NEW APPROACH: Treatment center shifts focus to young addicts

By LAITH AGHA
Herald Staff Writer

The typical addict treated at the Beacon House in Pacific Grove used to be a man in his 40s trying to overcome alcoholism. But that has changed in recent years, as methamphetamine and highly addictive prescription drugs pervade youth culture.

Recognizing this change, leaders of Beacon House in Pacific Grove determined they needed to restructure the rehabilitation facility's treatment approach.

"We have (teenagers), young adult people, who are full-blown addicts at unbelievably young ages," said Beacon House chairman Guy Riina. "We need to do things for those young people and their families."

The Beacon House board of directors has brought in new leadership to take the center in a new direction.

Ed Lacy, the new executive director, and Phyllis Meagher, the new chief operating officer, were recruited from the San Diego area. They are nationally renowned with solid reputations.

Lee Larimer, who has worked as a psychologist on the Peninsula for 25 years, will be the new clinical director.

Part of the new approach will expanding Beacon House's role in the community from a rehabilitation facility to a center for helping and educating the public, Riina said. That will include a family program to help family members cope with the stresses of a loved one's addiction.

"There are no families left untouched" by drug and alcohol abuse, Riina said, "or so it seems that way. To see one's child fall victim to this is no less than torture."

Prescribed painkillers, such as OxyContin, Percocet and Vicodin, have become more common in homes and thus easier for children to obtain.
"It's not just on the streets," Meagher said. "It's in their own medicine cabinets."

Larimer said that when he started practicing clinical psychology on the Peninsula, cases of teenage drug addiction were rare.

"Now, it's become very common," he said. "The age at which intervention is happening has become younger and younger."

Beacon House will continue treating patients grappling with alcohol addiction and more common illegal drugs, because those afflictions are as prevalent as they were before prescription drugs emerged. Plus, drugs such as heroin have become more complex, making them even more appealing to users.

The chemists "who make these drugs understand even the visual appeal of the drugs," Lacy said, "how when the drug touches the tongue, it affects the pallet."

As drugs have become more complex, the methods of treating addiction have evolved — which is another component of Beacon House's new mission.

Advances in neuroscience and psychological evaluation will help clinicians recognize the needs of patients, allowing them to be more efficient in formulating treatment plans.

Lacy, who established treatment facilities in Mexico and has been a lead trainer at the U.S. Navy Drug and Alcohol Counseling Institute, said he is excited about the opportunity to lead Beacon House in a new direction.

Treating underlying causes

Though its capacity for 16 patients is considerably smaller than what he is used to — he has worked at facilities that could accommodate more than 100 patients — the expected ratio of one therapist per 2.5 patients makes for a better treatment environment, he said.

"The ratio of therapists to patients allows us to really have relationships with our patients," Lacy said. "We want to build community."

The new direction will involve more collaboration with the mental health sector, which will allow Beacon House clinicians to focus on underlying, "co-occurring conditions."

The conditions can cause susceptibility to drug abuse, Larimer said, because many addicts suffer from depression and other psychological disorders.

"You can't just treat the addiction," Riina said. "You have to get to the cause and source, whether it's depression, eating disorders, sex and love addictions. These types of problems often underlie the source of drug and alcohol addiction."

Treatment at Beacon House has traditionally been a monthlong program. But the new approach will extend a patient's program by a month or two to help prevent relapses.

"That allows the recovering (patients) to maintain a connection and for the center to monitor them," Riina said. "We're looking to establish a way where we can have true recovery for a lifetime, and not just 28 days and push them out the door."

Attracted to success

Riina declined to say how much money is being spent to implement the changes, but funds come from Beacon House's reserves and are being spent as an "investment."

The investment was made despite difficult economic times, which have been especially tough on the nonprofit sector, Riina said. But it is a necessary step.

"Our solution, we believe, is to provide the finest services possible and to allow people to be attracted to us because of our success," Riina said. "That is ultimately what we are offering."

Laith Agha can be reached at 646-4358 or lagha@montereyherald.com.