Interview; Alena Skiles
By: Lakeview Health
Published: February 3, 2015

Gina is joined by Alena Skiles from Insight to Recovery as she discusses some of the unique programs their treatment center offers, including a fantastic Job Coaching program to help get patients in recovery back on their feet.

Interview


Gina Thorne: Hi everyone, this is Gina Thorne and welcome back to the Lakeview podcast series. I’m joined today with Alena Skiles with Insight to Recovery, Director of Admissions. We’re really, really happy to have her here. We’re excited to learn more about your program and find out how we might be able to utilize your services. I guess to get started can you tell us a little bit about your background and how you got into the field?

Alena Skiles: Sure. So I myself am in recovery and have been for a little over 4 years. My background as far as treatment is concerned is overseeing an IOP program for women in a previous facility and I have been at Insight for over two years now holding the position as Director of Admissions.

Gina: So we talked a little bit off line about your style of working with families. Can you talk to me a little bit about what that’s like, when you’re working with families?

Alena: I like to take the time to meet a family where they’re at. I believe that the rapport being built before asking questions about insurance or how they’re going to come through the door is more important off hand. For me, working with the families is not just about getting a client in the door but making sure that they’re getting the best treatment, whether that be at Insight or another program, because I know there are some programs that have specialties where someone may be better off there.

Gina: Well it’s good that you guys have that support outside your own organization and I know you’re located in Boynton Beach, Florida, which obviously is a great hub of recovery down there, so I’m sure you have lots of partnerships with folks down there to help. So can you tell us a little bit about the services you offer?

Alena: Sure. At Insight to Recovery, we specialize in offering a real-life recovery feel and what that means is, a lot of traditional inpatient programs have a hospital setting. I like to explain it as a bubble. They’re in this bubble for 30, 60, 90 days, and when they’re removed from that bubble they resume normal living and they don’t know how to do that clean and sober. At Insight, we actually integrate them in real life constantly, while having life coaches there with them, BHTs as well. So what we do is we immerse them in a 12-step program, we offer them a lot of strong clinical background and work, and then also making sure that they’re doing daily life skills; the cooking, the cleaning, getting up, being accountable. We offer a holistic piece as well. So all three of those pieces are very important; the 12-step piece, the clinical aspect, and the holistic measures. They hit every side of the recovery coin that we can offer.

Gina: That’s fantastic. Especially when you’re able to balance the clinical side with the real-life, life skills experience which is so important in early recovery. So you talked a little bit about coaching. I noticed on your website you offer job coaching for your clients. How does that work?

Alena: Job coaching; there are a couple different avenues we use when it comes to job coaching and that’s what we offer in the IOP when we are stepping our clients down. One of them is called Dress for Success. Dress for Success is a program where a lot of times our clients come in and they don’t have all this wonderful clothing or something appropriate to seek a job. So Dress for Success is set up for them to actually come in, be fitted, feel comfortable, we have mock interviews where they are assisted in creating resumes correctly. We have job placement, and what that means is there are services in South Florida where they can go and show up and they’re assessed to determine what is best for them as far as work is concerned, and then they work that day, or they can work part-time. That’s what we like to focus on as far as the job coaching. We actually have a member of our facility come out and help them in that process. We don’t just send them out and put them on a bus, we actually walk them through the process of how that is.

Gina: That’s fantastic and such a necessary thing for many of our patients who are just not equipped with basic interviewing skills, and feeling better about yourself is part of looking good, too. So, this is your first visit with us at Lakeview, so what are your thoughts and impressions of the program?

Alena: I’m very surprised, I’ll tell you that. Pleasantly surprised. The facility is large, but yet it still has a small feel to it. Everybody was very polite. The specialties that you guys offer and the education that I’ve been giving, the specific tracks; the Christian, the GLBT track, as well as the different properties and how it’s set up is wonderful. So overall, I think you guys are offering really good care to people in need.

Gina: Well we are really glad that we can work with you and we look forward to that with Insight to Recovery. If someone listening today needed to access services for insight, how would they get in touch with you.

Alena: We are located on the web and they can always go to InsightToRecovery.com and we have a toll-free number which is 888-854-3201.

Gina: Fantastic. Well it was really nice chatting with you today. Thanks so much for coming up and visiting with us. For those of you that are interested in learning more about Lakeview we ask you to visit us at LakeviewHealth.com and if you know someone struggling with a disease and they need help right away, please ask them to call us at 866.704.7692.