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Mantras For Addiction Recovery

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While the word mantra originated as a Hindu “sacred utterance,” people use mantras every day to guide their efforts at home, at work, and at school. The popular culture definition of mantra has evolved to mean repetitive slogan, personal truth, or structured thought. Adopting one or more mantras as part of your addiction recovery experience is a focused way to achieve your objectives and remain motivated. Words have a powerful way of changing behaviors, thought patterns, and emotions over time. Consider mantras a tool in your toolbox: useful for chanting when you are tempted to use or for achieving focused calm during meditation.

Mantras for Drug & Alcohol Treatment

I am a worthwhile, deserving person. By undervaluing themselves, addicts spiral into a dangerous pattern of self-deprecation and low self-esteem. Use this mantra as a reminder that you are lovable, valuable, and deserving of wellness and joy.

I am in control of my life. At first, these words may seem hollow. After all, most addicts feel as if their lives are spinning out of control with drugs and alcohol in the driver’s seat. Use this mantra to take a stand. Addiction does not control you; you are in control of your destiny and you have a supportive rehabilitation team ready to help.

I am not alone. Feelings of isolation can quickly give way to destructive behaviors. When you are in the grip of loneliness, remind yourself of this truth and call on your community of family, friends, and counselors to help you avoid making a negative choice.

I am making progress. While your steps may seem small, you are moving in the right direction when you seek addiction treatment. Live in the moment, celebrating small triumphs and reminding yourself that each forward step takes you further from the bondage of addiction and toward the freedom of sobriety.

I will not give in to my drug or alcohol craving today. While it is important to acknowledge that sobriety is a lifelong effort, getting through today is the most important thing on your agenda. Chant this mantra when you are feeling tempted to drink or use drugs. Meditate on it when you are in the middle of a stressful situation. Resisting substance use today fuels you to take another stand tomorrow.

Oak Forest Recovery Addiction Treatment Program

At Oak Forest Recovery, our comprehensive, clinically driven program meets young adults where they are and helps them rehabilitate their body, mind, and spirit. To learn more holistic techniques for making behavioral change and achieving long-term sobriety, call 1-888-597-6257 or email info@oakforestrecovery.com. Our 24/7 support team provides the tools you need to walk away from addiction. Begin your recovery journey today!

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The Advantages Of Sober Living After Treatment

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For many recovering addicts, and particularly for young people, the transition back home from a treatment facility can be a very challenging time. Experts note that most relapses occur within the first 90 days of the recovery period, with the home environment being especially difficult for a variety of reasons. For some young adults, the stresses and dynamics of the home environment can be a root cause of substance abuse and addictive behavior. For others, feelings of having failed or disappointed loved ones can send the recovering patient back into the cycle of addiction.

To help ease this sometimes-difficult transition, addiction counselors may recommend sober living houses. These specialized facilities offer many advantages to recovering addicts whose personal situations may make returning home challenging.

Sober Living Houses: Benefits for Recovering Addicts

While some patients find it challenging to make an abrupt return from a treatment facility back into the home environment, addiction experts unanimously agree that recovering individuals need structured environments to reinforce the skills, lessons and strategies learned during the intensive counseling period. Study after study has shown that recovering addicts are at much greater risk of relapsing when they lack a stable, substance-free living environment during the critical months following treatment.

Sober living houses provide just this type of environment. Many responsible, well-run halfway houses require residents to adhere to sobriety contracts, which may include screenings and tests to make sure agreed-upon terms and conditions are being honored. To help residents meet their obligations, onsite support services are readily available. They are also highly structured: demanding that residents be employed, enrolled in school or volunteering while participating in ongoing group therapy programs.

When combined, these features help boost the recovering addict’s chances of making it through the critical first months without a relapse. At Oak Forest Recovery Center, we employ a multimodal treatment strategy built on a clinically dynamic treatment model, taking advantage of every available advantage to promote the health and recovery of our patients. If you or someone you love is suffering from addiction, we have the skills, resources and experience to help. To learn more, please contact our team by phone or confidential email today.

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What Needs To Be Understood About Drug Abuse And Addiction

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If effective, sustained recovery from drug abuse is to be achieved, it will help the addicted young adult and their parents to develop a better understanding of the nature of addiction, including clearing up some persistent misconceptions. Many parents inquiring about the services of a young adult rehab in California may initially imagine their child to be lacking in the moral principles or willpower that they presume to be necessary to achieve a change in behavior.

The truth is that drug addiction is a complicated disease, recovery depending on so much more than a strong will or sound intentions. Even those who desire to stop using can find the process extremely difficult, due to the changes that drugs cause in the brain that simply increase the likelihood of further compulsive drug abuse.

Scientific breakthroughs over the years have given us a much-improved understanding of the effects that drugs have on the brain, making it easier for us to devise effective treatments based on a well-informed, evidence-based clinical approach. This is crucial, given just how damaging drug abuse and addiction are for both individuals and society as a whole – encompassing family disintegration, academic failure, loss of employment, child abuse, domestic violence…to name a few things that may occur.

It is vital that parents and young adults like to realize the true nature of addiction as a chronic, often lapsing brain disease. Although the affected person may initially take drugs voluntarily, the brain changes that this causes over time adversely impacts on that person’s self-control, making it harder and harder for them to resist what may become very intense drug-taking impulses.

There is no single factor that dictates a young adult’s likelihood of becoming addicted to drugs, although individual biology, age or stage of development and social environment can all have an effect on the level of risk. But when a person does begin to use drugs, certain chemicals can tap into the communication system of their brain and cause disruption to their nerve cells’ sending, receiving and processing of information.

The good news is that in common with such other chronic, relapsing diseases like diabetes, heart disease or asthma, drug addiction can be successfully managed. Through the right combination of addiction treatment medications and behavioral therapy, or another treatment approach appropriately tailored to the young adult’s drug abuse patterns and any co-occurring problems, that person can achieve a sustainable return to a happy, healthy and productive life.

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Oak Forest Recovery, One Of The Leading Addiction Rehab Centers In Los Angeles, California

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It can be an immense source of worry if there is a young adult in your life who is struggling with substance abuse and co-occurring mental health issues. In such a circumstance, you may have started looking up addiction rehab centers in Southern California, in the hope of finding one that uses research-supported clinical methodologies as part of a program with a strong record for ensuring long-term patient recovery.

Oak Forest Recovery is just such a program. Its committed team combines evidence-based practices with adventure therapy, resulting in a treatment modality that is as profoundly effective as it is distinctively engaging. The clinical care delivered by Oak Forest Recovery prizes respect, dignity and compassion, and seeks to empower clients to discover their innate goodness, talents and self-worth. The result is genuinely sustainable, positive change.

The program also distinguishes itself from other addiction rehab centers in California by way of its unique location in Agoura Hills & Westlake Village, CA. The program is staffed by leaders and managers with proven backgrounds and expertise in the integration of adventure therapy, substance abuse and mental health treatment into successful and cutting-edge recovery programs.

Oak Recovery Center provides separate gender-specific treatment programs for young men and women, and blends such elements as adventure therapy, experiential therapy, clinical care, 12-step programming and social skills development. The program also marks itself out from alternative addiction rehab centers in California through its exclusive focus on young adults, making it the only program of its kind in the United States.

The gender separate nature of the programs is in recognition of the unique ways men and women experience addiction, with the social reinforcers of substance abuse, the disorders accompanying addiction, the biological factors of dependence and triggers for relapse all differing between the genders. These differences are all factored into a truly tailored recovery process addressing men and women’s specific social, biological, emotional and spiritual needs.

The program, on a beautiful campus, enables clients to step away from the usual everyday distractions and reflect inwardly. From individual, group and adventure-based therapy to goal setting, family work and boundary setting, the Oak Forest Recovery program incorporates all of the elements required for long-lasting recovery, and a life lived to the full, free from the hugely damaging consequences of alcohol and drug abuse.

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Pandemic blamed for Oregon’s 40% increase in drug overdose deaths

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oregon-pandemic-overdose-spike

Oregon saw a nearly 40% increase in overdose deaths this year, a jump that’s similar to the trend nationwide.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention blames the increase on COVID-19. It said the pandemic has hit people already struggling with substance abuse disorders hard.

CDC figures show Oregon reported 580 deaths from drug overdoses between June 2019 to May 2020 . For the whole country, there were more than 81,000 deaths. That’s equivalent to the entire population of Medford, and it is the highest number of overdose deaths in a one-year span the country has ever seen.

“Many people who are using substances, they may be hanging by a thread as is,” said Dr. Tom Jeanne, deputy health officer with the Oregon Health Authority. “Throw in a pandemic and all the disruptions, access to housing, access to health care and mental health services, stress from losing jobs and social isolation, all of those things just compound the already significant stressors that many of these people are facing.

“The COVID crisis also interrupted ways people with substance use disorder can get help, such as mental health services, 12-step programs and ambulatory visits.”

The Oregon Health Authority is reporting a 63%t spike in drug overdose deaths during the second quarter of 2020. The deaths appear to have peaked in May and then returned to near-monthly averages in June and July. Death figures for more recent months have yet to be updated, but early data indicates a worrisome increase in November.

While most Oregon deaths from overdoses involve opioids, troubling contributors include methamphetamines and the synthetic opioid, fentanyl.

The state said it is taking several steps to try to reduce overdose deaths. For example, the state is distributing the overdose prevention drug naloxone. It’s using real-time overdose surveillance data to mount immediate responses to sudden increases in deaths. And it’s providing methadone to patients through opioid treatment providers and it’s using people who’ve recovered from drug addiction to mentor those currently using drugs.

People using opioids on a regular basis are also being advised to reach out to treatment programs, hotlines, and mental health services.

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Oak Forest Recovery in Agoura Hills, meet the Founder & Owner RJ Elizarraz

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RJ Elizarraz

Oak Forest Recovery

Oak Forest Recovery in Agoura Hills, meet the Founder & Owner RJ Elizarraz

Interview with RJ Elizaraz where RJ discusses his personal experiences in recovery and how they have shaped his business, and the principles that guide him as a leader.

Describe your business

What differentiates us really is the fact that Oak Forest has a really incredible structure. The structure is entirely created out of my own recovery and those recoveries that I’ve seen and admire most. We have a brotherhood here, and it’s an all male facility. Were gender specific, which I think is also very important because it creates a really cool camaraderie and that camaraderie is all being facilitated in the high structure environment that we have created here. We get guys up at 5:30 am, which is early, but what we find is that when you’re around 15 other guys going through the same struggles, waking up at the same time and meeting in the kitchen to have breakfast together with not only myself, but also Gerry and Marcos, it’s not so much of a chore to wake up anymore. It becomes like a fun summer camp, where these guys are waking up on their own and having fun in the kitchen at 5am before the sun is even out yet. Then after breakfast we go to a 7am meeting and after the meeting, we head to the gym for about an hour and a half to two hours. The gym is mandatory. Sometimes you get push-back from guys the beginning, but there is a male camaraderie that happens and its only facilitated through these structured events that happen. Getting up in the morning, going to the meeting together, going to the gym together, training together, playing basketball together and doing fun things creates a male bond where these guys are pulling each other through the fears. We put a lot of care into making sure that the clients that do come here are getting the right treatment. What also makes us unique is that we have an entire network of intensive outpatient programs, psychiatrists, doctors and therapists so we can really cater to the needs of our clients. Not only are they getting these men into a routine here and getting male camaraderie, but we are also setting them up with the right resources that allow for the best recovery.

Oak Forest Recovery

What made you decide to open this business?

My recovery journey started when I was about 20. I turned 21 in my first rehab in Utah. I went to a 45-60 day in patient treatment center and then went to a all male sober living in Salt Lake City. I connected so well with the guys there. I got into going to the gym, I got into fitness, I got into healthy eating, and healthy habits. I felt a camaraderie and brotherhood that I had never experienced before. I stayed sober fro 4 years from that and then I relapsed. Following my relapse, I started a tour of several other treatment centers and rehabs. I wanted to recreate what I found in my first sobriety but make sure to add the principles of spirituality and the program of Alcoholics Anonymous. That is what I set out to strive to do and I think we achieved that.

What has surprised you most when owning a business?

I think the biggest surprise of running and owning a business has been the deep relationships that are created with the people I work with. One of the most important things to me is that anyone that I work with or that works for me feels like family. I didn’t expect it to be to the level that I have now found in running and owning a business, but the guys that work with me, I would lay my life on the line for. I think a business is only as good as the relationships that are created in it.

What is something most people don’t know about the business?

My life is totally transparent to everyone that is here. People don’t really understand the depth of that until they live here. There is noting in my life that is secret. It has created such an incredible wellspring of trust and relationship building. These guys can track where I am 24/7. They know every move I make whether I’m here, not here, where I go, who I see. They know everything. Its cool because it allows me to expect from them, the same level of transparency that I give to them. I am leading by example.

What are your goals over the next year?

Right now we’re an all men’s house, I would love to see a women’s house open or a second men’s house open. What we’re really good at here is the high structure, family environment. I want to recreate that for women and expand my capacity for men. I always want to use our local community for resources as far as therapists, doctors and psychiatrists and I plan to continue utilizing our outreach for our expansion moving forward.

How long have you lived in the neighborhood?

I was born in Los Robles Hospital. I grew up all over the Conejo Valley, Thousand Oaks, Westlake Village, Agoura and Newbury Park, but mainly in Westlake Village.
I had the unique opportunity of going to Westlake High School, Oak Park High School and Newbury Park High School. I can definitely say I loved my experience at all 3 schools.

What do you love most about the neighborhood?

I started a business here because I love this area. Westlake Village, Agoura Hills, the entire Conejo Valley – it’s one of the most incredible places to raise a family and raise kids. I grew up my entire life living in Westlake. I grew up my whole life in Westlake. I was a little kid running the street in Westlake and not once did I ever feel worried or scared. I never want to leave, I want my kids to grow up here.

What do you want to see improve the most in this neighborhood?

I would love to see more things for young kids to do in the later evenings. With the recent open of Dave and Busters in our area, everyone seems to be going there and loving it. I haven’t been there yet, but it’s just nice to see something that these young people are getting excited about.

What’s the most memorable experience you’ve had working with a customer?

There was a kid who came into Oak Forest and he was 20. He celebrated his 21st birthday here. He had never had a license, he had never worked a job in his life, he never paid bills and he had never had a normal life. Today is a year and a half later. He has a license, he bought his own car, him and his family are a part of my family now, his family fully trusts him. He also has a full time job working in treatment and getting paid about 20/hour and fully supports himself in only a year and a half. He is someone that will be part of my life forever and these are the experiences that are priceless.

Anything exciting going on that customers should know about?

Oak Forest is continuing to grow. We are looking for another house and are hopefully going to expand our capacity and offer services like this for women in the future.
I also started a media company called Mad Rose media which is a full production business. We do video production and high end content creation for corporate business needs.

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