What We Treat at Agape Treatment Center in Fort Lauderdale, FL
At Agape Treatment Center, we’ve created a comfortable, peaceful, and supportive environment for healing. People can visit our facility in Fort Lauderdale for various addiction and mental health treatment programs. Our whole-health, integrative medicine approach to wellness addresses addiction and mental health at their underlying causes.
We treat substance use disorder, alcohol use disorder, and primary mental health disorders in our addiction programs in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. We additionally assist our clients in recognizing their self-worth, overcoming past trauma, and undoing the negative, behavioral conditioning that occurred early in their lives. Not only are we committed to helping people achieve and maintain their sobriety long-term, but we also work hard to ensure lasting stability and happiness for everyone we serve.
Understanding Addiction and Alcoholism
Drug and alcohol addictions aren’t a matter of failed willpower or poor decision-making. Currently recognized as chronic, lifelong mental health issues, substance use disorder and alcohol use disorder can be the result of numerous, underlying factors such as:
- Genetic predisposition
- Low self-esteem
- Untreated mental health issues
- Unprocessed grief
- Overwhelming guilt
- Trauma
- Chronic physical pain
Quitting addictive substances on your own or remaining abstinent for an extended period of time isn’t effective or sustainable. Recovery from drug addiction must include efforts to address the drivers of addiction. At Agape Treatment Center, we offer a variety of behavioral health services for changing the way in which our clients think, how they view themselves, and how they view the world around them.
Our mental health services help people develop new coping skills, better stress management skills, and lifestyles that are easier to manage overall. With co-occurring disorder treatment, people who suffer from the mental anguish of post-traumatic stress disorder, panic disorder, and other like issues are able to find safe, sustainable ways of managing them. With holistic services like chiropractic therapy, physical therapy, massage, and acupuncture, those with excessive physical pain can establish solid, natural, and multi-pronged pain management plans as well. By addressing the underlying causes of addiction, we make it easier for people to navigate the challenging and ongoing path of addiction recovery.
The effects of alcohol and substance use disorders
Alcohol and substance use disorders destroy lives. People living in the throes of addiction are unable to care for themselves, unable to care for their loved ones, and unable to stay on top of even the most basic responsibilities. Our clients are often facing overwhelming financial issues, widespread legal troubles, and the loss of close and important relationships. Addiction makes itself the center of attention and eliminates interest in nearly everything else. It also radically alters the physical health of those who suffer from it. The long-term abuse of many substances can lead to an elevated risk of:
- Heart disease
- Liver disease
- Cancer
- Lung disease
- And more
Excessive drug and alcohol use accelerates the normal aging process and alters how people feel about themselves. At Agape, our whole-health approach helps mitigate some of the negative effects of drug and alcohol addiction.
Addiction often has the greatest impact on the brain. When abusing alcohol, stimulants, benzodiazepines, opioids, or other substances, people are essentially changing the chemistry of their brains and rewriting the functions of the central nervous system (CNS). Many drugs incite massive surges of powerful neurotransmitters that are commonly referred to as “feel good” chemicals. These chemicals are agents of the brain’s reward center and are normally used to reward healthy and beneficial behaviors. Artificially triggering these chemicals by using alcohol or drugs conditions the brain to view substance abuse as a healthy, helpful, or otherwise beneficial activity. Spending adequate time in an addiction treatment program allows recovering addicts to effectively recondition their brains. At Agape, we offer guided yoga and meditation classes, art therapy, and other engaging and naturally rewarding activities that assist this recovery.
Individualized addiction treatment plans for each patient
Agape Treatment Center offers a vast range of evidence-based treatment modalities and therapy types. However, we also recognize that addiction can look different for each person. No specific treatment method is guaranteed to work well for everyone. All of our clients are given customized and multi-pronged treatment plans that are based on comprehensive medical examinations and psychological evaluations. This ensures that no treatment needs are overlooked and that our patients are constantly getting the needs-specific care they deserve. With continuous monitoring, progress tracking, and regular plan updates, treatment at our Fort Lauderdale facility is constantly revised to stay on par with the ever-changing requirements of the individual.
Many of the most common underlying causes of addiction are psychological in nature. Although abstaining from drugs and alcohol is always an important part of the recovery process, it is also critically important for people to understand and address the drivers of their addictions. This often means consciously changing automatic negative thinking by adopting positive, proactive, mindsets, and learning how to value themselves.
Primary mental health treatment at Agape
At Agape Treatment Center, we offer primary mental health treatment. Our mental health treatment program offers comprehensive treatment to anyone suffering from mental health disorders. This gives us extraordinary reach for helping more people in our community.
People with Mental health issues often have their lives disrupted. These disruptions can impact their ability to live every day to their full potential. Agape Treatment Center’s holistic, multi-pronged approach treats the whole person by healing the mind, body, and spirit.
Our programs include both group and individual counseling, as well as multiple options in behavioral therapy, and long-term life-planning services. By helping people prepare for the challenges of the outside world, our programs help patients learn to cope and ultimately thrive.
Mental health conditions we treat
We offer evidence-based solutions for many mental health disorders. Given that we take a whole-health approach to their recovery, one of our overarching goals is to help each person obtain lasting mental wellness.
Depression
Clinical depression is far different from feeling sad when things don’t go as we intend. People with major depressive disorder often have chemical imbalances, nutritional deficiencies, or other physiological problems affecting their mental wellness. We use both medical interventions and natural therapies to help people manage depression over the long term. Our dual diagnosis treatment includes services for major depressive disorder, psychotic depression, persistent depressive disorder, seasonal affective disorder (SAD), and more.
Anxiety disorders
Much like depression, anxiety can be a normal, natural experience or it can be an all-consuming, chronic issue. When people have undiagnosed and untreated anxiety disorders, they’re more prone to reaching for addictive substances that incite instant feelings of relaxation and euphoria. We offer sustainable medication management for anxiety disorders like panic disorder, general anxiety disorder, social anxiety disorders, and more. We also teach our clients self-care strategies and coping techniques for mitigating anxiety on their own.
Bipolar disorders
Bipolar disorders are common drivers of depression. We offer a combination of psychotherapy and medication for clients at our Fort Lauderdale facility with bipolar disorders. Our patients can also take part in immersive stress management therapies that promote relaxation, mood balance, and general healing.
Schizophrenia
Schizophrenia can be both a trigger for addiction and a consequence of long-term substance abuse. Our medical and mental health teams at Agape Treatment Center work hard to ensure that people are getting the most timely and needs-specific care possible. We regularly monitor and reassess patients in recovery with schizophrenia to ensure that this issue is accurately diagnosed and correctly treated.
PTSD
Post-traumatic stress disorder is common among veterans, victims of domestic abuse, and victims of childhood abuse. PTSD can arise as the result of any traumatic event or experience, and it can have a lasting impact on a person’s overall well-being. We treat PTSD with a combination of psychotherapy, medication management, and education on proactive self-care.
Personality disorders
Many people live with personality disorders that have yet to be diagnosed or that have been both misdiagnosed and mistreated by other professionals in the past. We know that until the right, needs-specific treatment plan is in place, people with personality disorders can experience intense psychological distress. Our dual diagnosis treatment team takes a multi-pronged approach to both identifying personality disorders and customizing treatment for them.
Comprehensive mental health treatment plans
The whole health approach that we use at Agape Treatment Center gives people numerous ways to achieve mood balance, alleviate mental or emotional discomfort, and connect with the world around them. In our dual diagnosis treatment program and in all other mental health services we supply, we work hard to ensure that our patients always have multiple ways to comfort and care for themselves.
We prioritize good nutrition, good sleep hygiene, and diligent overall self-care. We encourage our clients to maintain healthy social connections, rewarding hobbies and personal activities, and more. We teach the importance of maintaining fulfilling and sustainable lives, and we show our clients how to achieve these goals. Through our programs, our patients also learn numerous stress management techniques for successfully overcoming all common, real-world triggers and challenges.
Get started with Agape today
Getting targeted, needs-specific treatment for addiction and for the co-occurring disorders or other underlying factors that drive it is important. The effects of untreated addiction aren’t just widespread, they are also progressive. If you’re ready to reclaim your mental and physical well-being, your freedom, and your life, Agape Treatment Center can help. Call us today to get started.
- February 22, 2023
- Updated Date: July 24, 2024
Addiction Recovery Services
Stephanie Robilio is an accomplished Clinical Director at Agape Behavioral Healthcare. With a Master of Social Work degree, LCSW license, and extensive training in Rapid Resolution Therapy under her belt, she brings a wealth of expertise to her role. Her unique combination of education and experience allows her to provide exceptional care to clients and lead her team with confidence. Stephanie’s joy comes from witnessing the moments when her patients creatively connect the dots and bravely move toward reclaiming their power. Her purpose is to help individuals understand their past so they can create a future full of hope, growth, and success. Stephanie attributes a large portion of her success to the supportive culture and strong sense of community fostered by the Agape team.