Best practices for substance abuse relapse prevention

Cody Regional Health (CRH) will be hosting an educational dinner Tuesday, April 24 starting at 5:30 PM at their West Park Hospital campus for anyone who has been affected by the disease of addiction, and clinicians who treat those suffering from addiction will receive 1-CEU credit.

Attendees will learn how drug addiction is a complex disease, and why quitting usually takes more than good intentions or a strong will, hence the name of the event “Just Saying No” isn’t enough.

“Anyone who attends will learn how a range of care with a tailored treatment program and follow-up options can be crucial to successful recovery,” States Interim Behavioral Director and event speaker, Heidi Hess at CRH.

Attendees will learn the principles determined from long-term research studies on the origins of drug abuse behaviors and the common elements of effective relapse prevention strategies.

Heidi has spent almost 20 years treating individuals with substance use disorders and managing programs for the treatment of substance abuse disorders in a variety of settings including: Emergency departments in large urban hospitals, inpatient treatment settings in both tertiary hospitals and free standing psychiatric/substance abuse treatment hospitals, residential settings, partial hospitalization programs, Intensive Outpatient Programs, Outpatient clinics, and as a Private Practice Clinician. She has a Master’s degree in Clinical counseling and is licensed as a Professional Clinical Counselor in the State of Ohio.

“Drug addiction is a rising epidemic in the United States, specifically in Wyoming. According to the National survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) 21.5 million American adults (aged 12 and older) battled a substance use disorder in 2014,” Hess States. It’s vital for us to share our local treatment options and partnerships we have with other outlying agencies in our area.

Cody Regional Health will be charging $5.00 for the dinner and hope to have community participation to further the discussion on how we are helping our loved ones close to home.

For assistance with this story, please contact Ashley Trudo at Cody Regional Health at atrudo@wphcody.org or 307.578.2512.

About Cody Regional Health

Cody Regional Health (CRH) is a national leading critical care 25-bed acute-care state-of-the-art facility. CRH employs and partners with over 60 physicians and offers over 20 different services, with an adjacent Long-Term Care Center licensed for 94 beds, a 16-bed chemical dependency center, 8-bed hospice house, regional cancer center, satellite physicians clinics and urgent care center. CRH abides by the Planetree philosophy as a model of health care. The Planetree model strives to enhance patient comfort by personalizing, humanizing and demystifying the health care experience. www.codyregionalhealth.org.