Help, healing close to home
Sometimes, dreams come true. They will next week for four local mental health advocates with the opening of a state-of-the-art addiction services facility in Edmond.
Arcadia Trails Center for Addiction Recovery will provide a holistic approach to chemical addiction treatment when it opens Tuesday. It also will culminate eight years of work by the folks who imagined it.
The foursome includes Oklahoma City attorney Reggie Whitten, who lost a son to addiction; Dr. Murali Krishna, co-founder of the James L. Hall Center for Mind, Body and Spirit and whose mother suffered from mental illness; Kelly Fry, editor and publisher of The Oklahoman who has a son who has battled addiction, and Terry White, the state's commissioner of mental health and substance abuse services.
“We wanted to take that enormous pain and convert it into healing,” Krishna told
The Oklahoman's K.S. McNutt recently.
They shared a concern that Oklahoma, which lags the country in many mental health measurements, didn't
have sufficient treatment options for adults. Then they set out to do something about it — and raised nearly $30 million from donors across the state. Integris Health donated another $10 million toward construction.
Arcadia Trails will cater to those 18 and older. It will include stays of 90 days and one year of follow-up care.
Those who complete the program will be able to return for 12-step meetings, aftercare groups sessions and alumni group gatherings — all of which can play an important part in continuing recovery.
And, Oklahomans will be able to do this while close to home, which experts say heightens family support and aftercare.
Arcadia Trails includes 20 semi-private rooms, a fitness center, a chapel, a courtyard, and areas for yoga, art therapy and communal dining. It's on the campus of Integris Health Edmond, something Arcadia Trails' assistant vice president, Pam Forducey, said is important because addiction is a chronic brain disease and “should be treated like any other disease.”
The facility will accept voluntary admissions only of adults who have a primary diagnosis of chemical addiction, with or without co-occurring mental illness or trauma. The word “voluntary” is important, because it requires action on the part of people suffering with addiction.
As Fry put it, “It's about the courage it will take for people to walk through that door and ask for help.”
That can be a tremendous hurdle. However, for Oklahomans willing to take that step, they don't need to pack up and go to California or Texas or someplace else. Assistance is right here, thanks to the vision and dedication of fellow Oklahomans. Kudos.