Aftercare Plan: Planning for After Treatment

Preparing Clients For After Treatment

The Importance of Aftercare Planning

PREPARING AN AFTERCARE PLAN

At Good Heart, we have an extensive internal clinical program focused solely on the aftercare plans for each of our clients. Aftercare is extremely important when it comes to setting up a life worth living and a life that holds avenues for progress after a treatment stay is completed. The clinical case managers who work with our clients on their aftercare plan are all Master’s level clinicians who are trained in working with individuals who have addiction and/or mental health issues.

The areas that we address with our clients throughout the initial planning, continued progression of, and completion of their aftercare plan are as follows:

EMPLOYMENT PLAN

Becoming and/or remaining financially independent is a goal of all adults entering early and sustained recovery. We work with our clients on creating resumes, seeking part-time or full-time employment, and learning about the skills they hold within themselves to progress forward in the vocational area of their lives.

EDUCATION PLAN

For young adults or mature adults wanting to develop new skills, an education plan is important to feel fulfilled during the recovery process. Our clients are provided guidance towards completion of their GED, high school diploma, college degree, and/or graduate education.

PRIMARY/PEER SUPPORT PLAN

Interpersonal support is necessary when it comes to maintaining a community of individuals who care about your well-being and stabilization. We work to develop and help our clients identify those people in their lives that can support them throughout the journey of healing.

RELAPSE PREVENTION PLAN

Relapse does not just apply to substance use. People can relapse back into traumas, anxiety, depression, and behavioral patterns. All of our clients obtain a relapse prevention plan that can include self-help skills, community meetings, phone numbers of people or places to call if they become triggered, and also places, people, thoughts, and objects to avoid to increase the likelihood of a smooth long-term recovery experience.

MEDICAL/MEDICATION PLAN

At Good Heart, we gather a list of all current, past, and necessary future doctors that our clients may need. We ensure the doctors that are set up for all of our clients’ physical health needs including primary care physicians, neurologists, physical therapists, nutritionists, etc.

SPIRITUAL PLAN

Our clinical case managers help our clients identify people, places, and things that are supportive of spiritual growth. We are not religiously oriented at Good Heart Recovery, however, we do believe that having an understanding of a higher power is important for long-term stability. Some of our spiritual plans with clients include a meditation practice, mindfulness techniques, church attendance, the ending steps of AA and NA, and more.

CONTINUING TREATMENT PROVIDERS PLAN

For all of our clients, having continuing treatment providers helps transition from our facility into a less intensive outpatient program. We help set up the following appointments for our clients upon discharge from our rehab program: individual therapists, personal coaches, psychiatrists, alcohol and drug counselors, etc.

HOUSING PLAN

Housing resources are important for long-term stability. Many times, our clients have been in and out of so many places that they don’t remember what it feels like to have a ‘home’. When clients leave our facility, we do everything we can to make sure they feel they have a safe, secure, comfortable, and engaging environment they call ‘home’ that they can remain in long-term.

LEGAL PLAN

We help our clients with a number of legal services that may impact their long-term recovery. Some of these services include contacting their probation officer, writing letters to the courts discussing their progress in treatment, giving recommendations based on mental health status for various charges and outcomes, helping our clients navigate any restitution or additional classes they need to take such as anger management classes, DUI classes, etc.

FINANCIAL PLAN

Finances are important when it comes to remaining stable in recovery. Financials can be stressful and we work with our clients and their families to ensure that the odds and ends of any financial needs are taken care of. What we mean by this is that we work with the clients on learning how to budget any money that they may have, to help set them up with food stamps or general relief if they need additional financial support and at times will help them with section 8 housing applications.

CRISIS MANAGEMENT PLAN

Good Heart Recovery knows that crises can happen even when we think all is going well. Crisis management skills and a plan are important when wanting to obtain long-term stability. Our crisis management plans with our clients include some of the following supports: a list of triggers, a list of crisis hotlines, a list of calming and/or self-soothing techniques, a list of reasons to not relapse on substances, a letter to oneself about the positive attributes they hold, and/or the nearest emergency room based on medical severity.

Alumni Program

Our alumni program is one of the most important parts of our client’s experience. Being an alumni of Good Heart Recovery is not just for someone who completes our program. Individuals who engage actively in our program, even when they may need to be transferred to a higher level of care, are allowed to return to our alumni program once they are stabilized and abstinent. Our mental health and addiction alumni program is a year long and is completely free of charge.

We offer the following services to our Good Heart rehab alumni:

Weekday Morning Meditations
Relapse Prevention Groups
Life Skills Groups

Community Lunches
Family Connection Program
Continuous Outreach Check-ups For A Year

We recommend that our alumni community attend two group sessions a week for an entire year in addition to all aspects of the aftercare plan they have set up in collaboration with their Good Heart clinical case manager.