Residential or Inpatient Program (42 days)

General Overview:
Treatment at Shades of Hope is about the person as a whole. It is a commitment to allow and provide the clients an environment in which they can safely take off the masks they hide behind, recognize the feelings buried in their core and give themselves permission to express those feelings while confronting their fears. Fears such as “what would it be like not to purge today, or not to drink today, or not to cut?” What would that be like?

Clients and families must recognize and learn the cycle of addiction and how the thoughts can create great denial and manipulation. If they are not already openly aware, they are led to understand the emotional and behavioral impact addictions have on the whole family. The family’s participation is also vital to the recovery process. To that end, a Family Week is normally scheduled for the fourth or fifth week of a client’s stay to involve the family in that process. Through education and understanding, the family is better able to cooperate and support the client when the time of recovery arrives. Recovery skills can be taught and learned.

Sixty-percent of our clients have more that one addictive or self-medicating behavior, including: eating disorders, alcoholism, drug addictions/chemical dependencies, self-harm, codependency, compulsive spending, etc. Shades of Hope was a pioneer in discovering that eating disorder addictions respond to the same kind of therapy as that used with the other addictions. Clients with more than one addiction address the behaviors independently and concurrently, learning how the behaviors mesh. It is not uncommon for the eating disorder to get under control only to see the codependency issues rise to the top, or the individual stops drinking but purging takes over, or the bulimic starts drinking to ease the guilt of purging.

Program Length:
We ask for an initial 42-day (6-week) commitment by the client and family. At Family Week (fourth or fifth week), the staff may recommend the client explore the possibility of transitional living or the client may ask the family’s support in continuing into Supportive Living. At that time, arrangements and decisions can be made in the client’s best interest. Or it can be confirmed at that time that the client will be ready to discharge at the end of the 42 days or transferred to a halfway house in another setting.

Please view our FAQ for comprehensive answers to common questions.

Admissions Info

Cost of the program:
$700/day; All-Inclusive

What’s included:

• Psychiatric services
• Therapeutic services
• Nutritional counseling
• Room and board
• Meals, linens, washer/dryer

What’s Not included

• Prescription medications
• Transportation expenses
• Personal toiletries, stamps, phone cards, stationery, etc.
• Medical costs above and beyond the normal course of treatment

The Six-Day Intensive (6 Days)

General Overview:
The Six-Day Intensive Program is designed to meet several needs:

• Those who are currently working with a therapist on an extended care basis who need a time and place away from family, work and friends to break through to their core… something an hour and a half session doesn’t always allow.
• Those who need treatment, but for various reasons, cannot make the commitment to 42-days. No, the week-long will not substitute for long-term treatment but it affords a new outlook and understanding to support the road to recovery.
• Those who have been to treatment, who are in recovery, but know it is time to delve deeper into their spiritual being and understanding – a need to possibly recenter oneself.
• Those who have been in recovery and have a feeling of fear of relapse and know in their inner core that a “timeout” is needed in order to continue to move forward in their recovery.

If you are open to the process and willing to do the work and let go of some control for a week and if you want healing, our Six-Day Intensive Program is for you.

What our attendees have said about this program:

• “…one of the most life-altering weeks I have ever experienced.”
• “Phenomenal. A week of inner-exploration and realization of why I continue to engage in the thought process of my addiction to food.”
• “I have been in treatment several times and nothing compares to this week of extraordinary work and commitment by the facilitators.”
• “The Week-long Intensive is just what the name implies…a week of intensive work.”

Admissions Info:

Cost of the program:
$3,495 (with an $800 non-refundable deposit)

Program Dates*

• February 12-18, 2012
• April 15-21, 2012
• May 13-19, 2012
• June 10-16, 2012
• July 8-14, 2012
• August 12-18, 2012
• September 9-15, 2012
• October 7-13, 2012
• November 11-17, 2012

* Due to the popularity of this program, we strongly recommend that you contact us for
seat availability and/or additional program dates.

What’s included:

• All workshops, meetings and activities
• Room and board; daily meals*
• Roundtrip transportation (from Abilene Regional Airport to Shades of Hope)

* All meals contain no sugar or white flour (i.e. “abstinent”)

What’s Not included

• Psychiatric services
• Medical evaluation

ACORN Five-Day Food Addiction Program (5 Days)

General Overview:
ACORN Five-Day Food Addiction Program is designed:

• For those who have been to treatment and dealt with the core emotional underlying issues contributing to their food addiction but still struggle with the mechanics of maintaining a day to day abstinent meal plan.
• For those needing the structure for rigorous self-assessment regarding obesity, eating disorders and food addiction.
• To educate about the biology and Practicality of food addiction.
• To provide a safe place to notice, experience and share difficult feelings and issues.

If you are looking for a better understanding to food as an addiction, Intense Practical Knowledge of a weekly meal plan, find yourself consistency relapsing from food dependency and you are open to beginning rigorous work within the 12 Step modality of recovery, the ACORN Five-Day Food Addiction Program is for you.

Admissions Info:

Cost of the program: (please call: 1-800-588-4673)

Program Dates

• March 5-9, 2012
• April 2-6, 2012
• May 7-11, 2012
• June 4-8, 2012

What’s included:

• All groups, meetings, materials
• Room and board; daily meals*
• Roundtrip transportation from Abilene Regional Airport to Shades of Hope

* All meals contain no sugar or white flour (i.e. “abstinent”)

What’s Not included

• Psychiatric services
• Medical evaluation

Ready to take the next step? Pick up the phone and call 1-800-588-4673.

Facilitators:

Phil Werdell, M.A
Phil has been a Yale University Scholar of the house, and was awarded Corning and Fulbright Fellowships.  He was an administrator and/or teacher at City University of New York, the College for Human Services, Campus-Free College, Kansas State University’s University for Man, the College of New Rochelle’s School of New Resources, and the University of New Hampshire Graduate School of Human Services.  He is the co-founder of ACORN Food Dependency Recovery Services, and Director of ACORN’s Professional Training Program.  Phil is the author of Bariatric Surgery: Pre-operative Considerations and co-author of Food Addiction Recovery: A New Model of Professional Support.

Mary Foushi
Co-founder and National Services Coordinator for ACORN, Mary is a food addict with over 19 years of stable recovery and is maintaining a 200-pound weight loss for 18 years. Her strong commitment to recovery and her ability to honestly relate her personal struggles and successes with food addiction offer an invaluable source of information and hope for those seeking to learn about food dependency and freedom from a life addicted to food. Mary is a CENAPS Trained Relapse Prevention Specialist, a nationally recognized speaker, and facilitates food dependency recovery groups, workshops, and intensives throughout the United States.  She is the editor of News from ACORN, various materials for ACORN lectures and professional training program.  Mary is the co-author of Food Addiction Recovery: A New Model of Professional Support.