TREATMENT:
Medical Care, Psychotherapy, and Group & Adjunct Therapy
MEDICAL CARE
Psychopharmacology
Although Upper East Health Psychiatry promotes psychotherapeutic and holistic treatments, we also subscribe to the best that modern medicine has to offer. When indicated, Board-certified Addiction Psychiatrists, like Dr Ken Rosenberg, prescribe non-addictive medicines to control cravings, prevent relapse, treat sleep disorders, manage anxiety and improve mood. Aside from the usual and standard pharmacotherapies, Dr. Rosenberg has written about psychopharmacology with an emphasis on the novel uses of medications. Upper East Health Psychiatry staff also provide drug and alcohol testing.
PSYCHOTHERAPY
Individual Therapy
Upper East Health Psychiatry Doctors and Therapists are licensed and recognized experts in the psychotherapeutic treatment of addiction, anxiety and depression. Upper East Health Psychiatry psychological treatment consists of evidence-based approaches such as motivational interviewing, cognitive behavioral approaches to identify triggers, dialectical behavioral techniques to manage cravings, relapse prevention strategies, insight-oriented therapy to identify deeper causes, family assessment to resolve conflicts, treatment of co-morbid mental illness and addictions, referral to appropriate 12-step based recovery groups, and addressing associated and underlying problems.
Individual Sessions for Family and Significant Others
So often families can play a vital role in leveraging and promoting recovery. Occasionally, families can jeopardize recovery. Upper East Health Psychiatry Family Therapy sessions are designed to optimize the benefits from the family’s involvement, resolve the conflicts and address the “baggage” and problems accumulated by the family over the many years of addiction or abuse. Family therapists provide individual sessions for couples or families aimed at promoting healthy relationships and a successful recovery.
GROUP & ADJUNCT THERAPY
Upper East Health Psychiatry Relapse Prevention Groups
Esteemed Addiction Therapist Marty Sherry is fond of pointing out the difference between getting sober (i.e., abruptly stopping the abuse and addiction) and staying sober (i.e., moving away from the triggers, memories and cravings and moving towards positive living). Upper East Health Psychiatry Relapse Prevention Groups provide the support, guidance and practical skills for staying sober during the first years of recovery. Run by an expert in the field of group therapy and addiction, the groups meet weekly and promote the skills and thought patterns that are critical for maintaining sobriety. At Upper East Health Psychiatry, we have groups for people of all backgrounds and ages, from young adults to accomplished professionals. Our groups are not a substitute for AA or 12-step Fellowship. Rather, Upper East Health Psychiatry Relapse Prevention Groups are intensive hour-long sessions held in our office, run by a professional therapist, with the simple goal of giving people the skills, and conveying the thought processes, that lead to an enduring recovery.
Healthy Relationship Group
Upper East Side Healthy Relationship Group is based on the premise that in recovery, 1) one’s ability to have substance-free relationships may be a challenge and 2) once you get the addictive substances or behaviors out of the picture, you have to deal with your issues in your significant relationships. If all your romantic encounters are infused with alcohol, cocaine, or tranquilizers, having a “sober date” may feel impossible. If you’re a sex addict who has avoided intimacy and pursued secret relationships throughout your marriage or major relationship, being a faithful, loving and respectful partner is a new ballgame. In a relationship where there is alcoholism or drug abuse, on occasion, substance abuse ironically acts as the “glue” that keeps the couple together – it enables the couple to meld, tolerate dysfunctional marriages, and avoid their conflicts and problems. These are the kinds of problems addressed in our Healthy Relationship Group, in which members make positive changes in how they approach and sustain relationships with family, friends and significant others in recovery.
Behavioral Addiction Group
People used to think that one could only be addicted to drugs. Today we know that this is not the case. Pathological Gambling, Internet Addiction Disorder, Impulsive Eating, Fatty Food Addiction, Shopping and a Sex-Addiction-related disorder called Hypersexuality Disorder are new and revolutionary diagnoses in medicine. In the Behavioral Addiction Group, members use behavioral contracts and group discussion to develop the strategies that can conquer Behavioral Addictions.
Meditation, Breath & Relaxation Training
With members worldwide, the Art of Living Foundation is among the largest non-governmental organizations and mind-body movements in the world. By special arrangement, they provide relaxation training in the office of Upper East Health Psychiatry (possibly the only medical office in the United States where this occurs!) Art of Living teachers provide instruction on how to relax without medication – just by controlling one’s breathing.
Mind-Body Nutrition
The types and amounts of foods we choose are oftentimes not just a simple response to our body's hunger cues. Our food choices and behaviors can be heavily influenced by our emotions, environment, self- and body-image, relationships, level of fatigue, stress, and much much more. This group presents an opportunity for participants to explore and address factors underlying compulsive eating behaviors and food habits, addictions and related issues. Participants are offered new strategies, skills, support, and research-based nutrition education to promote a more mindful, balanced eating style, and ultimately an improved relationship with food.