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What
makes Women In Recovery so Special?
One in four drug abusers is a woman; their drugs of choice include
alcohol, cocaine, crystal methamphetamine and heroin.
Women who are chemically dependent struggle with their diseases
in very different ways than men.
Women In Recovery, Inc. attribute our remarkably
high recovery rate in large part to the fact that we
focus on the treatment and recovery of women only. Why
is our gender-specific program so effective? Here are
just some of the reasons.
Beyond Social Perceptions:
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is still a greater stigma attached to women than to
men who drink and use drugs. For example,
addicts who are also caring mothers carry immense guilt
and shame not only for their disease, but also
for the effect their diseases have on their
children's lives. At Women In Recovery, Inc.,
women can move beyond labels and the social
perceptions to openly confront their feelings of
guilt and shame. |
Behind Outward Appearances:
| Chemically
dependent women often try to disguise addictions by assuming a socially
acceptable appearance, careers, homemaking
skills and community involvement. Women In
Recovery provides a safe haven for women only, where they can feel more at ease
and therefore able to more openly reveal
what lies behind their outward appearance and
effectively resolve their feelings of guilt, shame and
negativity. |
Coping with a History of Abuse:
Many
women struggling with alcoholism and addiction also have
a history that includes emotional, physical or
sexual abuse.
In cases where the abuse coincided
with alcohol and/or drug abuse, women may experience
very complex emotions of guilt and shame. These
intensely sensitive clinical issues are best
treated in a woman only... gender-specific ...environment. |
The Advantage of a Single-Sex Program:
| Romantic
involvements, care-taking and sex are very common
among coping mechanisms in handling the pain of
drug and alcohol withdrawal. These types of
relationships are more likely to develop in
co-ed programs, and can interfere with the
recovery process. By us treating only women, we
reduce the amount of potential distractions and
help women avoid falling into familiar
care-taking patterns. |
A Supportive Network of Women:
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women-centric environment
encourages residents to develop friendships and
positive support networks, where women cooperate
with each other, rather than compete. Additionally, bearing
witness to another woman's "model"
recovery has proven to be a remarkably healing
event. |
These are just a "few" reasons
why Women In Recovery is so special.
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