Advantage Treatment in Sidney Offers Help and Hope for Substance Abuse

SIDNEY- Advantage Treatment Centers in Sidney offers

an outpatient substance abuse treatment program that can help people in the community beat addiction, and get them back on the path to a happy and fulfilled life. The company has seven facilities in Colorado, and one in Sidney. The Sidney location offers substance abuse counseling and treatment for court-ordered patients and voluntary patients, while their Colorado facilities are just for court-ordered patients.

Started in 1995 in Sterling, Co., Advantage Treatment helps patients both male and female get the counseling they need to break their addictions and pursue a healthy life. Mindy Luyando is the Therapist at their Sidney location, and is a licensed alcohol and drug counselor (LADC,) a certified addiction specialist (CAS) and licensed Alcohol and Drug Counselor (ADS). She can attest to the upswing in drug and alcohol abuse in the Panhandle area, and says that methamphetamine is the most common abused substance, followed by alcohol.

Advantage Treatment Centers offer a proven course of therapy to help those caught up in substance abuse, and after an evaluation, a specified treatment plan is created that offers the patient between 2 and 10 hours per week of counseling. In Nebraska, Advantage Treatment Centers offers both court-ordered and voluntary treatment, while in Colorado their services are just for court-ordered clients. In Nebraska, the treatment is funded through Medicaid or self-pay with sliding scale payments base upon a patient's income. The Sidney location officially opened in December of 2022 and offers individual and group counseling as part of a course of treatment that has shown to be very successful.

Luyando has had much success with her patients, but noted it is still very challenging. "Many people develop bad habits and have difficulty breaking patterns that have enabled their substance abuse. They have to stick to the program, show up on time, every time, and do the work necessary for the treatment to have an effect. Many patients have transportation issues or other reasons that make it difficult to show up on time for their sessions, but there's also the patients that have developed bad habits and think they can lie or con their way out of treatment. That's not going to happen, though," said Luyando.

"I've been called the meanest nice person ever to exist," Luyando said with a chuckle. She has been involved with substance abuse counseling for many years, and knows all of the "tricks" that patients will try to either get out of meetings or advance in their treatment without doing the work. "It can be very tough for people going through this, but you cannot let them get away with the behaviors that have put them in this bad position to begin with. Many of these people have been lying to and taking advantage of loved ones for many years in their addictions, and not accepting their excuses and reasons for not staying on track is a big part of helping a patient overcome addiction. After a determination by evaluation, the patient is designated for the Outpatient Program or Intensive Outpatient Program. Both programs require work, with the Intensive Outpatient Prgram lasting anywhere between 12 weeks to 6 months.

The treatment programs have many steps and requirements, and provide tools to help patients self-evaluate and figure out why they are having substance abuse problems. "If we don't identify the specific cause or causes of what makes a patient abuse drugs and alcohol, they will not be successful in overcoming their problem," said Luyando. The process requires discipline and responsibility, and Luyando will shift between hand-holding a patient or dealing out the tough love required to keep patients focused on their recovery.

"Many people that are in the grips of substance abuse cannot manage their anger, and the evaluations and treatment programs help to uncover the source of that anger and deal with it so the patient can move on and rebuild their lives. It is a tough process, but well worth it when a patient is able to complete the program," said Luyando. Tools like a "Self-Silhouette" help patients identify the bad behaviors they have, and the root causes of those behaviors.

She talked about a patient that had recently celebrated their one year anniversary of being drug and alcohol free. She noted that he waited until the full year anniversary to thank her, as he needed some time after completing the program to make sure the treatment worked. He noted how sometimes he couldn't stand Luyando and felt everyone was against him, but as time progressed he saw how everything being done was to install discipline and get him to be responsible for his choices. So far the treatment has been successful for him, and he had recently moved to Greeley and is working and living in a nice house with his family. It is a testament to the effectiveness of the therapy regimen, and also to the hard work and discipline the individual puts in to help themselves.

If you or a loved one is having a problem with substance abuse, the best thing you can do is to contact Advantage Treatment Centers and start on the path of recovery and getting back on track in life. Advantage Treatment Centers have a website at http://www.atreatmentcenters.com or call Mindy Luyando directly at 970-747-8177 to get started on the road to recovery. With a solid program and support from family and community, anyone suffering from addiction can start the process of recovery and building a new life for themselves.

PHOTO/ MIKE MOTZ, SIDNEY SUN-TELEGRAPH

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Mindy Luyando with Advantage Treatment Centers in Sidney will help design a customized treatment program for people struggling with substance abuse here in Cheyenne County.