Amatus Recovery Centers

In this episode of Straight Talk, host Mike Gimbel speaks with employees from Bonfire Behavioral Health in Dover, New Hampshire to learn about their program from the point of view of staff, and a former client,    First, Mike speaks with Director of Operations Kevin Assad about what clients can expect when they enter treatment and reside in community housing. Then, Mike is joined by Jarrod Parolsi, a former client, now Behavioral Health Technician, about his experience of getting sober at Bonfire.

In this episode of Straight Talk, host Mike Gimbel sits down with three members of Serenity House Detox in Houston to learn about the treatment center and its programs to help individuals detox from substances.   First, Mike talks with Justin Roshto, primary therapist, about the detox process, and therapeutic modalities used for clients.   Next, Maggie Howard, director of business development, joins Mike to outline how the BD team reaches out and finds those who are in need of service.   In the final segment, Sherri Blatt, office administrator and former Serenity House client tells her story of recovery, including how she began to work at the center.

In this episode of Straight Talk, host Mike Gimbel speaks with Georgia Addiction Treatment Center Executive Director, Jesse Stone, and Behavioral Health Technician Supervisor, Mack Cook, about the day to day operations at GATC, and how they ensure the best possible outcomes for clients.   Later, Dusty Smith, an alumnus of GATC joins Mike to discuss his experience with the program, then Alexandra Horan, Regional Business Development Representative, discusses the process of finding and advocating for new clients.

In this episode of Straight Talk, host Mike Gimbel discusses detox, mental health and recovery with Bryan Stephens, Lisa Marie Walsh and Nick Vieira, respectively the Executive Director, Director of Nursing and Behavioral Health Technician at Atlanta Center for Mental Health and Atlanta Detox Center.

When it comes to the national Opioid Epidemic, New Hampshire has been one of the hardest hit states. The sad truth is that drug addiction doesn't stop during the overlapping COVID-19 pandemic.   In this special edition of Straight Talk with Mike Gimbel, Mike sits down with Blueprint Recovery Center Executive Director, Jonathan Gerson, Case Manager, Emily Haight, and Outreach Coordinator, Dan Cotter, to learn about how the Concord facility has made changes to its services during COVID-19.

Midwest Recovery Center CEO and Team Recovery President Matt Bell stopped by the Larry Young Morning Show on WOLB 1010 to tell his story of recovery. He also discussed how Black individuals in communities across the country can receive all-expenses-paid substance use treatment through the Amatus Recovery Centers' Social Justice Scholarship. Hear the whole interview, and learn more about the scholarship here.

Recovery centers around the country have swiftly adapted their treatment protocols to keep clients and staff healthy and safe during the Coronavirus pandemic. Foundations Recovery Center in Baltimore, MD is no different.   In this episode of Straight Talk, host Mike Gimbel sits down with FRC Executive Director Christina Wilson, Program Graduate Stephen Hawkins, and Primary Therapist Carly Foster to learn how FRC has adapted treatment during the COVID-19 crisis, and what those looking for help now can do to find the care they need.

COVID-19 has put many aspects of our lives on hold, but the truth is, addiction to drugs and alcohol has not stopped or even slowed down. In this special edition of Straight Talk, host Mike Gimbel speaks to Jessica Johnson, Jesse Frias and Original Michael, respectively the Clinical Director, Intake Coordinator & Case Manager, and Clinical Therapist at the Atlanta Center for Mental Health and Atlanta Detox Center about the new processes the centers have adapted to during the pandemic.

When it comes to the opioid epidemic, Ohio has been one of the hardest hit states in the country. So how are recovery centers in Ohio providing care during the COVID-19 pandemic? In this special edition of Straight Talk, host Mike Gimbel speaks with Midwest Detox Center Clinical Director, Olivia Ehret, LISW, Primary Clinical Therapist Morgan Fair, MSW, LSW, and client Ezra about their experiences at MWDC during the pandemic.

Treatment Centers' Admission Process During COVID-19The first step in seeking treatment is speaking to an admissions specialist for a pre-screen, where clinical providers learn about your substance use and mental health history, among other important factors. How has COVID-19 impacted the admissions process for substance use treatment centers?   In this special edition of Straight Talk, host Mike Gimbel speaks with  Amatus Recovery Centers National Director of Admissions Kelsey Schutt and Director of Contact Center Operations Danny Felici, discuss the new intake process that helps secure the safety of current and potential clients as well as facility staff members.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, alcohol use has skyrocketed. With most businesses closed or operating on virtual platforms, what are people looking to get substance use treatment to do?   In this special edition of Straight Talk, host Mike Gimbel speaks with COO of Amatus Recovery Centers in the South East Region, Matt Newcome, Awakenings Recovery Center Director of Client Services Robert Zellner, and Blueprint Recovery Center Executive Director Jonathan Gerson about what their centers are doing to continue providing treatment while keeping clients and staff safe and healthy.

Coronavirus has impacted most facets of our lives, leaving many in recovery to wonder how people with substance use disorders are receiving treatment during this uncertain time. In this special edition of Straight Talk, host Mike Gimbel speaks with Amatus Recovery Centers COO Michael Silberman, Amatus Recovery Centers Vice President of Operations Kabir Singh, and Midwest Recovery Center CEO Matt Bell about how COVID-19 has impacted day-to-day operations at ARC facilities. The group assures the community that treatment is still accessible, and that recovery networks such as AA and NA are still available in virtual meetings.

Jenny Paul grew up in a household where drug use was common. For many years, she unlike her brother and father, avoided drugs and enrolled in college and in the military. But after trying prescription medication with her boyfriend at the time, she fell into the very drug using habit that she spent years avoiding. In this episode of Straight Talk with Mike Gimbel, Jenny, now sober, joins Mike to discuss her own story from active addiction to recovery. Jenny, who spent two and a half months in treatment at Maryland Addiction Recovery Center, firmly believes that taking a longterm approach to treating substance use will have the most productive results.

The first step in recovering from substance use disorder is detoxification, commonly called detox: the reduction and the removal of a psychoactive substance. The process can be physically and emotionally distressing, including cramping, vomiting, irregular temperature control, and more uncomfortable symptoms. In this episode of Straight Talk, Dr. Neeraj Gandotra, chief medical officer of the Delphi Behavior Health Group joins Mike to break down what happens in the body during the detox process. Mike also speaks with Scott Dehorty from Maryland House Detox about how to break down the barriers of receiving help.

In recent years, treatment for addiction has become more comprehensive, and not entirely based on abstinence. In this episode of Straight Talk, Mike speaks with psychiatrist Dr. Julie Stancliff, addiction treatment experts Rebecca Hogamier and Zach Snitzer, about different models of treatment for addiction including medication assisted treatment (MAT) such as vivitrol and suboxone, and the impact they are having in helping people recover.

When Olivia Houser was growing up, she never really felt a strong sense of self. In order to fit it in, she did what other teenagers were doing: drinking and partying. Olivia faced consequences immediately, drinking to a toxic level of .38 and going to the hospital the first time she drank. Instead of swearing it off, she was off to the races and added Xanax to her chemical cocktail when she was in college. In this episode of Straight Talk with Mike Gimbel, Olivia tells her story of addiction, which ended with with a heroin dependency, and the strength and hope of her recovery. Her parents, Kim and Tony, also join Mike to discuss the toll that having a loved one with substance use disorder can take on the family, and how family support gives your loved one a better chance of recovering.

Alex W. talks to Straight Talks' Mike Gimbel about why she finally decided to give recovery a chance. Alex and her parents discuss the final straw, hitting rock bottom, and warning signs they wish they recognized.

Caroline Covington's addiction progressed from alcohol and weed to heroin before she graduated high school. Her mother, Jill Prevas, was a school nurse who had been educating students about drug addiction for years. When she and her husband Chris found out that Caroline was using heroin, they knew they needed to act fast. In this episode of Straight Talk, Caroline and her parents join Mike to discuss recovering from addiction as a family, and rebuilding the relationships it damaged.

The fastest way to recover from substance abuse disorder to ask for help. But are there effective ways to prevent addiction from happening in the first place? In this episode of Straight Talk, Carol Boyer Delphi Behavioral Health Group joins Mike to discuss preventative resources that entire communities, from health departments to citizens, can use in order to lessen the impact of drug and alcohol use.

Those with substance use disorder will often forget to take care of themselves during active addiction. Daily tasks like eating, bathing and taking time to care for one's mental health are often placed to the side, as seeking the next drink or drug can be an all encompassing endeavor. But often, in recovery those same people will be especially mindful of their physical and mental health and well being. In this episode of Straight Talk, Joshua and Elyse Buchbinder of B-Strong Athletics join Mike to discuss the pivotal role that fitness and nutrition can play in recovery.

In the midst of the opioid crisis in the United States, employers have been cracking down on drug use in and out of the work place. In this episode of Straight Talk, James P. Randisi, a drug testing expert, joins Mike to discuss the different kinds of drug tests employers can use, their reliability, and why there has been such an increase in positive test results.

Members of the LGBTQIA community face many forms of social stigma and discrimination that heterosexuals do not face, including in substance use treatment. Although as much as 30 percent of the LGBTQIA community has a history with substance use disorder (a rate almost three times that of heterosexuals) there is a profound lack of resources, treatment centers and programs that serve the specific needs of the LGBTQIA community. In this episode of Straight Talk with Mike Gimbel, Tyler Howard, a therapist with Maryland Addiction Recovery Center, shares about his own experiences facing discrimination in health and substance use treatment, and about the identity affirming work he does for the LGBTQIA community as a therapist.

In this episode of Straight Talk, Mike sits down with members of Lucas County Police Department to discuss the D.A.R.T. program, which places those with substance use disorder into treatment rather than getting arrested.

David Allen Roesner used to drink to cope with the shame he felt for being gay, and very quickly it took over his entire life, leaving him with many unfulfilled ambitions. Now three years sober (as of 2016), David has embarked on painting and a career in architecture. In this episode of Straight Talk, David and Mike chat about the healing power that the arts can have for someone in recovery, and how addiction and alcoholism disproportionately impact the LGBTQIA community. Addiction therapist Rachel Markus joins the two to discuss methods to prevent recurring substance use.

When a parent has a substance use disorder, it often causes children to have behavioral problems, anything from isolation to hyperactivity. Research suggests that children of parents with SUD will develop their own addiction in adolescence or adulthood. In this episode of Straight Talk, addictions therapist Corinne Burnett, LCSW, joins Mike to discuss how when a person recovers from substance use disorder, their entire family needs to recover.

In 2014, Tammy Lofink lost her son Robert to a drug overdose. He was 18 years old. Since then, she's co-founded Rising Above Addiction, an advocacy group that raises awareness for the substance use epidemic, and raises money to provide resources to save the lives of young people with substance use disorder. On the episode of Straight Talk with Mike Gimbel, Tammy tells her son Robert's story and offers hope for families who have also lost a loved one to overdose. Drug treatment expert, Zach Snitzer also joins Mike to advocate for better long-term treatment options and more plentiful resources to combat drug use.

Colleen Waterfield grew up in Arbutus, Maryland and got into partying at a pretty young age. Rather quickly, her drinking turned to drug use, and although she got kicked out of a Catholic school, she did graduate high school, as she says, by the skin of her teeth. By the age of 20, she developed an addiction to Percocets. In this episode of Straight Talk, Waterfield joins Mike to discuss her own path to recovery, and the barriers that women face before seeking help for their addiction.

Although drug addiction and alcoholism are quite prevalent throughout the United States, many people with a substance use disorder and their families are unaware of how many addiction treatment programs are available and how to access these resources. On this episode of Straight Talk, Caroline Peredes, admissions specialist at the Maryland Addiction Recovery Center joins Mike to discuss what one can expect during the intake process of seeking treatment.

Brandon Novak is not a stranger to success. By age 15, he was a professional skateboarder and rubbing elbows with sports industry legends like Tony Hawk and Michael Jordan. After being a member of Hawk's skateboard team, Novak fell into the fast life of partying, drinking and using drugs. When things got out of hand, Hawk gave him an ultimatum: go to treatment, or leave the team. Novak quit. Now three years into recovery and a representative of Banyan Treatment Centers, Novak joins Mike Gimbel to discuss his amazing story from addiction to sobriety, and offers hope to families with loved ones with substance use disorder.

Substance use disorder is an all encompassing condition, effecting a person's physical, mental, and some say, spiritual health. In order to fully recover, many try to actively address each of these facets. In this episode of Straight Talk, Dr. Alfred Forrester, medical director of Maryland Addiction Recovery Center, joins Mike to discuss the role of the physician in the recovery process. From supervising detox to prescribing the write medications, a physician carries a heavy weight in the beginning of one's recovery.

Relapse is seen as a part of recovery. Jaime and Tommy of Fresh Start Recovery Center discuss their experiences with relapsing, and what helped them transition to long-term recovery.

Our dopamine receptors are not only the pleasure center of our brains, but also that part of our brains that control our senses of logic and reason. For someone with substance use disorder, drinking alcohol and using drugs reduces the brain's ability to naturally produce dopamine. "The very part of one's brain that would say, 'Hey. This is a stupid idea, I could die from this,' is basically on vacation," says Don Sloane, an interventionist and founder of intervention service Recovery Care Partner. In this episode of Straight Talk with Mike Gimbel, Don joins Mike to discuss a variety of ways to stage an intervention with a loved one, and stresses the importance of preparation before confronting someone with substance use disorder about their addiction.

As a young man, Lilo Brancato, Jr. was on top of the world. After landing a role in "A Bronx Tale," a film directed by legendary actor Robert DeNiro, Brancato began his long career as an actor in film and television. But around age 18, Brancato had dropped out of school, and spent his free time drinking and partying. Things took a turn for the worse when Brancato--in a crack-cocaine induced psychosis-- leapt from a moving car, and began abusing the pain medication he was prescribed for his injury. In this episode of Straight Talk with Mike Gimbel, Brancato, now sober for more than a decade, details the early days of his substance use, and the tragic night an off-duty police officer was killed by a cohort of Brancato while they were robbing a house. These days, Brancato tells his story with the hope of helping others recover from addiction.

When it comes to seeking treatment, sometimes one chance is all we have. On this episode of Straight Talk, Amatus Health Senior Compliance Officer, Desiree Mountain, joins host Mike Gimbel to discuss how to tell the difference between a quality, accredited and certified treatment facility from a not-so good one.

Debbie Ray, the Clinical Director of Georgia Addiction Treatment Center, speaks with Mike Gimbel about how to tell if a person needs treatment, how to help both clients and families heal, and what kinds of programs are available at GATC.

In this episode of Straight Talk, Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Supervisory Special Agent Todd C. Edwards joins Mike to discuss how fentanyl became so prevalent in American communities. Mike is also joined by Dr. Gary Puskin of MedChi to learn about the physician's role in treating pain and Dr.Bethany DiPaula, the director of the University of Maryland Psychiatric Pharmacy Residency Program to discuss the school's program for educating pharmacists about the opioid crisis.

Check out this bonus episode of the Amatus Recovery Centers Podcast! ARC COO Michael Silberman speaks with Entercom about how those struggling with addiction -- and their families -- can find help during the COVID-19 pandemic. It all starts with making the call: 888-20-SOBER.

Many people who have a history of substance use also have co-occurring disorders, including different forms of mental illness. In this episode of Straight Talk with Mike Gimbel, Viktoriya Karakcheyeva LCPC-LS, the clinical director of Fresh Start Recovery Center, discusses the pre-screen and intake processes at the center, which help determine the right level of care for the patient, and how the facility's clinical staff can best serve them.

A common starting point for an opiate addiction is developing a dependency on pain medication that was prescribed to an athlete after being injured. In this episode of Straight Talk, Fresh Start Recovery Center Regional Community Outreach Specialist Matt Paris joins Mike to share his own story of becoming addicted to opiates after an injury, and his own journey into a life of recovery. Later on, Matt and Mike discuss how to deal with family holiday gatherings that might include heavy alcohol consumption.

The best way to recover from substance use disorder is to seek help. But what about the best way to prevent becoming addicted to drugs and alcohol in the first place? On this episode of Straight Talk with Mike Gimbel, Midwest Detox and Recovery Center CEO, Matt Bell, talks about communication and how direct and honest conversations with kids, families and schools can raise awareness about addiction's prevelance, and the consequences of untreated substance use disorder.

Conversations about addiction treatment facilities often sound like horror stories. Whether it's an exorbitant co-pay or physical deterioration of the facility itself, many are left unsatisfied and are in fact still using after receiving treatment. Amatus Health's Chief Operating Officer in the Mid-Atlantic Region, Kabir Singh, joins Mike to discuss quality control at the Amatus facilities, the opioid epidemic, his history of advocating for quality drug addiction and mental health treatment in Maryland, and the process of becoming a Certified Peer Recovery Specialist. Kabir is one of 150 in Maryland.

In this episode of Straight Talk, Amatus Health CEO Michael Silberman sits down with host Mike Gimbel to discuss what separates the most effective drug treatment programs from the rest, and what to look out for when searching for treatment for you or a loved one. Amatus Health's Director of Licensing & Compliance Nicholas Albaugh joins Mike and Michael to shine a light on the state and national accreditation that ensure quality control at Amatus Health facilities.