We live in a world defined by immediacy. People know what they want and they want it “right now.” This necessity for quick answers and rapid results has metastasized into the field of behavioral health, which often results in the following scenario.

A person recognizes that some sort of therapy or treatment is needed. Understandably and in part because of the lack of standardized outcome measurements, this individual is not sophisticated as to what quality of care actually means or what type of treatment is required. Enter, the ever over-utilized internet search. A program that seems right is located and a phone call is made. Typically, in this short conversation, benefits are verified and an in-person appointment is scheduled.

At this 30-to-60 minute intake meeting, a self-history is provided to a therapist. Recognizing that a commitment to treatment can be fleeting, and without consulting anyone outside of that room, a qualitative and quantitative recommendation is often made by the therapist right then and there. The person can enter the program as early as the very next day.

Naturally, the pending patient is delighted—the entire process was quick and fairly painless. Unfortunately, this lack of information gathering is inadequate and can prove deleterious to the person in need.

Consider this question: in what other area of medicine is a diagnosis and course of treatment made immediately and unilaterally without additional clinical information such as labs or tests and made solely on self-reported information?

The answer is simple: there is none—it doesn’t exist.

Comprehensive care is a term frequently bandied about in the mental health and addiction community. At SunCloud Health, we believe complete care doesn’t start at the day of admission, but at the very first phone call. Every step we take is intentional, well thought out and in the best interest of the individual. We move quickly and prudently. We don’t cut corners despite the fact that we know we are “competing” against many who do. After all this is medicine and the Hippocratic oath presides.

We take our responsibility at all levels throughout treatment, including at the admission process, incredibly seriously. We know our version of Care isn’t for everyone. We admit less than 50% of the people who do an intake assessment with us. Approximately 10% decide they aren’t interested and choose another program, approximately 10% we ultimately refer to another program (mostly to a higher level of care, because they need more than what we can safely provide) and nearly 30% of people who come to us for an intake are either not willing to or can’t agree to the conditions we recommend as part of admission.

For instance, some may want to continue to smoke marijuana and only work on their eating disorder, some may want to continue to take Xanex despite being extremely depressed, some may want to continue to take their Adderall despite a long history with addiction, some may want to work on their alcohol addiction but remain at 95 lbs with a BMI of 15 and some simply don’t appreciate the connection between underlying trauma and their self destructive behaviors. There are places that will support patients in “carving out” what they do and do not want to work on while in treatment, and many of these facilities are indeed quite good at treating a specific diagnosis. For better or for worse, we are not one of these. We are a place to consider if one is interested in working on “all of it”, understanding the connectivity between various self destructive behaviors and underlying trauma. We want people to heal from their pain and embark on a journey of long term sustainable recovery. Of course we want to help everyone and save every life that we can. However our chance of doing so is significantly reduced when people are not willing or able to commit fully to all aspects of our integrated and highly sophisticated version of treatment. The evaluation process is extremely important in this regard. Long term sustainable recovery for those who are a good fit starts the day we get the first call.

Our call center is staffed with skilled professionals willing to spend the time required to determine if our program is the right fit for the individual. Because our treatment model is sophisticated and integrated, our staff wants everyone to realize that we treat addictions and disorders simultaneously. As such, we want to admit people who genuinely understand and desire our care. With that said, we respect and understand the presence of dissonance. Committing to treatment can be challenging, even frightening.