Woman Power – Run By Women For Women
At New Directions for Women, we have been helping women get sober at our CARF accredited addiction treatment facility for more than 40 years. Our rehab center is run by women for women. Almost every position – from our administrative staff all the way to our counseling team – is filled by a woman (we do also employ two safe, caring men in recovery!). There is a reason why we do recovery this way. We believe in the power of women helping women.
We are convinced that something spiritual happens when a group of women come together with a common goal. This is not to say that we do not respect and appreciate men and love to have them in our lives! However; we believe that gender-specific addiction treatment is the way to go for women who want to find recovery from a substance use disorder.
Our common goal is to provide women with a healing experience so they may achieve lifelong recovery from drug and alcohol addiction. We believe we significantly improve the chances of women sustaining continuous sobriety by first building a solid foundation for them here at NDFW.
Women and Addiction – Is There A Connection?
Addiction affects women in unique ways. Understanding how addiction specifically impacts women is critical to the relapse prevention of everyone who comes to see us.
When it comes to having a substance use disorder, gender does play a role in how men and women are individually affected. For example, hormones directly influence how the human brain processes drugs and alcohol. Also, women face different challenges in recovery than men do.
For these reasons, we are convinced that women should connect with other women during the earliest phases of their recovery process. NDFW creates a sacred space for our clients to forge positive, meaningful, and recovery-driven relationships with other sober women. They can share openly on a deep and personal level, knowing that others have experienced similar walkways (vs. sharing about topics such as pregnancy in front of men who have no idea what that experience is like!)
Men Can Be a Distraction During Addiction Treatment
When women go to rehab, they are fighting for their lives. This is serious business. In the wake of the national opioid crisis, we are losing more women to fatal overdoses than ever before and alcoholism rates are still soaring. There has never been a greater need for women to throw themselves completely into their sobriety from the moment they check in to treatment.
Let’s be honest. Men can be a real distraction for women, especially when women are in a vulnerable emotional state. Sometimes a physical attraction can deter a woman’s focus and cause her to place her attention elsewhere – when it needs to be completely on her own healing process.
Also, men can be distracting in other ways. For example, most of the women receiving services at New Directions for Women have experienced traumatic instances with men in her past, and being with men in treatment can throw her off course. She may fall victim to unwanted advances. She might also meet a man who reminds her of an abusive or controlling ex-partner, which may cause her to feel unsafe.
In any case, our gender-specific treatment program eliminates any possibility of a man distracting a woman during treatment. We foster a supportive environment for women to focus on themselves and their own recovery journey. There will come a time and place for a woman to interact with men in recovery – after they have completed rehab and have the tools they’ve learned in place.
Women Need the Freedom to Express Themselves and Get Vulnerable
Most women enter substance use disorder treatment with a fear of becoming vulnerable. This may be because she grew up in a dysfunctional environment or because she experienced abuse in the course of her addiction. However; getting vulnerable is essential to the recovery process.
Women generally feel safest when they are in the company of other women who they are bonded with. They soften their hard edges and let the walls come down so they can connect. Sober women know they have been carrying the weight of heavy secrets and those secrets are keeping them sick. They simply must get honest if they ever hope to heal.
This is the power of women helping women. Just by sharing openly, our clients feel a type of unconditional love by those they are in treatment with. They feel supported and encouraged. Most of all, they no longer feel alone. When another woman speaks up and says, “That happened to me too,” it is indeed the sweetest sound a hurting soul can hear.
Moms Helping Moms – Having Children in Rehab
We are one of the few substance use disorder treatment facilities that accepts women with children and women in any stage of pregnancy. We also offer help for single moms.
We know that women with children face a special set of circumstances when it comes to getting sober and staying sober. We believe there is an unparalleled value for these ladies at NDFW, where they are able to connect with other recovering moms.
It takes a village to raise a child. At NDFW, we offer our own little village where there’s an on-site daycare, facilitated by our Development Childcare Coordinator Miss Jeanie. This offers recovering moms the opportunity to get the treatment and education they need to be an awesome sober mom.
Know a Woman Who Needs Help?
Do you know an addicted woman who would benefit from coming to stay with us? What about you? Are you addicted to prescription painkillers, crystal meth, heroin, alcohol, cocaine, or other drugs?
Take a tour of our facility and reach out. We are happy to answer questions about our women-only rehabilitation program.
If you need help, we’re here. Get help now.
