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Understanding Addiction and Addiction Treatment at SunCloud Health

A guest post by Selena Peters, MD, Addiction Medicine Specialist at SunCloud Health.

Addiction can look different for everyone. However, recognizing the signs, symptoms, and behaviors of addiction as early as possible is important to ensure prompt treatment and recovery. In this blog you’ll learn what behaviors to look for, what to expect during treatment, and why residential care may be the best choice for you or a loved one.

Symptoms of Addiction and When to Get Help

While substance use disorders may come in a variety of forms, there are common warning signs that indicate a problem. These include intense cravings, feeling out of control around the substance, or even losing control of a behavior, such as an overuse of your phone or inability to stop gaming.
The most telling warning sign of addiction is an individual feeling sad, irritated, or upset when they are forced to forego access to a substance or behavior. Often unable to cope with these feelings, struggling individuals will isolate from friends and family so that they can use substances or participate in the behavior they want.

Sometimes these feelings get so intense that individuals end up neglecting their responsibilities or engaging in addictive behaviors despite serious familial, financial, or career consequences. When this happens, seeking professional help from a healthcare provider, counselor, or addiction specialist can provide the support an individual struggling with substance use may need to address a potential addiction. For those in need of more intensive care, a residential treatment center may be the best choice.

Residential Treatment for Addiction and Co-Occurring Conditions at SunCloud Health

At SunCloud Health, we offer guidance, therapy, and 24/7 access to residential treatment programs tailored to each person’s individual needs. Treatment options include therapeutic interventions like individual, group, and family therapy; and skills-based education such as cognitive and dialectical behavioral therapy, and psychoeducation.

Within our program, we enforce a holistic approach that addresses the physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual aspects of addiction. To achieve this, we incorporate complementary evidence-based therapies such as yoga, music therapy, art therapy, mindfulness practices, and nutritional counseling with uniquely specialized dietitians who understand co-occurring disorders in addition to standard psychotherapy and medication management.

Depending on each individual’s progress, it generally takes 30-60 days to complete our residential program. SunCloud Health has multiple sites for day programs and intensive outpatient programs as well as highly trained and compassionate outpatient providers. We often refer people to other reputable programs if they are not local to the area.

At all times, our medical staff – including therapists, dietitians, counselors, medical personnel, internal medicine, psychiatrists, advanced practice nurses, and support staff – ensure ongoing medical care, monitor physical health, enhance psychological health, manage medications, and address any ongoing medical concerns. Their compassion, expertise, and dedication ensure success for our patients. Many of our staff members have been through similar experiences as our clients and therefore are better able to understand and support patients as we create a safe environment conducive to personal healing and growth.

Addressing Relapse and Previous Treatment

Sometimes individuals have a recurrence of symptoms of their addiction; this can happen regardless of past treatment or experiences in recovery. Frequently in addiction treatment, co-occurring psychiatric illness is minimized, overlooked, misdiagnosed, and under-treated. With expert psychiatric providers, we address complex mental health concerns that frequently occur with addiction, like treatment-resistant depression, bipolar disorder, anxiety disorders, trauma, and eating disorders. Oftentimes, patients come to SunCloud with past experience in other treatment programs that resulted in little long-term progress. This causes patients to be hesitant when seeking care again and to believe that they can’t recover.

At SunCloud Health, we understand relapse as one aspect of the disease process and we understand the difference between someone failing at treatment and treatment failing them. We’re here to combat relapse, help our patients endure through it, comprehensively and holistically care for patients, and promote full recovery within a highly structured environment.

Our Approach to Relapse Treatment

SunCloud Health’s programs are unique in their approach, SunCloud Health’s programs are unique in their approach, guiding patients as they address the complexity and totality of their psychiatric, medical and addiction needs. By performing thorough initial evaluations, utilizing the strengths of our experts, treating trauma, understanding motivations, collaborating with patients in creating personalized treatment plans, and building individualized continuing care plans to support recovery after residential, we reduce the chances of relapse following the completion of a SunCloud Health program.

If an individual is particularly concerned about relapse, we recommend completing our residential program and then transferring to one of our levels of outpatient care. This way, the patient will stay under our care for longer and will have the support needed when it’s time to transition back to their daily lives. Support and resources are also available for families, ensuring recovery lasts for patients and all parties involved readjust well to life’s demands. This support includes a clinic, aftercare programs, and alumni groups to help people stay connected to the community they become a part of during their stay at SunCloud.

If you or someone you know is struggling with substance use or addiction behaviors, reach out today to see how the staff at SunCloud Health can help lead you toward healing that lasts.
Call (844) 576-0279 for confidential help
Or visit our webpage: https://suncloudhealth.com/programs/residential-treatment-center

Rachel Collins, LCSW
Site Director of Northbrook PHP and IOP

Rachel Collins, LCSW, is the Site Director of SunCloud Health’s Northbrook Partial Hospitalization (PHP) and Intensive Outpatient (IOP) programs for both adolescents and adults. Rachel earned her bachelor’s degree in psychology and went on to complete her master’s degree in social work from Michigan State University. She has since worked in a wide range of settings, including inpatient treatment, PHP/IOP programs, therapeutic group homes, and private practice. Rachel specializes in treating trauma (using Cognitive Processing Therapy) and anxiety, practicing through a relational, compassionate, and client-centered lens. She is passionate about creating a therapeutic space in which clients feel safe and able to explore various parts of themselves with curiosity as opposed to judgement. In addition to her leadership and clinical work, she is passionate about creating art, and learning about the intersection between creativity and mental health.

Kayla Corirossi, MA, LCSW
Site Director, Naperville PHP/IOP (Adolescents & Adults)

Kayla Corirossi, MA, LCSW, is the Site Director of SunCloud Health’s Naperville Partial Hospitalization (PHP) and Intensive Outpatient (IOP) programs for adolescents and adults. She brings extensive experience working with individuals across the lifespan, including adolescents, adults, and geriatric populations, and specializes in the treatment of mood disorders, trauma, substance use, family systems, forensic populations, and individuals in crisis.

Kayla has worked in a wide range of clinical and community settings, including community-based interventions, police crisis response, correctional facilities, inpatient treatment, PHP/IOP programs, and with vulnerable and underserved populations. In addition to her clinical and leadership work, she is passionate about providing mental health education and advocacy within the community.

Kayla earned her Bachelor’s degree with a double major in Psychology and Sociology from Aurora University and went on to complete her Master’s degree in Forensic Social Work, also at Aurora University. Her clinical approach is evidence-based, compassionate, trauma-informed, and integrative, emphasizing collaboration and individualized care.

Driven by a personal mission to meet individuals where they are, Kayla is committed to helping clients feel safe, supported, and understood. She strives to create a natural and empathetic healing environment while ensuring individuals from all backgrounds and identities know they are not alone and have access to meaningful resources and support.

Elizabeth E. Sita, MD
Medical Director of Adult Services
Dr. Elizabeth E. Sita, MD, is a Board Certified psychiatrist specializing in the care of patients with eating disorders. She completed her undergraduate training at the University of Chicago and graduated with Highest Honors. She then earned her medical degree at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine and was recognized with the Chairman’s Award for Excellence in Psychiatry. She subsequently completed residency with the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at McGaw Medical Center of Northwestern University, where she was elected Chief Resident and received the Resident Psychiatrist Leadership & Service Award. Upon completing her training, Dr. Sita came to Ascension Alexian Brothers Behavioral Health Hospital, where she served as Assistant Medical Director of the Center for Eating Disorders and Director of Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation Services before transitioning to lead the new inpatient eating disorder unit as Medical Director of Eating Disorder Services at Ascension Saint Joseph Hospital – Chicago. In these roles, she has cared for a multitude of adolescents and adults struggling with anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, binge eating disorder, and other eating disorders as well as severe, cooccurring mood, trauma, personality, and substance use disorders. Dr. Sita has been recognized throughout her training and practice for a commitment to excellence in patient care and for her ability to engage patients in their most challenging moments. Her passions include the care of treatment-resistant eating and mood disorders as well as questions of medical capacity and end-of-life decision making. She believes that, first and foremost, human connection is key to mental health and well-being and strives to share this philosophy in each and every patient encounter. She is excited to bring her expertise to SunCloud Health as the Medical Director of Adult Services!   VIDEO: Meet Elizabeth E. Sita, MD, Medical Director of Adult Services  
Lacey Lemke, PsyD
Assistant Vice President of Clinical Services

Dr. Lacey Lemke (she/her) is a licensed clinical health psychologist with specialized expertise in the treatment of eating disorders and the practice of medical and health psychology. She completed her doctoral training in clinical psychology with a Primary Care emphasis at the Adler School of Professional Psychology. Dr. Lemke went on to complete both her predoctoral clinical internship and postdoctoral fellowship through Ascension Health, where she gained advanced training working with individuals experiencing eating disorders and self-injurious behaviors, as well as within pediatric subspecialty settings including endocrinology, neurology, and adolescent medicine.

Dr. Lemke is deeply committed to providing evidence-based, compassionate care and collaborates closely with interdisciplinary teams to ensure comprehensive treatment. Her professional mission is to support patients in achieving their fullest potential by guiding them to the most appropriate level of care and empowering them to make meaningful, sustainable progress toward improved health and well-being.

VIDEO: 2. Meet Lacey Lemke, PsyD.