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Offers counseling, therapy with medications to treat addictions
BOARDMAN
Addiction is a vampire.
“When you open the door, it takes everything,” said Dr. Deirdre K. Adduci, clinical director of the Progressive Counseling Center, Boardman’s newest outpatient addiction therapy and counseling center for drug and alcohol addiction.
“Addiction is uncontrollable. When patients come here, they are looking for control and structure. We’re here to put positive things back in their lives,” said Adduci.
The Progressive Counseling Center, developed by Dr. Tracy L. Neuendorf, and the Doctors Pain Clinic, owned by Neuendorf, are in the Parkside Professional Center at 1025 and 1011 Boardman-Canfield Road (U.S. Route 224), respectively.
Opioid drug addiction continues to escalate at epidemic proportions and is one of the most urgent medical challenges facing Ohioans, said Adduci.
She received a bachelor’s degree in criminology from Ohio State University; a master’s degree in counseling from Youngstown State University; and a doctorate in counseling education (marriage and family therapy) from the University of Akron.
“The need for highly disciplined, comprehensive outpatient programs to treat opioid drugs such as prescription medications, heroin and alcohol addiction prompted the creation of Progressive Counseling Center,” she said.
Disciplined treatment means a balance between medication, therapy, counseling and other holistic methods, said Jim Thompson, practice administrator.
Research indicates that a successful treatment of opioid dependence requires a combination of buprenorphine medication management, along with intensive counseling and education to maximize long-term abstinence, Adduci said.
Progressive Counseling Center’s program follows a Targeted Treatment Plan/¢ for opioid addiction that integrates physician-managed buprenorphine medication, such as suboxone, which, with the correct dose, suppresses cravings for opioids and reduces withdrawal symptoms, said Thompson.
In addition, individual and group addiction counseling tackle a variety of addiction issues and provide peer feedback and support; and comprehensive mental health services address underlying issues that may have led to addiction issues.
A team approach to treatment is used at the Progressive Counseling Center.
The team includes doctors, nurses, mental health and family counselors, medical assistants, a psychiatric nurse practitioner and even two rescue German shepherd-mix certified therapy dogs, Tornado and Blizzard.
“The key with therapy dogs is that they offer unconditional love. Addiction is an unsafe world, and we want patients to feel safe and loved. We’re trying to teach them how to feel again ... to bring up their feelings safely. We want to help them succeed,” Adduci said.
“Some view addiction as a moral weakness. We look at it as a disease. We change thought processes and behaviors. If you don’t do that, you’re just prescribing pills,” she said.
But that does not mean patients don’t also have responsibilities in their treatment at Progressive.
“They are not judged, but they are held accountable and responsible. You can’t change what you won’t acknowledge,” Adduci said.
Mandatory for patients, each of whom has an individual treatment plan, are counseling sessions and support meetings, support meetings, and active participation in a 12-step program such as Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) or Narcotics Anonymous (NA).
“We’re opening the door to hope. Many components of life are ruined by addiction. We help put lives back together. We want them to feel whole again. It takes discipline. ... It’s hard to do, but it is worth it in the end,” she said.