| Rockland schools for substance abuse counselors merge
Two Rockland schools that train students to become credentialed alcohol and substance abuse counselors have merged. The CASAC School of the Rockland Council on Alcoholism and other Drug Dependence and the Addiction Counselors Training Program of Rockland County will now operate as the Rockland Chemical Dependency Studies Institute out of the new Haverstraw Center in Haverstraw. "We've had two competing agencies that are now bringing together the finest leaders and instructors in the field under one roof," said Debbie Maidman, operations manager of the new school. "They are coming together with the same mission, the same focus." Accredited counselors who graduate from the school work in outpatient and inpatient treatment centers, the criminal justice system, schools, department of social services and department of transportation evaluations, rehab and halfway houses.
When the sentence falls through: Defendant in limbo after rehab clinic refuses to take him
AZTEC — One district judge is trying to determine how to sentence a 21-year-old man who admittedly held a tourist against her will inside a Farmington motel. District Judge Thomas Hynes first sentenced Colby Benally, who suffers from alcohol abuse, to three years of supervised probation during an April 9 hearing, stipulating the young man must successfully complete a six-month, in-house substance abuse treatment program. However, Benally's attorney, Ruth Wheeler, said Monday that Na Nihzhoozhi Center Inc. (NCI), a Gallup substance abuse facility where her client was supposed to receive treatment, won't accept him because it claims he does not meet the criteria for having a substance abuse problem. "Basically, they determined that anyone who had not had a drink in 30 days was not considered an alcoholic," the attorney told the judge.
Pioneer in Treatment of Addictions Dies
Dr. Theodore Rust Clark, world-renowned for his work in the field of addictions, died Friday from complications of heart disease. Colleagues of Clark called him a "guru" who helped his patients through kindness, firmness and caring. "He was instrumental in the hospital's drug-rehab program," said Mary Silverman, director of the Department of Behavioral Services at FirstHealth Hospital. "Every-thing we are working on here is an offshoot of what he created all those years ago." Silverman and Connie Williams, both longtime colleagues and friends of Clark, said they spoke with Clark recently. .
Kato schools, Addiction Recovery renew contract
Continuing an almost two decade-long partnership, the Mankato School Board approved a contract renewal with Addiction Recovery Technologies on Monday. Kato school renews addictions contract Tanner Kent The Free Press MANKATO — Continuing an almost two decade-long partnership, the Mankato School Board approved a contract renewal with Addiction Recovery Technologies on Monday. .
Mental health facility grows
As part of its plan to grow with the community, Manatee Glens has opened its first private-practice outpatient facility in East Manatee. Manatee Glens East provides mental health services for adults and children in its new office at 5233 Fourth Ave. Circle E. The office hosted an open house Tuesday afternoon. "Our board of directors has always been interested in meeting the needs of the community," said Mary Ruiz, president and CEO of Manatee Glens. The nonprofit provider of mental health and addiction services also is looking to expand north and south in Manatee County. The nonprofit has provided private counseling in a clinical setting for more than 20 years, Ruiz said, and now it's doing so in a new setting and location. Manatee Glens East has a handful of offices in which there are chairs and love seats, plus a desk for the therapist.
Lohan, Spears making mockery of rehab, say experts
Celebrities like actress Lindsay Lohan and pop star Britney Spears are making a mockery of rehabilitation programs by appearing not to take treatment seriously, U.S. addiction experts warned. Lohan was arrested on Tuesday on a second drunken-driving charge just days after leaving her second stint in rehab flaunting an alcohol-monitoring ankle bracelet at nightclubs. Spears twice spent less than a day in rehab before entering a third time for a month after behaving erratically. "It is making a mockery of rehabs," said Harris Stratyner, a psychologist with Caron, a nonprofit addiction treatment organization. "In some ways it's starting to make rehabs look like a joke and that's very sad because hundreds of thousands of people a year are saved." Lohan, 21, spent a month in rehab in January.
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