A Better Boat Case Management
In his book My Experiment with the Truth, Mahatma Gandhi wrote of a trip to England he took as a younger man in which he only could afford the fare which provided him a bed in an open room deep in the hull of the ship he was traveling on and he shared this room with hundreds of other travelers. He wrote of a powerful storm off the coast of England the ship encountered which tossed the ship violently with huge waves crashing over the deck of the ship. Furniture the belongs of the passengers of those who could afford the “nicer rooms” upstairs were being blown overboard by hurricane strength wind gusts. But deep inside the hull of the ship, in this common room shared by hundreds, everything was peaceful, calm, and all that could be heard were the whispered prayers of his roommates. Storms are coming for all of us, but for those first leaving treatment these storms have more deadly effects. Based off my personal experience, 75% of those who have completed in-patient treatment relapse within the first 90 days out of treatment. The relapse percentage is high for a multitude of reasons, but for the most part, these clients let their guards down, stop doing the little things they learned in treatment, then a storm forms, and are swept back to their old behaviors. They underestimate the strength of the storm, they are not prepared for the storm, and they don’t have the ability to navigate the storm safely. They need A Better Boat to become A Better Boat, they need to be made into a vessel that can withstand any storm that life sends their way.
Our case management program should start prior to leaving treatment. Decisions will need to be made regarding returning home, returning to our families, returning to work, and aftercare treatment plans. Having the guidance of a person who has successfully navigated these transitions is invaluable. In treatment clients are given tools to use. After treatment nothing will be more important than the guidance of someone who has been using those tools successfully for years. Discipline and accountability will be instilled, the principals of any twelve step programs will be taught, lessons from the Stoics taught, spiritual practices used throughout the world shared. We will be there to make sure our clients are immediately plugged into a recovery community and sponsors have been found. Our A Better Boat App will be used to help among many things, time management, goal setting, and if needed, med compliance. People who are at the stages of completing in-patient treatment experience a lot of anxieties at the thoughts of returning to the lives they left behind for treatment. I hear many of them say, “I hope this works”, I remind them, “hope is not a plan”. As the old saying goes, “fail to plan..plan to fail”, call us today so that we can help you plan for success during this critical time of the recovery process.