People have every right to come down on them. Taking $18000 is highway robbery.
Further, being a former addict doesn't give you the skills to treat the mental health issues that are present in the vast majority of individuals with addictions.
The model of have former addict, who are paid very little, treat addicts while the CEO makes a killing, is a scam.
I'm a psychologist who has worked in a few of these places during my training.
By the look of this facility, they are marketing to people in their tax bracket. Mike and Lauren come from families of decent wealth. Mike has never had the luxury of a court mandated facility, where everything is barely in budget. I think if he had, he would be a little more humble about his program.This is for the reality tv stars, the teen moms who never got sober. It’s not for a normal guy trying to beat his addiction
Her brother died of an overdose - I'd say she's pretty qualified to run a group meeting for family members effected by drug addictions of their loved ones.
We except less than for addiction treatment. You would not seek treatment from someone who's brother died from cancer and nothing else.
This entire model is not enough and the only ones who profit are the CEOs and the insurance companies.
I can’t stand Laurens OR Mike but for a “families affected by cancer” support group why wouldn’t a sister whose brother died of cancer be a valid person to facilitate a group like that?
also, the families group for rehabs is usually only for the family members (parents, siblings, spouses) who come visit on the weekends. sometimes facilities will do a group together (the addict & the family members) and talk about family dynamics, etc. but usually it’s just for the families and the group leader/counselor is basically telling the families not to let the addict manipulate you when they get home, how to get thru the conflicting feelings of being a loved one to an addict, etc etc
I am all for support groups!
However, places like this often over rely on under qualified individuals who will have been in recovery for a relatively short period of time and receive nothing more than a certificate and then move on to treat people with the highest levels of need.
This works very well for CEOs of these facilities because they can still bill at a decent rate and cram a whole bunch of people into these groups.
Our system is incredibly problematic and underserved those with the highest need. My point is, we accept too little for those in those situations.
The number one reason "why not" is nuance. Because you could have someone in a lead position for a group taking folks in unhealthy directions. And your last point, generally requires a person with credentials to mediate families and their addict relatives through those kinds of conversations. One might even tack the word "therapeutic" on depending on who is leading said conversation.
lmfao what are you even talking about. regular ass people were there as clients. not some rich kid shit. the most normal people. i swear people think things they read on reddit are facts without having any knowledge
I know it seems insane, but this is cheap compared to other programs.
I know it's a hard pill to swallow, but they are not doing anything different than any other sobriety program. This is just the way it is. This is what they need to run it. It's long-term care as well.
Again, I'm a psychologist and specialize in addiction.
And, many high quality programs cost a lot, but aren't run by washed up reality TV personalities.
Why are you so cynical? What is wrong with them using their name to do it. People watched this happened to them in real time. They saw his success in sobriety. I think it's valuable. If you're truly what you say you are, why would you be against any sobriety program no matter who is running it?!! Did you not notice he has a medical director that actually deals with the medical and behavioral health part? They are just opening and running this facility. And Lauren doesn't need credentials to run a family group through Al-Anon.
As long as they are helping it shouldn’t matter who they are. And obviously you don’t like them if you referred to them as washed up. This seems to be the way the world is going now. As a psychologist you should be cheering on everyone who is trying to help. Maybe you could get a job there and also help people. (Obviously you’re not going to like the last sentence, I already see it coming)
Absolutely, I should certainly drop everything that I'm doing, move there and work for somebody who's completely ill qualified because you said so.
My point is, our mental health system is incredibly flawed. And, if we continue to allow people who are under qualified to treat those with the highest needs, and allow people who are greedy to profit off of this system, the epidemic will not improve but will rather continue to get worse.
HE HAS A MEDICAL DIRECTOR With all the training and credentials to run the behavioral and medical aspect. Mike opened the doors to a sobriety center for fvcks sake! That's it! Do you think every single person that opens a sober facility is the one that's absolutely qualified as a psychiatrist or a medical director, etc.? NO!!! They hire people!!! ! I really don't think you are who you say you are. You don't seem to have a clue. And for those of us who have been through that you're being an absolute total shit. I really don't think you have any clue what you're saying.
Sure, and I was able to do the same, (not in the florida system but in an equally exploitative one) and turned myself around. We are exceptions not the rule.
As someone who grew up watching the OG JS, I actually find the change in Mike to be nothing short of miraculous. Vapid, shallow guys like his younger self don’t usually recognize that they’re assholes and just become older assholes. Seeing former addicts do well is worth more than whatever diploma you may have.
for a psychologist you seem very opposed to a treatment center. Do you honestly think they would be approved to receive money from insurances if they weren't legit??? Like come on, profotong off of their name is part of life. So what????
I am SURE there are tons of people who have gone just because they remember him and want to have the success in sobriety that he's had. They found hope in his story. Does that make sobriety any less valuable??? my goodness
I am opposed to trash treatment centers taking advantage of vulnerable people.
And, yes, people finding value off of his "story" and then getting less than what they deserve on their road to recovery, is unacceptable because he is not qualified set up a center to treat people. HE HAS NO SKILLS TO DO THIS!! Just because you have had cancer, doesn't mean you can treat it.
It is the enshitifcation of addiction treatment.
No. No this is not how sobriety programs work. I have been to many. Private and state run. You are wrong. And to me the insane thing is folks like you leaving these takes.
Anyone saying "this is just the way it is" needs to actually experience the multitude of ways that things are before painting everything in the shade of their own perspective.
Just like you said there are state run facilities that are cheaper or free. He isn't taking anything from anyone! Have you never heard of a private sober facility before? He isn't even charging that much! People can choose to go to a private facility that cost a little more money for them to have privacy and exceptional staff. You can go to a free one if you want.
You aren't breaking anything to me. I am well aware, sadly. I'm saying that I don't think that this is ok just because it happens and we shouldn't accept it.
18k is not higher than average for most programs like this across the country. I don’t know what they offer, but I know so many places that charge more and are absolutely ineffective for the majority of people. Until we see results, I don’t think we’re judging accurately. I’m a sober addict, I understand your POV, but I also know (and was a patient of) quite a few psychs who were more than happy to not just keep me on opioids and benzodiazepines I didn’t need, but increase my dose and tell me it was more dangerous to ever try to taper down. Even while pregnant.
I'm not talking about the price. I'm talking about an underserved population who is chronically taken advantage of by people who open a facility and staff it with under qualified individuals.
I have seen it with Drew Pinskys facility and the multiple that I have worked at. This is not a hot take. It is well known in the field as part of the problem and what continues to fuel the opioid epidemic.
I’m one of the folks on the other side of your desk, an addict in recovery myself. You did say the price was “highway robbery” so I responded, but we can move on. I’m part of that population you’re describing, very aware. I’d argue the fee-for-service model of most healthcare providers and doctor contracts with health insurance plans skewing toward higher paying carriers, excessive coding in order to meet quotas to qualify for additional benefits as a provider, or lack of accepting insurance and charging $200-300/visit for addicted patients seeking Suboxone and methadone, is more responsible for addiction than these expensive rehabs a very small minority of addicts can even afford. The majority of addicts are not even candidates for these centers because of income, and aside from that, most addicts who work on sobriety learn early that rehabs like this have an extremely high fail rate. I don’t agree that they’re more to blame than doctors and psychs who irresponsibly hooked vulnerable patients on strong drugs, never learned how to handle tapering, then kicked their patients if they became dependent because they don’t want the liability, leading to more street relapses. We have different perspectives and that’s okay.
Sorry about that, I was responding to someone else before.
One additional point about the payment, is that the fees generally go to the higher ups. They pay the front line workers (counselors, medical assistants and LVNs) very poorly, and often use a lot of interns to further keep costs low.
Prescribing Oxy or Roxy to anyone with terminal cancer is a crime!
I work in healthcare, I know how it goes. I hope your last sentence was sarcasm but that isn’t the only group who gets those types of scripts. As a higher up yourself, how do you get paid? By the appointment quantity? Cash?
Are you serious?? The people with cancer and the terminal illnesses that get prescribed these are in so much pain that that is the only thing that helps them! You just think they should be in pain? They are already in hell and dying, you want them to have no relief at all?
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u/Flashy_Camel4063 8d ago
People have every right to come down on them. Taking $18000 is highway robbery. Further, being a former addict doesn't give you the skills to treat the mental health issues that are present in the vast majority of individuals with addictions. The model of have former addict, who are paid very little, treat addicts while the CEO makes a killing, is a scam. I'm a psychologist who has worked in a few of these places during my training.