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Brookside Institute Advances Treatment of Drug and Alcohol Abuse With Science-Based Programs

Posted on: Thursday, 20 April 2006, 12:00 CDT

Brookside Institute is establishing itself as a pioneer in the treatment of drug and alcohol abuse by combining an array of measures into a science-based program that is unique to the industry.

Founded in 2002 at the University Research Park at the University of California, Irvine, Brookside Institute has developed an innovative treatment protocol that includes brainwave testing to pinpoint abnormal neurological patterns, specialized addiction medications and cognitive behavioral therapy.

"We have crafted a successful science-based medical model to treat our patients individually, giving them the best possible chance to lead self-satisfied productive lives," said E. Keith Owens, Brookside Institute's Director and Chief Executive Officer. Brookside Institute treats patients from all over the world on an out patient and a residential basis. The main campus of the facility, which is near John Wayne Airport, accommodates up to 50 patients with medical facilities, offices and classrooms. Its residential homes offer an upscale living environment, a fitness center, a meditation/yoga room and are close to major recreational centers and area beaches. One of the features about Brookside Institute's program that sets it apart is its commitment to understanding and addressing the underlying psychological issues that often lead to addiction and abusive behavior.

For example, Owens said, since more than 70 percent of people with substance abuse problems also suffer from various forms of mental illness, Brookside Institute works to address these fundamental issues.

Because substance abuse treatments since the first half of the 20th Century typically have relied almost exclusively on conventional 12-step programs, including Alcoholics Anonymous, the likelihood that deeper issues were involved typically were not addressed, he said.

"In other words, many patients have dual disorders. A patient might be chemically dependent and also may suffer from depression or ADD. Traditionally, where most of the treatment would focus on the addiction, virtually none would focus on the co-occurring psychological issue that may lie behind the addiction," Owens said.

"People with dual disorders have a much better chance of recovery when they receive an integrated treatment regimen," he said.

Another key element of Brookside Institute's treatment protocol is the use of the electroencephalogram (EEG), quantitative EEG and referenced EEG.

Brookside Institute is one of the few treatment centers in the world using rEEG evaluation as a unique biomarker of brain function that enables the design of treatments and new therapeutic opportunities for each patient.

"Our objective with rEEG is to `pull back the curtain' and look at the brain, the addiction and the co-occurring issues and then start to treat them from a medical basis," Owens said.

"The rEEG examination helps us to get a more complete picture of the patient before we start. Then we administer medications as the rEEG might indicate. After about six weeks we take another rEEG to see how we're doing from the baseline so we can make modifications. This gives us a much better result because we don't have those people who continue to relapse because the co-occurring issues haven't been addressed," he said.

The medications to which Owens' refers are another key component of Brookside Institute's treatment protocol. The Institute has had success using a number of drugs, including several that have been newly developed and approved by the FDA, that have been proven highly effective.

"We don't look at any of these as silver bullets, however. We look at them as part of a bundled protocol that includes individual therapies and adjunctive therapies, which enable us to delve deeper," Owens said.

Brookside Institute is Accredited by the Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facility (CARF), certified by the State of California's Drug and Alcohol Programs, and programs are approved by the Probation Department of Orange County. For more information, call Keith Owens at Brookside Institute: 877-277-1700, or Donna Leeds at Leeds & Associates: 949-310-5673.

Source: Business Wire

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