Legacy Freedom Treatment Centers

Legacy Freedom Treatment Centers

Drugs & Alcohol in the Criminal Justice System – CJ411-01

I live in a small, rural community in North Carolina, so there are not any drug treatment centers near my home. As we have learned in class, addiction treatment will likely be ineffective (or a short-lived solution) if the individual doesn’t want to change or the root of the problem is not addressed. (Abadinsky, 2016) In Raleigh, the closest major city to my home, there is a treatment center called Legacy Freedom Treatment Center that emphasizes discovering the root cause of the problem and customizing the treatment plan to the individual user rather than using a broad “cookie cutter” treatment approach to ensure success.

With six locations in two states, (Asheville, NC, Charlotte, NC, Columbus, OH, Greensboro, NC, Raleigh, NC, and Wilmington, NC) this facility has been successfully offering assistance to teens, aged 14 and older, and adults who are experiencing substance abuse issues, addictions, PTSD, psycho-emotional disorders, dual diagnosis, depression, early childhood issues, and other mental health issues. Unlike many treatment centers that primarily use traditional treatment methods or a 12-step program, which ineffectively focus on educating users on the reasons not to abuse drugs and alcohol, Legacy Freedom Treatment Center offers both traditional medicine and holistic medicine approaches to combat the use and abuse of drugs. Alternative therapies offered by this facility are all-encompassing to meet every imaginable need that patients might have and attack the root(s) of addiction from every angle. Treatments such as adventure therapy, acupuncture, aromatherapy, equine-assisted therapy, Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing Therapy (EMDR), Inner Child, life/purpose coaching, meditation, nutritional therapy, physical therapy, psychotherapy, sound therapy, Tai chi, and yoga provide practical and meaningful treatment that can also be fun and effective.

Addiction is highly subjective, and triggers vary widely from person to person, so this facility feels that it is necessary for patients to receive individual care to discover what those triggers are and work with the individual to defeat their addiction once and for all. Whether the addiction is rooted in lack of self-esteem, sexual assault or abuse, abandonment, childhood abuse, or a significant medical or behavioral health condition, there is no issue too large for counselors to provide help for. On-site behavioral health professionals offer patients intensive outpatient care, one-on-one counseling, chemical dependency counseling, group and family sessions, holistic, alternative therapies, and life-purpose planning. Patients attend group therapy three times per week and individual therapy at least twice per week.

Including the patient’s family members in their treatment has proven highly effective because it makes patients feel cared about, included in a team effort, and reminded of why they entered treatment in the first place. Additionally, it forces them to be honest with themselves and their family members about the extent of their drug abuse and how destructive they allowed it to become. Whether they want to become a better parent, better spouse, or just return to being a contributing member of their family, family involvement empowers patients to make sizeable progress. (Moore, 2016) Counselors act as mediators and break down many of the barriers to effective communication that hinder loving, caring familial relationships from thriving. Counselors allow both parties to speak so that the patient can get what they need from their loved one and begin the healing process. Whether the patient is confronting a parent on how much their abuse hurt them during childhood or a spouse being able to put into words how the patient’s drug use effects them, family involvement in treatment is vital to a successful outcome. (legacyfreedom.com, 2017)

The founder and CEO of the Legacy Freedom Treatment Centers, Waylon D. Hinson, a Certified Professional Coach (CPC) and Energy Leadership Index Master Practitioner (ELI-MP)

CEO sought to design a unique facility that heals underlying causes and conditions of substance abuse and addiction by facing the unique underlying issues that each of us have and discovering their purpose in life. In an interview about the facility, Mr. Hinson stated “Our goal and mission is to lead the fight in eliminating addiction and mental illness by inspiring hope, changing negative beliefs, discovering and healing the underlying cause, and developing and living our life’s purpose.” Through helping patients find their passion in life and what makes them “tick,” the staff at Legacy Freedom enables them to discover (or rediscover) a happy, healthy lifestyle where use and abuse of substances are no longer necessary. As a former addict herself, the clinical director, Ellen Barton, understands the unique needs patients may have for accomplishing a successful recovery and places a strong emphasis on holistic healing and alternative therapies. Her priority in clinical practice is including the family members of the patient and improving interpersonal relationships. Both Waylon and Ellen recognize that addiction is not limited to just substance abuse and extended admissions to patients seeking treatment for eating, gaming, gambling, sex, and shopping addictions as well. (La Salle, 2015)

The facility has received very mixed online reviews, so it is difficult to know how effective treatment is. Where one website listed it as one of the top 10 facilities in the state and the Raleigh location as being the best in eastern North Carolina, another website rated the effectiveness of the program as unsatisfactory. I selected this facility largely because of its 4 ½ out of 5-star rating on the first website I visited and because of its alignment with my personal views on substance abuse recovery. After reading multiple reviews and watching several videos from program graduates, I feel that this program is likely very effective, however many people cannot receive the help that they desperately need because the facility does not accept Medicare or Medicaid insurance at this time. Most of the other major health insurance carriers are accepted, including Aetna, Cigna, and UnitedHealthcare, but demographically speaking, many potential patients are likely on Medicare or Medicaid. (La Salle, 2015)

As far as I could tell, there was no specific theoretical basis for this program. Many of the reviews posted by program graduates reflected this when they admitted that structure in group therapy and individual therapy was lacking and staff members did not have sufficient training on some of the things they should. Some reviews even stated that there was a sign in sheet on a table during the time allotted for group therapy but that the moderator of the session granted more freedom than a substance abuse treatment program should have (especially for the cost of the program.) Whether this freedom and casual environment are by-design or due to poor management and weak leadership are difficult to decipher; the founders of the programs did say that they wanted their treatment center to be unique and laid-back.

Although the accepted health insurance plans were listed on the facility’s website, the cost of the program was not. This is troublesome to me because many people in this state do not have health insurance (because they do not have a lot of money,) so paying out of pocket would not be an option for many of the substance abusers that need the most help. There was an option on the facility’s website to apply for a scholarship, but it did not say how recipients were chosen or what criteria a person must meet to apply for one. It also did not state how many scholarships are available. It appears that the cost of the program and the facility not accepting two of the most widely used insurance carriers create significant barriers to receiving treatment.

Overall, I would say that this sounds like a good program and as I do with everything else, I read the reviews with a grain of salt. Their approaches might not be the right one for everyone, but that is the thing about addiction: it’s different for every person and each person has different needs. I’m not a substance abuser myself, nor have I ever struggled with addiction of any kind, but if I needed help, I feel that I would prefer to go to a casual facility such as this that offered me one on one care and alternative treatments.