JourneyPure’s Emerald Coast and Fort Walton intensive outpatient facilities are proud to offer the Freedom Program, a patient-focused therapy program serving current and former military service members living with the dual impact of substance abuse and trauma, including post-traumatic disorder, or PTSD.
“We discovered that the needs of active duty, retired, first responders, and their dependents were not being met,” said Edgar Cordoba, clinical director at JourneyPure Emerald Coast. “We decided to create a program that would specifically address both substance abuse and trauma in a safe structured environment with fellow peers.”
FREEDOM stands for:
– Focus
– Restore
– Empower
– Enable
– Develop
– Overcome
– Motivate
When a person encounters stress, whether it’s a hectic morning or the threat of physical harm, the body’s sympathetic response is triggered. This causes a person to prepare his or her “fight or flight” response. Then, once the threat passes, the parasympathetic system takes over, restoring the body to normal functioning.
In cases of sustained trauma, however, the stress proves so overwhelming that the person remains in a constant state of “fight or flight.”
The symptoms of remaining in such a state include “flashbacks,” the avoidance of situations that remind the person of the stressful event, and the harboring of negative feelings like guilt, anger, or shame.
It should come as little surprise that people living with trauma often turn to alcohol or drugs as a means of escape from the discomfort. In fact, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs estimates that as many as two out of ten vets suffering from PTSD also suffer substance abuse problems.
That’s where our individualized, dual-diagnosis treatment comes in. The specialized track for PTSD offers psychoeducation and intensive psychology such as Rapid Resolution Therapy to those in need of a more balanced and stable life.
The Freedom Program focuses on two groups: military-based traumatic stress and traumatic stress related to abuse of the physical, emotional, or sexual nature. Te skill-building component of the Freedom Program helps clients begin to take control of their overwhelming memories, flashbacks, triggers, behaviors, thoughts, and feelings associated with the traumatic experience or experiences.
Relaxation training, intrusive memory rapid resolution, cognitive restructuring, and emotional regulation go a long way in building the skills needed to re-enter the community.
JourneyPure is one of approximately 20 in-network healthcare providers of TRICARE health plans in the Sunshine State. Managed by TRICARE is the comprehensive healthcare program for military service members, retirees, and their families. In the eastern states (like Florida), TRICARE’s logistical services are provided by Humana Military Healthcare.
