“We believe that substance use disorder is a disease. Those with the disease are not bad people that need to get good.”
The Kern County Mental Health System of Care provides ongoing Substance Use Disorder counseling services at the Mary K. Shell building free of charge for all those wanting to stop using or drinking. If a person relapses while in the program, they will not be kicked out, but instead encouraged to attend more often and find the source of the relapse. Staff contacts group members every Monday as a reminder of group the next day, to check on the success of their weekend and to provide ongoing support. This is an intervention of caring instead of enabling. It is reported the group member will respond to those interventions with surprise to find that someone cares. The criterion for enrollment in the group is to want to quit using. The staff are continuously assessing for co-occurring disorders with immediate access to mental health services and referral sources. Clients can also have individual sessions with CAC staff. The group member can be open to any team or have no insurance at all. Staff attend the shift change at the PEC every morning to speak to those who have tested positive upon admission, to invite them and to provide information about CAC. The staff will then contact those persons from PEC every week for a couple of weeks to provide ongoing support and another invitation to the program. At the end of 12 weeks in-group each member will receive a certificate and be encouraged to continue in the program. Group members also receive chips for clean time, much like a 12-Step meeting as tangible evidence of their success. To begin there is an orientation from 2-2:30 p.m. on Tuesdays and Wednesdays before group starts. This is an amazing resource!
Groups are as follows:
Tuesday 3 - 4:30 p.m. - Process
Wednesday 3 - 4:30 p.m. - Education Group
Thursday 3 - 4:30 p.m. - Life Skills Group
For any additional questions please contact Ellen Eggert @ 868-1552