CDC and Los Angeles County Department of Public Health to implement new procedures to help minimize the risk of exposure to our patients and staff.

We apply Telehealth as our treatment option during this crucial time.  This promotes the practice of social distancing to reduce spread – shifting visits and initial patient evaluation to a modality that does not require in-person and face-to-face interaction with our patients.  It reduces the likelihood of patients participating in activities/behaviors that could increase risk of exposure, such as use of public transportation to attend appointments, and also allows the monitoring of patients to identify potential and confirmed cases without person-to-person contact.

Why do we consider addiction a disease?

Most modern medical associations and health practitioners are now used to viewing drug and alcohol addictions as a chronic disease. While this may be old news to those in the treatment field, it can still be a bit confusing for the average citizen. How is drug addiction like a disease, and why do we benefit from viewing it that way?

“Like diabetes, cancer and heart disease, addiction is caused by a combination of behavioral, environmental and biological factors. Genetic risks factors account for about half of the likelihood that an individual will develop addiction.”

Center on Addiction

The main idea to remember about addiction being considered a disease is that addiction changes the physical and chemical pathways in the brain, and as a result of this drug use becomes compulsive. It is these brain changes that make the substance user feel that they have no control over whether or not to use the substance. 

Here is a good video that explains this idea in some more depth:

Because addiction is a chronic disease, it means that treatment efforts must be ongoing. An addict is never fully recovered, and to avoid all-too-common relapses treatment plans need to be modified and adjusted as the patient responds. This is similar to the way many other chronic diseases require ongoing care and attention to prevent relapse.  

By viewing addiction as a disease, healthcare practitioners are able to create better treatment plans that take into account the whole person that is struggling with the disease. This view also helps to remove some of the stigma around addiction, and encourages those with substance abuse disorders to seek professional help from qualified agencies.

The start of it all: Founding Divine Healthcare Services, Inc.

Divine Healthcare Services, Inc.(DHCS) is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization which has been providing substance abuse treatment and case management services to the residents of Los Angeles County since 2008. Realizing the need for substance abuse treatment program which could provide the breadth of services necessary for an individual or family to fully recover from the ravages of addiction; and seeing that many clients went to one location for substance abuse treatment, and different locations for other services such as parenting education, anger management and youth/adult vocational development services; our founder and some of his colleagues working in substance abuse treatment in the South Bay area of Los Angeles County decided that a one-stop center for all the services will benefit the residents of Inglewood, California and the surrounding community.

4 things that make Divine Healthcare Services different from other drug & alcohol treatment centers.

  1. At Divine Healthcare Services, Inc., “We Listen” and use Evidence-Based Practices (EBP) thus The ASAM tool for Assessment to determine the level of care placement while using Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) and Motivational Interviewing (MI) to educate and motivate clients with a focus on their individual needs.
  2. We practice a client-centered treatment model where every treatment plan is tailored to each individual client based on the result of their assessment. We do more of listening, educating and motivating thus encouraging clients to remain focused on their treatment and recovery.
  3. We also provide free transportation for clients to get to and from treatment making it more convenient, supportive and encouraging to stay in treatment. 
  4. All services are provided in both English and Spanish.

How to know if Divine Healthcare Services is right for you or your family member.

Divine Healthcare Services, Inc. envisions a world where communities can pursue social, economic, and educational wellness-free from alcohol and other drugs and their negative effects. Our mission is to engender positive change in the lives of substance abusers and their families through a holistic continuum of services, and we also understand that treating the whole person, indeed the whole family provides much greater benefit toward the long term recovery of the individual. Divine Healthcare Services, Inc. operates from the philosophy that addiction is a life-long and life-imbruing disease permeating the individual and family across all life domains, and across the life span. DHCS was born of this philosophy-providing substance abuse treatment, case management, parenting education, anger management and youth after school programs with our goal being to create positive change not only in individual families but in the entire community in which we operate.