Outpatient Groups

We provide continuous care treatment options through groups, individual and family education, and community connections.

Our approach to outpatient care is to provide continuous care treatment options through groups, individual and family education, and community connections.

We strive to decrease or eliminate relapse that results in readmission to treatment by creating a robust web of treatment providers and services at SunCloud and in your community. We are unique in that we work with our patients to create and adapt an individualized, continuous care plan, based on their ongoing needs and treatment goals.

Process Group

Process group provides a therapeutic group space for patients to engage with peers and group leader(s) for support with any active symptoms they are experiencing (urges to use addictive behaviors, relapse into restrictive eating, binging, substance thoughts/urges, other forms of self-injury/self-neglect, struggles with engaging community peer support through 12 step or other meetings, barriers to obtaining a sponsor, anything that is actively interfering with the therapeutic community, etc). Process group also is a space to explore emotions relating to previous and current traumatic experiences that continue to cause distress in members’ lives. Through peer engagement and experiential processing, patients will begin to heal childhood wounds through corrective experiences with group members and facilitators. Patients will learn to identify emotions as they arise in the moment, and work through the discomfort of feeling a range of emotions while being witnessed by others. Group members will engage with each other to support each other in engaging in recovery and skill-based activities outside of programming and on the weekends.

Video: How has community impacted your own recovery?

Kimmy Haynes, Community Outreach and Alumni Coordinator at SunCloud Health, describes the impact that community has had on her own recovery.

Group Goals:

Patients will feel more comfortable with themselves mentally and physically. Patients will improve their ability to communicate directly and effectively, gaining a stronger sense of integrity and self-worth. Patients will experience support and empathy from peers and staff in order to build stronger connections and practice vulnerability. Patients will practice being honest about struggles. Patients will get to explore recurring patterns of behaviors and thoughts about their place in the world, their relationship with peers, with authority and with themselves. Patients will be able to speak to recovery interfering behaviors they experience themselves, and any that they experience or witness in the community or in peers. Read more about the power of the group at SunCloud Health, and the value we place in group therapy.

Individual psychotherapy is provided on an ongoing basis to those who would benefit. Each of our respected and caring therapists bring a wealth of knowledge and experience in the treatment of addictions, trauma, mood and eating disorders. All of our therapists are relationally oriented and highly trained. Our clinical team utilize a variety of treatment modalities including Somatic Experiencing, DBT, ACT, Client-Centered, Mindfulness, and specialized addiction treatment.

Group psychotherapeutic work is a pillar of our outpatient services. Most groups are open-ended with some designed as series to offer particular therapeutic skills. We strive for experiential, process and insight orientated group spaces, that are safe and recovery community driven.

We found this quote and article published by the The American Journal on Addictions, to be quite profound on the ability of social engagement to change lives.

“While it is crucial to deliver effective medications more widely and effectively, as well as to develop new medications that can treat a wider range of substance use disorders, we may not solve the current opioid crisis or prevent future crises without additionally addressing issues of isolation and other social stresses in our physical and virtual communities.

Addressing isolation should be a central focus for clinicians, both through utilization of behavioral treatments that focus on social reinforcement and encouraging patient engagement in recovery support services that foster social connection and mutual aid.”

The Potency of Social Versus Drug Rewards

Contact us for more information.

OUTPATIENT GROUP DESCRIPTIONS

Recovery Growth for Women with Kim Dennis, MD, CEDS, MD (adult women), Northbrook
An ongoing process group for women at any stage in recovery. This supportive space is for anyone in the recovery process whether it be with an eating disorders, substance use or any compulsive behavior. This group includes medication management.

Recovery Group for Men with Kim Dennis, MD, CEDS, MD (18 and over), Northbrook
Participant are welcome at any stage in their recovery, may be experiencing other compulsive behaviors including substance use or self-injury and is inclusive to men over 18. This group includes medication management as needed.

Addictions, eating disorders and psychological trauma impact entire family systems. Frequently, the families develop dysfunctional roles, enmeshed boundaries, intimacy fears and unhealthy communication patterns. This weekly multifamily group provides a safe therapeutic space for family members of people receiving or considering services at SunCloud Health to embark on their own journeys, with authenticity and transparency.

Families consciously and unconsciously transmit destructive coping strategies, such as addiction, to the next generation. Thankfully, transformative recovery experiences can be passed on to up-and-coming generations, creating cultures of resilience for family members in place of cultures of despair. This group will offer the possibility of recovery from codependent behaviors as well as life-changing explorations for all participants. It will also provide a forum for families to share in their experiences, and to learn from others on how to both heal themselves and support their loved ones in their recovery.

Group sessions are offered to families with a patient at SunCloud at no-charge.

Please call us or email us if you are interested, (855) 956-2850 or info@suncloudhealth.com

Video: Considering Treatment at SunCloud Health?

Dr. Sita shares what patients can expect.

Explaining SunCloud’s Integrated Model Why is an integrated treatment model essential to successfully treating patients?

Dr. Kim Dennis, Co-Founder and Medical Director at SunCloud Health, discusses the vital role the integrated model (that she is pioneering at SunCloud Health) plays in the success of treating patients with co-occurring disorders and underlying trauma. How does SunCloud create an authentic culture of patient 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


 https://youtu.be/JbmELh2UGXE

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.