The Ark’s dual diagnosis, residential inpatient treatment centers specialize in drug rehab, alcohol treatment and other mental health treatment services. Residential treatment is a month-to-month, live-in treatment for adults 18 and older. Treatment is in a setting in which there is more structure and intensive services for behavioral and emotional problems.

We combine the most effective treatment options to develop long-term treatment plans for our residents. Our step-down treatment is deliberately designed to meet the individual’s needs; reducing the risk of self-sabotaging behaviors and/or relapse into old behaviors.

The following programs offer the greatest chance for success when assisted with professional help:

• Detoxification (location may vary based on substance and quantity)
• Day Treatment
• Interventions
• Residential / Inpatient Treatment
• Outpatient
• Transitional / Sober Living
• Intensive Outpatient
• Aftercare
• Traditional / Professional Programs

Emotional health author and TV personality, John Bradshaw, will be presenting workshops on Friday and Saturday, April 22 and 23, at The Ark of Little Cottonwood’s Outpatient Facility at 272 East 1200 South in Draper.

Friday’s workshop, designed for mental health professionals and interested individuals, “How Effective Therapy Molds Moral Intelligence,” will be held from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Cost to attend the Friday workshop is $100 per person (although a $70 fee is available to mental health professionals who attend the “Generations” conference April 20 and 21 at the Salt Palace). Continuing Education Unit (CEU) credits are available to mental health professionals who attend this workshop.

Saturday’s workshop, “Healing the Inner Child,” will be held from 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. This workshop is free for Ark clients and family only. Other individuals may attend the Saturday workshop for $100, and these attendees must be pre-approved by The Ark.

About John Bradshaw

John Bradshaw is a Pulitzer Price and Emmy nominee. In 1999, Bradshaw was honored by a group of his peers and named as one of the most influential writers on emotional health in the 20th century. Others included in the list included Sigmund Freud, Carl Jung, Joseph Campbell and Erich Fromm. Over the past 35 years, he has appeared on “Oprah,” “Geraldo,” “Sally,” “Dr. Ruth,” “Politically Incorrect,” “Good Morning America,” “CNN News,” CNN-Talk Back Live,” the BBC and on Sirius Radio. He has also been featured or interviewed by such publications as Newsweek, Rolling Stone, People, the Chicago Tribune, Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune, Boston Globe, San Francisco Chronicle and the Portland Oregonian, among others.

Bradshaw was born into a troubled family in 1933. He was abandoned by his alcoholic father at a young age. As a young man, he studied for the Roman Catholic priesthood at a Basilian seminary, where he remained for 9 ½ years, leaving just a few days prior to being ordained. During that time, he earned a bachelor’s and master’s degrees in psychology, philosophy and theology from St. Michael’s College at the University of Toronto, graduating magna cum laude. He continued his post-graduate studies at Rice University and earned a master’s of spiritual psychology at the University of Santa Monica.

During his years of study, Bradshaw developed a drinking problem. In December 1965, he committed himself to Austin State Hospital for the treatment of his dependency on alcohol. After being in the hospital for six days, he signed himself out of the hospital and entered an alcohol recovery program. Shortly thereafter, he began to lecture at a local church. This helped launch Bradshaw’s career as a counselor, teacher, public speaker and corporate consultant.

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The Utah State Legislature is currently considering House Bill 216, which deals with children born with fetal alcohol syndrome or fetal drug dependency. Simply stated, the bill says that women with addiction issues should be required to receive treatment after giving birth or they will not be allowed to be reunited with their newborn.

As a substance abuse professional, I think the bill’s basic premise is sound, but the proposed legislation has major flaws.

First, it discriminates against women, since men are not similarly punished for behavior that results in the poor health of infants.

Second, the bill excludes prescription drugs that are lawfully prescribed, even though they may be abused — a significant factor, considering that Utah leads the nation for prescription abuse.

Third, the bill refers to dependency for drugs that produce a withdrawal syndrome. The problem is that stimulants like cocaine, methamphetamine and marijuana don’t result in a significant withdrawal syndrome.

I encourage lawmakers to consider factors like these and to consult with addiction counselors on how the bill can be made more equitable and helpful to mothers and fathers in terms of dealing with addiction.

Click here to read this article in the Salt Lake Tribune.

Is there a relationship between alcohol and domestic violence? Alcohol and domestic violence are not directly linked but many individuals have an overlap of these two very serious problems.

Battering is a socially learned behavior, and is not the result of substance abuse or mental illness. Many men who batter do not drink heavily and many alcoholics do not beat their wives. Some abusers with alcohol problems batter when they are drunk, and others when they are sober.

Statistically, Alcohol use is frequently associated with violence between partners. About two-thirds of victims of intimate partner violence reported that alcohol was involved in the incident.

According to the Marin Institute…
• Women whose partners abused alcohol were 3.6 times more likely than other women to be assaulted by their partners.
• In 1997, 40 percent of convicted rape and sexual assault offenders said that they were drinking at the time of their crime.
• An estimated 480,000 children are mistreated each year by a caretaker with alcohol problems.
Although there is no direct link between alcohol and domestic violence, there does seem to be an increase in domestic abuse when alcohol is present and the severity of the abuse increases when the abuser is using alcohol at the time of the abuse.

If you or a loved one is involved in an abusive relationship and need help overcoming alcoholism, or need help getting out of an abusive relationship, please contact our helpline at 800-370-9520.

Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is an anxiety disorder that can occur after an individual has been through a traumatic event. A traumatic event is something horrible and scary that an individual might see or be involved in. During this type of event, they might think that their life or others’ lives are in danger and they may feel afraid or that they have no control over the situation.

Anyone who has gone through a life-threatening event can develop PTSD. Some common events that cause PTSD are combat or military exposure, sexual or physical assault, child sexual or physical abuse, serious accidents, terrorist attacks and natural disasters, such as fires, tornados, hurricanes, floods and earthquakes.

Early intervention to help children and adolescents who have suffered trauma from violence or a disaster is critical. Children who witness or are exposed to a traumatic event and are clinically diagnosed with PTSD have a greater likelihood for developing later drug and/or alcohol use disorders. Those who suffered a traumatic event early in life and never received proper treatment for PTSD or those who experienced a traumatic event later in life and suffer from PTSD are more likely to attempt to rid themselves of their painful experiences by abusing alcohol or drugs as a form of self-medication. This in turn creates more of a problem for the victim as they now suffer from PTSD and addiction.

The good news is that both PTSD and Addictions are treatable. If you or a loved one suffers from either PTSD or addictions please call out helpline at 800-370-9520.

How does your higher power and spirituality help you to overcome your addictions?

When you are in recovery, you may experience inner turmoil, depression, shame, guilt, fear and pain.  What God does for you is makes recovery bearable enough to handle.  He will lighten your load just enough that you can find the strength to move forward even if it’s just one small step at a time.

God is exactly the opposite of inner turmoil.  He provides us with inner peace.  He is someone who knows exactly where we have been and exactly what we feel.  He will accept us for who we are and what we have done.  His love for us is completely unconditional.

When we ask for God’s help with our addictions and through our recovery, he will help us to find peace, acceptance, forgiveness, hope and control.  He will help us to find and develop self-love whereby, we can learn to love ourselves as God does.  He will help us to find gratitude for even the smallest things in our life.

Having faith in God and trusting him can bring us comfort even when we feel that we are filled with darkness.  God loves us.  He wants the best for us.  Recovery can be so much easier if we just allow him in.

For more information on our spirituality based recovery program, please call our addiction hotline at 800-370-9520.

Pornography is sexually explicit material designed to arouse an individual.  It is becoming more and more popular every day and with the internet, it is now available to anyone who is seeking it.  Pornography corrupts the men and women who view it and may even lead to sexual acts against children, violence against women and many others who are innocent.

Pornography can impair or destroys a person’s ability to develop emotional intimacy.  It is inappropriate, obscene, and has perverse perspectives on sexuality.

Since pornography can be accessed so easily, it is fast becoming a problem in our society.  Addictions to pornography are becoming more and more common thus increasing the criminal activity associated with Sexual addictions.  Pornography is easily remembered and is performed continuously in the mind.  This makes people want to see more images and other things involved with pornography and sex.

Although some pornography is produced willingly, much of it is not and is an exploitation of those who are involved in the pornographic material.  Much of the pornographic material involves small children who have no say and whose lives will be permanently effected because of this abuse.

Most criminals who have been charged with sexual abuse or violence have been involved with pornography at sometime in their life.  Often people who have been involved with pornography will have aggressive behaviors.  Pornography can negatively impact relationships and may also lead to distrust of a partner and can be very damaging to relationships.

If you or a loved one has a sex addiction or an addiction to pornography, please call our addiction hotline for help at 800-370-9520.

LSD (Lysergic Acid Diethylamide) is more commonly known as “acid,” and is the most potent hallucinogen known, used, and abused.

Acid is widely sought for the psychedelic effects that it causes the user.  When high on LSD, the user experiences visual distortion in the sizes and shapes of objects around them, movements of inanimate things, colors, touch, and the users own body image.  It isn’t common for users to say that are “hearing colors,” or “seeing sounds.”  In addition to these symptoms, addicts often undergo dramatic mood changes, intensified emotions, and distortion of time, as well as dramatic impairments of attention, concentration, and motivation.  These symptoms of the drug will usually last for 10 to 12 hours, which is the average duration of the “trip.”  Users often become fatigued, anxious, confused, or combative at the end of their “trip” for anywhere from 12 to 24 hours.  The physical effects of acid use include increased heart rate, blood pressure, and body temperature, as well as pupil dilation and sweating.

If you are worried that you or someone close to you has developed or are in danger of developing an addiction to LSD, or may be abusing other substances, please call the Drug Hotline for the Ark of Little Cottonwood at 800-370-9520.