National Recovery Month, which started in 1989, is a national observance held every September to promote and support new evidence-based treatment and recovery practices, and to recognize the dedication of service providers and communities who make recovery possible. This is just a portion of President Biden's proclamation about National Recovery Month: " During National Recovery Month, we celebrate the more than 20 million Americans who have had the courage to seek help for substance use disorder, showing millions of others that recovery is possible. We honor their resilience and recommit to making sure that every American has access to the services and support they need to rebuild lives of purpose and hope. "
Joining me to talk about addiction and treatment is Teodoro (Teo) Anderson Diaz, LCSW, LADC, a behavioral health care leader and practitioner from Wheeler Clinic he is the vice president of Health and Wellness Center Outpatient Services. Teo oversees the clinic’s mental health and substance abuse recovery services and ensures continued integration of behavioral health programs and primary care services. He also served as a licensed clinical social worker and addiction counselor. He is a member of the adjunct faculty at the Springfield College of Social Work. Teo received a master’s degree in social work and a master’s degree in human service administration from Springfield College.
Teo talks about a holistic approach to treatment and recovery. He looks at everything that is holding someone back from living a life of sobriety and directs people to live a life that is fulfilling. He talks about pain points and what is pushing someone to seek treatment for their addiction and he talks about the importance of diet and self-worth. He also says it is important to have a good support system in place and that the road to recovery may take several attempts.
Under CT Paid Leave, the leave may be taken only for treatment for substance abuse by a healthcare provider or by a provider of health care services on referral by a healthcare provider, but not for absences caused by an employee’s use of the substance. For more information go to: CT Paid Leave Authority (PFMLA)| Home | Official Site
National Recovery Month, which started in 1989, is a national observance held every September to promote and support new evidence-based treatment and recovery practices, and to recognize the dedication of service providers and communities who make recovery possible. This is just a portion of President Biden's proclamation about National Recovery Month: " During National Recovery Month, we celebrate the more than 20 million Americans who have had the courage to seek help for substance use disorder, showing millions of others that recovery is possible. We honor their resilience and recommit to making sure that every American has access to the services and support they need to rebuild lives of purpose and hope. "
Joining me to talk about addiction and treatment is Teodoro (Teo) Anderson Diaz, LCSW, LADC, a behavioral health care leader and practitioner from Wheeler Clinic he is the vice president of Health and Wellness Center Outpatient Services. Teo oversees the clinic’s mental health and substance abuse recovery services and ensures continued integration of behavioral health programs and primary care services. He also served as a licensed clinical social worker and addiction counselor. He is a member of the adjunct faculty at the Springfield College of Social Work. Teo received a master’s degree in social work and a master’s degree in human service administration from Springfield College.
Teo talks about a holistic approach to treatment and recovery. He looks at everything that is holding someone back from living a life of sobriety and directs people to live a life that is fulfilling. He talks about pain points and what is pushing someone to seek treatment for their addiction and he talks about the importance of diet and self-worth. He also says it is important to have a good support system in place and that the road to recovery may take several attempts.
Under CT Paid Leave, the leave may be taken only for treatment for substance abuse by a healthcare provider or by a provider of health care services on referral by a healthcare provider, but not for absences caused by an employee’s use of the substance. For more information go to: CT Paid Leave Authority (PFMLA)| Home | Official Site
Hello, Connecticut and welcome to the paid leave podcast. The title basically says it all. I'm Nancy Barrow and I will be delving into this new state program and how it can help you and your family. This podcast will give you information you should know about Connecticut paid leave, and maybe just a little bit more. Connecticut paid leave brings peace of mind to your home, family and workplace. Welcome to the paid leave podcast. On this episode, the topic is addiction and substance abuse. And under Connecticut paid leave it's not simply enough to have a diagnosis of substance abuse, you must also need and receive treatment for a serious health condition, which includes inpatient or outpatient services. Someone working with a medical provider or a regimen of prescription medication under the supervision of a provider, a person must qualify for Connecticut paid leave first, and then is able to receive up to 12 weeks of income replacement. And they can use that time all together in a block or intermittently to get help or as a reduced schedule from work. So there's many options in terms of length of leave under Connecticut paid leave the absences from work, must be treatment related and specify that they're talking about substance abuse. And a person can take leave or receive benefits if they themselves have a serious health condition or if they need to care for a family member who has a serious health condition like substance abuse and addiction. And joining me today about this very complex issue is someone with a lot of clinical experience to Anderson Diaz is joining me from the wheeler clinic. And welcome to the podcast.
Teodoro Anderson Diaz:
Thank you for having us. Yes,
Nancy Barrow:
it's so nice to have you here with me. I know you're a licensed social worker, and you're vice president of outpatient Behavioral Health at the Family Health and Wellness Centers. But give me a little bit of your background and what you do at Wheeler,
Teodoro Anderson Diaz:
I've been Wheeler now for a little over three years. And I oversee the outpatient behavioral services at all five of our family health and wellness centers that are are also known as a fairly fairly Qualified Health Centers.
Nancy Barrow:
Well, it could be very rewarding when you see people getting back on their feet and back into their lives. But I assume that it must be kind of difficult to see people at their lowest
Teodoro Anderson Diaz:
Yes, it can be very difficult, but it's keeping in mind the goal at the end. So when you actually see people improve their lives and restore some source of normalcy, where they're, you know, they're working, they have friends, they they're making amends to loved ones. That's basically the reward. But when it comes down to basically treatment, they are the heroes of the story. In other words, you know, from the treatment side, we only control right around 13% of what that outcome really is going to be. So it's really them is it's primarily them, I think at the same time, we can be there, provide them with some support, provide them with some timely interventions. But ultimately, they're the heroes of their story.
Nancy Barrow:
I'm gonna ask you a hypothetical question out of the gate. And you just heard how Connecticut paid leave can help someone if they qualify for 12 weeks of income replacement for substance abuse, whether it's inpatient, or outpatient, but you guys just do outpatient therapy, okay. And it also lets a family member take time away from her to help them, which I would imagine suffering from addiction or substance abuse must be comforting to have that. Do you think that's a game changer for any of your clients who who might be battling with, Hey, I have to work. But you know, and I have to do treatment because that's a, that's a balance, that must be pretty hard.
Teodoro Anderson Diaz:
It is. It's a choice at times that people make. So having this type of advocacy really can make a difference. It's a game changer Most definitely. Because if if, if someone can enter into a treatment center, whether it be inpatient, or enter into a outpatient program, and same time not have to worry about their job or job stability, right, it can help them you know, the, in a particular delicate moment, help them be able to reach out to seek treatment to seek recovery.
Nancy Barrow:
Right. And that's the hope of this podcast, right that I can get that information out there because maybe a lot of people don't realize that Connecticut paid leave covers, addiction services and treatments. So that's what I'm hoping for. How come some people can have alcohol or try illicit drugs or prescription drugs and never get addicted and some people do
Teodoro Anderson Diaz:
well That's That's been the question that's been the topic of research for the last I would say 4050. Some years. There there, there are various predispositions not just in terms of, of society in terms of the actual exposure, but at the same time history of trauma, predisposition, whether or not there's been addiction within within the, you know, generations of families. So there's so many different factors. So one, one particular factor doesn't necessarily determine the course. But what we do see is once people become involved in the certain types of behaviors, that where you can begin to see the downfall and the deterioration of relationships, deterioration of self care, and lack of of basically have been able to take care of themselves, because opt in, ultimately, the substance begins to take a life of its own and begins to basically become the center of that person's life.
Nancy Barrow:
Yeah. Does it cross every boundary in socio economics, like wealthy and race and gender and ethnicity? Are? Is it pretty even across the board?
Teodoro Anderson Diaz:
It's pretty even, definitely across the board in terms of its impact. Now, there are definitely different sociological responses, you know that in terms of what happens, I mean, right now, we're in the midst of an opioid epidemic. And I remember, now there happens to be a certain type of empathy that has taken place, but I'm also old enough to remember the crack epidemic. Yeah, right. And what happened then, and then how societal views were at that particular time? And how legislation went in terms of incarceration, whatnot, and how that began to really increase the prison populations within within the United States. So there are different responses, not a physiological component on a familial component. Yes, they're very similar across across the board, at what
Nancy Barrow:
time do you bring the family in when someone is in for substance abuse treatment,
Teodoro Anderson Diaz:
one of the things that you want to find out is when we talk about family, family can take on many shapes, many forms. Sure.
Nancy Barrow:
I mean, because family can be your best friend, your best friend, your neighbor,
Teodoro Anderson Diaz:
it could be your neighbor, it could be your uncle, your godparent, it could be a neighbor, it could be a teacher. So it's really finding out from the particular client or patient, whatever they're called, within your agency. Yeah. That who's special within their life, who would they'd like to be able to include because really, recovery is, is a team sport, it's really important to have the family because I think it's having that type of connection. Really, again, that plays into that 87%. Right? story, because that's I can't believe you're only 13%, we're only we're only 13%, we're only 13%. And a large of it has to do with the relationship that that particular clinician has with the client, which is important, in other part is, you know, having, you know, what some people may call hope, but it's also what others, you know, social scientists called the placebo effect. And it's really important that if the, if the client believes that they're getting better, that they're moving better, that they have this sense of hope, even if everything around them kind of remain somewhat the same, but if they have that sense of hope, that that can help that individual move towards a life of recovery and sobriety. So that's, that's a very important piece. But there, you know, those are basically the elements that the elements that we can control is to really be there to listen. And kind of also understand that people go through different changes. So if you have somebody let's say, that's not really thinking about change, that start talking to them already about affordable treatment options, you're going to find that you're going to be turning them off. If you if you're able to get people to start thinking about what are the some of the consequences and what are some of the benefits where they start really contemplating, and they may want to start maybe looking at it now. You know, back in the day, they would look at a phone directory actual Yellow Pages. What was that? So now they'll look in their phone and they'll they'll seek out treatment options, treatment centers, where they start actually preparing, you know, so it's so it's It's really getting people to the point where you can begin to offer them the type of options that they have kind of understanding in where, you know, what stage of readiness are, they're, they're in. So if they're at that stage of readiness, that that mindset, and sometimes, you know, they're their pain points that bring people though to treatment, so a pain point could be losing a job. Oh, yeah. Okay, good losing a spouse. So, you know, staying within the theme, you know, of, geez, you know, I'm doing these things right now. But if I continue, I can, I can possibly lose my job, if I lose my job, I can possibly lose my my apartment, and I really don't want or my family and I don't want to do that. So. So those type of pain points at times can really motivate people towards seeking seeking help. So again, this type of policy of helping people being able to seek help, while at the same time be able to remain employed, and remain housed. And, you know, those are very important elements that really can contribute towards somebody's recovery. Yeah,
Nancy Barrow:
it makes me happy that Connecticut paid leave does that and it's a state program, it doesn't vary for alcohol versus, you know, prescription drugs or like illicit drugs like heroin or something. Are there different treatments for each one of those? Or are they all pretty much under the same kind of? Well, we
Teodoro Anderson Diaz:
have, we have to we definitely have what's called Talk therapy, right? So we have individual, we have family, we have group therapies. We also have medication assisted treatment, and medication assisted treatment, pretty much focuses on people with alcohol use disorders and opioid use disorders. So is
Nancy Barrow:
that like a detox but medicated?
Teodoro Anderson Diaz:
Well, not technically a detox to be a technically a D class, you have to be inpatient? Okay. But what it does is that provides people with medication that would allow them to safely taper off and at the same time live, really, you know, to be able to, to engage within the community. So it somewhat had expanded what once were the methadone centers. Right. Right. Right. And where, you know, a good portion of it, there's really a lot of good data regarding methadone. That help that we you can look at that's undefeatable in terms of people being able to basically save their lives, save their their family, save their marriages, be able to remain employed. Yeah. And, and useful members of society. And so medication assisted treatment right now, which is expanded, provides clients and people with addiction disorders, that ability to be able to remain within the community. And, and do so under the supervision of a medical provider. And at the same time, maybe combining having a combination between the the medical treatment, because it's a medically based treatment, and also the talk therapies that are that are offered as well. So it's, it's finding the right mix, and it's really about individualizing care.
Nancy Barrow:
Yeah, I was gonna ask you, if there's like, sort of like a protocol you use or is it vary, it varies per person, obviously
Teodoro Anderson Diaz:
varies per person, we try to even though we do we do practice what are called empirically based treatments, and that kind of provide, like an overall script, general script. But it's important for people to kind of also think about that the treatments are are being lived with, and they're being tried by actual real human beings. Right. And that there's a nuance there every time you treat somebody. So it isn't, you're not going with a cookie cutter for everyone. Yeah, in terms of doing the same that somehow or another that you're going to tweak. So it's almost being like a good musician. Yes, you can read music, but can can you really perform in terms of what the needs of your audience that are coming in? So I think that's so important. So I think that's one of the things that that we're able to do at Wheeler trying you know, that we try to really center the care the person that's before us Yeah, well, we provide it Wheeler, I think it's, it's, it's wonderful because it's it's it really provides whole person care. So in other words, if somebody comes in, and they're coming in with With a problem of substance use, yes, they have options, we do have a menu, we do have what are called intensive outpatient program, that's it's almost exclusively groups where they come in, and they're spending anywhere between nine to 12 hours a week in a structured program, which is important because it early in early addiction structure can really help people kind of center themselves, where they're kind of sorting out things, it providing that very safe space, because oftentimes with addiction, a lot of your own personal health care needs oftentimes become relegated to last place, you know, right place to last, you know, so we try to get them engaged there. We also have a series of other support, like programs we have, we have a chiropractor, we have dental services, we have we engage people. And we also have a specialty in in, in, in opioid free pain management, that we provide people in terms of services, we also provide them with ability to be able to gain access to fresh produce. Because again, oftentimes the the male diet diet is really horrible that sometimes people are kind of binging on Hostess Twinkies and hohos. You know, and Cheetos.
Nancy Barrow:
That's a Saturday night for me.
Teodoro Anderson Diaz:
You know, from from from time to time as feel good food that that's okay. But if that happens to be the stable, trouble, you're in trouble, right? So so we provide a whole host of different services around recovery, because we see the recovery, not just people stopping to use substance.
Nancy Barrow:
Yeah, that's interesting. It's like a very holistic approach to it all,
Teodoro Anderson Diaz:
some of the clients that I've worked with when I've done clinical practice as a, as a licensed clinical social workers, because I started out as a addiction counselor back in the 1980s. And what I what I tell a lot of the, the clients that I would serve, because they sometimes they'll be discouraged. And man, this is like about the sixth time the 10th time that I've kind of gone into detox and going through this, you know, is even worth it, you know, am I going to be like this for the rest of my life. And I basically, one of the things I would say is like, use somewhat of a baseball metaphor, you know, when when, in particular with guys, you know, you can kind of say that, you know, that we'll use that. And say like the metaphor say, Well, you know, if let's look at baseball, if you look at if you if somebody tells you that in a major league baseball team, that some someone's batting, let's say 330 Would you say that's good? That's average? No, that's damn good. Yes, it is damn good. But do you know what that means, though? It means that they're on base, basically, around 33% of the time. That's what it means. 33% which means that one of the hardest things to do in life is to hit a baseball, like Michael Jordan, you know, retired and he saw how hard that was. Right? So the thing is, is that in order to be successful, as a hitter, you're looking at basically being on base and hitting the ball 30% of the times, the other 70% You fail. But it's about getting back up. And being within that 33% And that you can be within that 30% or 33%. And that you do it a day at a time you do it with support, you do it with nutrition, you do with other resources, you do it by walking you do it by taking the bus, all these things are you know, all of these things are accumulative, where you can actually seek the reward, which is the recovery. And sometimes when people say well, you know, thank you for all the support and I said look, you know, you are You are the hero, you are the hero. All we are is it times again, using somewhat of a Batman metaphor, where the Alfred's were the outfit of the story. We're here to serve we provide access to
Nancy Barrow:
care but without Alfred you're not gonna you're not gonna You're not
Teodoro Anderson Diaz:
but 80% of the battles you're you're you're taking
Nancy Barrow:
because you want to get better Because have to get to that mindset of you want to get better,
Teodoro Anderson Diaz:
right? So we become that that sounding board, but they do they do that and just say, you know, kudos to you. Yeah. Because it just shows that at times, you know, it's life is hard. It is life, life is hard, and ultimately is about us kind of coming to grips to those realities. And, you know, and doing the best that we can. And knowing that times we can fall, but that we can get back up,
Nancy Barrow:
what are some of the warning signs that people should look for friends and family? As far as it is for substance abuse? What are what are some of the patterns that they should look for
Teodoro Anderson Diaz:
financial difficulty, you know, find that definitely financial difficulty if things start disappearing, physical deterioration in terms of people's presentation, right, so those are some of the things in consistency in terms of what people say, you know, in terms of in terms of lies, different explanations of things, just the inconsistencies that take place. And so it's, it's somewhat what we would call like an eye test, you don't have to be an expert in psychology or therapy, you know, that if somehow or another, something doesn't seem quite right with that individual, in terms of their behavior, in terms of them being a little bit more erratic, or maybe more lethargic, that something is going on. So it's that having that type of intuition. And then at times being able to kind of say, hey, you know, to, you know, I'm noticing, you know, you're looking pretty scruffy. And you know, that yesterday, you were talking, and I could hardly understand a word that you were, you were saying, and your eyes were kind of glazed, and I kind of saw you sweating in a way, you know, there's something going on something you'd like to share with us in terms of something that you're going through right now. You know, and allowing, allowing the individual to kind of deal with that, you know, that to be able to say, hey, you know, this, listen, you're, this is what we're noticing. And, you know, we we've known you long enough, or well enough to know that that isn't the tail that, that we know. So something's going on.
Nancy Barrow:
How about any advice for someone who's listening right now to this podcast, and maybe struggling themselves? And maybe questioning whether I have a serious problem? Or maybe I'm even an addict? What kind of advice would you give someone who's listening and kind of on the edge and struggling, if somebody's
Teodoro Anderson Diaz:
on the edge, at least I'd say that they're they're kind of preparing, again, they're tipping their toe in the water and seeing what whether it's worth it to, you know, what do you have to lose, you know, come, you know, come to any any Center, you can definitely come to our so you're more than welcome to walk in, through our open access, you know, or from Monday to Friday, and to see if you can, if you'd be interested in engaging either and talk therapy or medication assisted treatment. Again, medication assisted treatment is wonderful. It's a way for you to kind of be able to keep yourself within the community in a very safe space and kind of avoid having to go through any type of withdraw at any any given time. While you kind of sort your affairs, so it's the kind of look at what is it that you would like to be able to gain? Because again, if if somebody's not thinking about it, and they're thinking that there's really not a problem? I don't think that's it's going to work. But if you believe that there's a problem that you believe that there's more for you to gain, and there's a lot, a lot of things that you can lose, but there's more for you to gain than Wheeler can can be a wonderful option for you. And the thing is that we can provide you not just with the substance abuse treatment, but also with the medical treatment and all the other aspects that really matter. You know, isn't, you know, the goal of our treatment isn't so much for you to stop using. That's, that's that's the result. What we're really seeking is for people to have fulfilled lives.
Nancy Barrow:
Teo Anderson Diaz from Wheeler clinic, thank you so much for joining me on this podcast. This was also very fascinating. Thank you so much. And if anybody wants to get in touch with them, is there a phone number or can they go to their website or is there one of your clinics that they can just walk into
Teodoro Anderson Diaz:
we have clinics in Hartford, New Britain, Bristol, Plainville and Waterbury. Our general line is 888-793-3500.
Nancy Barrow:
So someone can call if they need help, they can call in and need help or
Teodoro Anderson Diaz:
in terms of in terms of just, you can just walk in.
Nancy Barrow:
And that's really the best way to do it.
Teodoro Anderson Diaz:
That's the best way. Okay. Well, thank
Nancy Barrow:
you again for joining me on this podcast. Well, thank you. To find out more about how Connecticut paid leave can help you or to apply for benefits. Please go to CT paid li.org. This has been another edition of the paid leaf podcast. Please like and subscribe so you'll be notified about new podcasts that become available. Connecticut paid leave is a public act with a personal purpose. I'm Nancy Barrow and thanks for listening
