Sober Transitions

Athlete's emotional health as vital.....

Athlete’s emotional health as vital as physical well-being Published September 24, 2007 : Page 54 Sports Business Journal  At last year’s World Congress of Sports, an instant survey of participants noted the growing concern about off-the-field problems with athletes and their effect on the fan base. But once noted, the discussion ended abruptly. It may be time to look at this issue again, not only to protect the investments of the business community, but for the long-term health of the athlete. It’s not surprising that the world of professional sports has felt it better to ignore or even hide the emotional and behavioral issues surrounding elite athletes. Athletes are expected to be strong, and this includes being emotionally sturdy. If athletes can’t hack it, then they don’t belong under the spotlight. Anything related to negative emotions is considered weak. While this appears to be true on the surface, we have been faced with a growing number of elite athletes wilting under the pressure of outsized expectations. What is the cost to a team whose players climb into the stands, or to the morale of a professional team that has a disgruntled athlete with a chip on his shoulder? Does a sponsor get a rebate from athletes if they are on the sidelines or otherwise devalued by ill-advised behavior and poor decision-making? As with many other areas of our lives, we tend to avoid what’s uncomfortable, whether it’s the feelings we push under the rug or simply ignore, or the words we are afraid to say; whether it’s something in ourselves and our behavior … or in our neighbors and their behaviors. This is a fairly routine result of our childhood rearing, our culture, as well as natural reasons for turning away from discomfort. Elite athletes have it much worse than the average person. With a natural-born ability for success, they have rarely had to develop other types of coping mechanisms, or even deal with frustration. The world tends to accommodate and forgive them. While they are so good at what they do, this doesn’t make them immune to emotional slides, or the side effects of the great amount of pressure that come with success and expectations. They get wounded just like you and me. For them, however, this always happens under a spotlight or microscope. There is no timeout to recuperate and no safe place to lick their wounds. This fact has been intensified as athletes appear to “make it” at younger and younger ages, with even bigger expectations placed on them. The result of this pressure cooker is what we are seeing in sports today: more and more athletes displaying behavior that is harmful to themselves and the sport they represent. A constructive approach What if we treated the mental and emotional part of sport just like the professionals treat the physical and performance part? When it comes to a swing or a kick, we break down the movement, identify what’s ideal, and then help the athlete learn each component, and then put them all together. During a slump we examine their mechanics and identify the parts that need correcting. When the emotional or behavioral subject is raised with sports teams there is always the feeling that even talking about it is taboo. I have had conversations with general managers who have said, “I don’t know if we can get the athletes to pay attention.” And I have spoken with coaches who have quietly said, “This must stay confidential,” or “We can’t make [the athlete] feel like there is something wrong with him.” Why not take the same approach to the athlete’s mental focus and emotional “game” as we do the physical? Despite the fact that everyone agrees on the importance of the mental aspects of the game, it’s only recently that this has received much attention. Furthermore, it’s kept at arm’s distance much of the time. Why should this be? We have only to review the scientific research to know why this aspect of sports is so important. For example, research indicates that individuals who have low levels of social support combined with few coping skills take longer to recover from injury. Stress itself has been shown to slow the healing process. Similar results demonstrated that psychosocial factors also affect injury vulnerability. Other performance-related behavioral factors include distractibility, the ability to focus, to fully participate in practice and to remember plays, and good decision-making on the field. And finally, it is clear that off-field distractions will interfere with on-field focus as well as team “chemistry.” What I am suggesting is that teams develop a continuing training program encompassing positive mental and emotional practices. We should bring these “skills” under the umbrella of training to eliminate any stigma and acknowledge their importance to the overall success of the team and the athlete. Such training, which I have developed after years of researching the stress and emotional needs of athletes, would incorporate issues of self-esteem and cognitive and emotional balance, as well as focus and concentration. This is the kind of positive and comprehensive framework needed as the foundation of overall performance. Stephen I. Sideroff, Ph.D., is clinical director of the Moonview Sanctuary and assistant professor in the department of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at the UCLA School of Medicine.

Bridging the Gap

Hired Power's Personal Recovery Assistants provides a service that "bridges the gap" between the addict and their needs.  Many addicts who take the first step and admit they have a problem, often find themselves using again.  It is not easy to stop "cold turkey".  There is a gap between admitting and actually participating in the treatment process.  There is also a gap between participating in the treatment process and actually living in recovery.  See the Hired Power Model-Road to Recovery "Bridging the Gap" for details.

Sober Companions are not just for celebrities

Though sober companions have gotten a lot of press lately as being part of a celebrity entourage, Hired Power's Certified Personal Recovery Assistants get press for working with a diverse group of professionals such as: CEO's, Politicians, Musicians, business owners, and their families.  See the article in the Taadas Times page 13 for more details.

Hired Power Model: "Road to Recovery, Bridging the Gaps"

Hired Power:  Model for Transition Recovery “Road to Recovery, Bridging the Gaps”

1.  Engaging and Achieving abstinene (Transition)

• Admitting addiction and abuse of drugs and alcohol
• Detoxing, stopping cold turkey,

GAP

·         Denial, procrastination, laziness, peer pressure, breaking habits, social groups,cravings

·         Lack of resources, motivation

Bridge:  Certified Personal Recovery Assistant

·         Has experienced addiction and is in recovery

·         Relates familiar experiences and feelings

·         Encouragement to move to the next step

·         Engagement in recovery lifestyle

·         Trusted partner

2.  Learning Recovery Skills and Relapse Prevention (Transition)

• Treatment Experience
• AA, NA, Treatment Centers
• Therapists, Treatment providers
• Learning new coping skills, tools

GAP

·         Lack experience applying new coping tools

·         Fighting the cravings

·         Unforseen Triggers, and Barriers to recovery

·         Lack of social support

·         Isolation

Bridge:  Certified Personal Recovery Assistant

·         Has experienced addiction and is in recovery

·         Relates familiar experiences and feelings

·         Encouragement to move to the next step

·         Engagement in recovery lifestyle

·         Trusted partner

·         Liason between addict, treatment team, family, community resources

·         Helps identify barriers and triggers

·         Helps create a solution utilizing experience and treatment team

  3.  Recovery Lifestyle (Gaps filled)

·         Applying new coping skills to everyday life

·         Recognizing barriers, and triggers as they arise

·         Developing a new sense of self over time as life events are radically changed

·         Becoming self reliant, and self sustaining, not relying on others

·         Developing new sets of social groups

Once an addict decides to make the change, there are countless options they could follow to recover and maintain a sober lifestyle.  No matter what the recovery process is, however a transition or transformation is taking place.  Psychologists and theorists describe transition as significant life events - changes to the individual’s role or environment that require radical restructuring of the individual’s view of themselves and their world.  Addicts who are used to coping with life while under the influence experience a radical change in their view of themselves and their environment when they decide to live a sober lifestyle.  Addicts sometimes admit they have a problem but are psychologically in denial that they need help.  This can prevent a transition due to procrastination, lack of motivation.  Moreover, while learning and experiencing the tools and techniques to live in recovery is necessary to make a total transformation, the reality of practicing them in real life situations on a daily basis for the rest of the addicts life is extra challenging.  Current treatment models provide the tools or “medicine” for addicts, however unlike taking medicine most of the treatment requires the addict to know when, where, how and why to apply the tools for treatments in order to practice a recovery lifestyle.

Current studies indicate that addicts very rarely stop “cold turkey” for the rest of their life without a relapse ranging from minor to life threatening or fatal consequences.  Studies also show that the longer an addict stays in recovery up to five years, they are more likely to remain in recovery for the rest of their lives.  It has also been found that even after extensive treatment in treatment centers that addicts go home and relapse within the first 90 days. Relapse Prevention theory indicates there are certain triggers and barriers that must be recognized while in recovery.  Only then addicts can know what their challenges are and overcome them.

The Hired Power Model of transition recovery was founded as a result of recognizing the need for many addicts to have constant intensive support during the transition to and from treatment.  By providing support through a CPRA, addicts learn from someone who has been where they are and has made it through the transition.  A Hired Power CPRA is there to mentor addicts through the next step and teach them which tools to use and also teach them when, where, how and why to use them.  Though therapy and treatment give an addict tested tried and true methods of recovery, new coping skills and transitions take time to settle in. 

Hired Power’s CPRA’s assist the client in recognizing their triggers and barriers and mentor them through creating a strategy to face them and minimize their impact on the client.  Thus, “bridging the gaps” and increasing the amount of time an addict is in recovery giving them a better chance of living a lifetime in recovery. 

Nanette Zumwalt- Industry Profile

Industry Profile: Nanette Zumwalt

— By Bob Grossweiner and Jane Cohen

Nanette Zumwalt is the new owner/president/CEO of Hired Power, an addiction industry liaison used by leaders in the entertainment management industry and by corporate executives, whether it is a therapist in a local town, an intervention, residential treatment option or individual daily support such as a Personal Recovery Assistant.

By providing one on one support, Hired Power Transition Recovery Services provides a unique and innovative approach to working with the impaired professional, says Nanette, who has extensive experience in the therapeutic field.

"The most important focus is on our ability to support artists, managers, agents, their families and other members of their teams during transition times or high risk times such as returning home from treatment, returning to the road or attending activities and events that include old patterns and behaviors," she says. "I am able to link people with the services they need."

As a leading consultant in the addiction field, Nanette creates a bridge between the struggles of addiction and living in recovery. Through her knowledge of connecting resources, she is able to provide the necessary tools to increase the efficacy of treatment for addiction. Hired Power addresses the needs of people in all phases of recovery by recognizing the importance of personal assistance in facing the world without drugs or alcohol.

Nanette began her work in mental health and addiction treatment as a teenager. She worked with a local non-profit organization providing "therapy through theatre," being part of a peer counseling group that also did plays and workshops on drug, alcohol and date rape issues. After returning from college at Arizona State University, she began working with an adolescent detox treatment center in Orange, Calif. There she developed her skills working with young patients and families as they struggled with the consequences of drug abuse and addiction.

Nanette then went to work for a psychiatric hospital working again with youth and their families, providing educational groups and workshops on parenting skills, daily living skills and addiction education. Soon she took her skills to the community. Nanette began working for the hospital as a community liaison, creating awareness of local resources for mental health and addiction services. She began to facilitate the connection between professionals and families finding local and national treatment for both adolescents and adults. This work took her to an organization that provided schools and wilderness programs for "out of control" teenagers allowed for a solid base of awareness of treatment centers, programs, schools and professionals for youth, adults and their families.

Nanette has toured and visited more than 200 treatment provider campuses across the country and internationally. As a leading consultant to the addiction field, she continues to work with these and many professionals creating interventions and treatment plans for clients and families. Throughout her work Nanette recognized the gap in treatment services, the transition process. Clients and families continued to struggle with the recovery process as they attempted to return home from treatment, often times leading to the necessity of additional treatment interventions and placements. In 2004 Nanette began her work with Hired Power Inc. continuing to develop the concept for the need of transition services.

Nanette has been and continues to be involved with a number of professional associations such as: Association of Intervention Specialists (2005- 2006), California Association of Alcoholism and Drug Abuse Counselors (2005-2006), National Association of Therapeutic Schools and Programs affiliate (2000-2006), Orange County Board of Supervisors Mental Health Adult Services Committee Chairman (2001), Orange County Mental Health Association Advisory Board (1996-2001) and Folie A Duex Auxiliary- Founder and President (1998-2002).

She has spoken about staying clean and sober on the road at the 2005 Billboard Touring Conference and at other industry events. Her articles have appeared in the IAAM magazine (June 2005), Counselor Magazine (August 2005) and Recovery Today (September 2005).

Nanette can be reached at: 877 hired pwr or 877 447-3379; e-mail: nzumwalt@hiredpower.com

© 2001-2007 Gen-Den Corporation. All rights reserved.
CelebrityAccess^SM and Gen-Den^SM are service marks of Gen-Den Corporation

Drug and Alcohol Relapse Facts

• Most people completing addiction treatment are fragilely balanced between sustained recovery and resumption of alcohol or other drugs in the year following discharge from treatment.

• The window of greatest vulnerability for relapse after treatment is the first 30-90 days.

• Between 25-35% of people who complete addiction treatment will be readmitted within five years.

• Recovery is not fully stabilized(point at which future risk lifetime relapse drops below 15%) until four to five years of sustained recovery.

• Sustained addiction can be lethal: relapses following addiction treatment produce high death rates from accidental poisoning/overdose, liver disease, cancer, cardiovascular disease, AIDS, suicide and homicide.

          Source:  William, HBO/Addiction

Relapse Triggers: Key to long term recovery

Research suggests that relapse is almost inevitable during the recovery process. However, there also appears to be certain triggers that can stimulate an addict to use again. Unfortunately, Addicts often can’t predict what is going to trigger their relapse.  They don’t often see the triggers that stimulate them to relapse and aren’t sure what the triggers were once relapse has occurred.  Recent studies indicate that identifying relapse triggers is helping addicts recover sooner and longer.

Here are some common triggers that if processed correctly can help addicts prevent relapse:

Exhaustion: Allowing yourself to become overly tired. Not following through on self-care behaviors of adequate rest, good nutrition, and regular exercise. Good physical health is a component of emotional health. How you feel will be reflected in your thinking and judgment.

Dishonesty: It begins with a pattern of small, unnecessary lies with those you interact with in family, social, and at work. This is soon followed by lying to yourself or rationalizing and making excuses for avoiding working your program.

Impatience: Things are not happening fast enough for you. Or, others are not doing what you want them to do or what you think they should do.

Argumentative: Arguing small insignificant points which indicate a need to always be right. This is sometimes seen as developing an excuse to drink.

Depression: Overwhelming and unaccountable despair may occur in cycle. If it does, talk about it and deal with it. You are responsible for taking care of yourself.

Frustration: With people and because things may not be going your way. Remind yourself intermittently that things are not always going to be the way that you want them.

Self-Pity: Feeling like a victim, refusing to acknowledge that you have choices and are responsible for your own life and the quality of it.

Cockiness: "Got it Made," compulsive behavior is no longer a problem. Start putting self in situations where there are temptations to prove to others that you don't have a problem.

Complacency: Not working your program with the commitment that you started with. Having a little fear is a good thing. More relapses occur when things are going well than when not.

Expecting Too Much From Others: "I've changed, why hasn't everyone else changed too?" You can only control yourself. It would be great if other people changed their self-destructive behaviors, but that is their problem. You have your own problems to monitor and deal with. You cannot expect others to change their lifestyle just because you have.

Letting Up On Discipline: Daily inventory, positive affirmations, 12-Step meetings, therapy, meditation, prayer. This can come from complacency and boredom. Because you cannot afford to be bored with your program, take responsibility-talk about it and problem solve it. The cost of relapse is too great. Sometimes you must accept that you have to do some things that are the routine for a clean and sober life.

The Use of Mood-Altering Chemicals: You may feel the need or desire to get away from things by drinking, popping a few pills, etc., and your physician may participate in the thinking that you will be responsible and not abuse the medication. This is the most subtle way to enter relapse. Take responsibility for your life and the choices that you make.

Sources: relapse-prevention.org factsaboutdrugs.com drugoverdose.com heroinaddiction2.com marijuanaaddiction.info interventionspecialists.com

Tragedy at Phoenix Airport

Tragedy at Phoenix Airport

Hired Power provides safe passages and mentoring for addicts in transition.  Recent news has brought attention to the tragic consequences that addicts and families can face when trying to get themselves or their loved ones to a safe supportive environment. The tragic death of a woman who died at Phoenix airport on her way to Rehab makes the news and causes us much grief, and reminds us of why we continue to earnestly provide intensive services for addicts in transition, to and from treatment.  People are very vulnerable during times of transition, navigating situations such as travel can be overwhelming.  Our hope is that nothing like the story of Carol Gotbaum ever has to happen to another family.  Hired Power's team has over 25 years of collective experience in helping people struggling with addiction and mental health issues. We provide Certified Personal Recovery Assistants to mentor one on one under the direction of a clinical team. Our PRA service sets the standard for supporting individuals both in transition and returning home to build a lifestyle of recovery. We are committed to creating awareness of these services to individuals, professionals and families across the country and internationally, in hopes of NEVER having to read another story like Carol's! 

Who are CPRA's

Certified Personal Recovery Assistant (CPRA)

A Certified Personal Recovery Assistant is a professional individual who is qualified to provide guidance, support and mentoring to people struggling with addiction and mental health issues, in the home or on the road. This certification was created to address the growing concern around the need to distinguish between a professional service and individuals offering similar services. 

Hired Power Certified Personal Recovery Assistant’s, work as a member of a clinical team to create a solid foundation of recovery in the client’s home environment. This team includes a Hired Power case manager, a treatment coordinator, the CPRA and the client themselves. The team is essential in developing a solid transition plan for the client.  The specific duty of a CPRA is to provide guidance, mentoring and support to the client as they apply the information learned in early recovery into a daily living plan. 

CPRA’s are not licensed to carryout therapy, counseling, diagnosis or treatment of any kind.  By completing the Hired Power certification requirements the Personal Recovery Assistant is a competent professional who can be trusted to carry out the duties of living with clients, maintaining professional relationships, coordinating clinical supervision with the case manager and treatment coordinator. This environment supports a positive therapeutic relationship that will benefit the client. See www.hpcpra.com for more details.