TREATMENT PROGRAM
MALIBU BEACH RECOVERY SYSTEM ℠ for treatment of addiction
"Drug addiction is a brain disease."
-Dr. Nora Volkow, research scientist, director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA)
"I am very impressed at what you have been able to accomplish. Especially in the non-pharmaceutical and non-nutraceutical arenas (diet, nutritional supplements and breathing techniques). Everything you have follows the Dopamine Agonist Modus Operandi. Your treatment program builds dopamine levels. Your low-glycemic lunch was out of this world…You have what is really going to turn a person’s life around. That includes, and that is, a lifestyle change -- and more importantly -- an easy program that an individual can follow for the rest of their life."
- Dr. Kenneth Blum, research scientist, pioneer in the field of genetics and addiction
It is now known --thanks the seminal findings of Dr. Kenneth Blum and Dr. Ernest Noble 30 years ago, enhanced by Dr. Blum’s continuing research and the findings of younger scientists like Dr. Nora Volkow -- that substance abuse causes damage to the brain’s all-important mood regulatory system.
The Malibu Beach Recovery System℠ for treatment of addiction has been designed specifically to repair the brain’s reward system, and provide our clients with the tools required to maintain sobriety long term. We believe that alumni who continue to follow the easy tenets of our neuroscience-based system and participate in a 12 Step Program, maintain long term sobriety and have real quality of life.
The Malibu Beach Recovery System℠ for treatment of addiction is designed to help chemically-dependent adults and alcoholics using holistic, scientific and clinical principles. In addition to the traditional American style of treatment -- individual therapy, group therapy, family therapy, and the 12 Step Philosophy – the Malibu Beach Recovery System℠ for treatment of addiction includes an innovative, methodology pioneered in Europe in the 1990s, and adapted to American treatment in 2007. This holistic component is designed to quickly and efficiently begin to raise the chronically low dopamine levels of our clients through diet, yoga breath work, and food supplements. One result of this healthy life style is that clients are able to better focus on the various therapy approaches offered by our clinical team.
Here are the Five Treatment Modalities we use to quickly and efficiently restore brain chemistry and rejuvenate the body’s reward system.
- The MALIBU BEACH RECOVERY SYSTEM ℠ Exercise Program: Based on a unique combination of specific breathing exercises adapted from yoga. There are three types of exercises practiced by clients each day: Energy Replenishment, Energy Enhancement, and Calming Release. Graduates receive real time DVDs of each yoga session, as well as a 30 minute post-treatment session especially created by lead exercise instructor Oleg Yevseyev. Unlike pure cardio work outs, yoga has the remarkable ability to calm the mind and balance the mood.
- The MALIBU BEACH RECOVERY SYSTEM ℠ Bio-Active Food Supplement Regimen: Specifically designed over years of careful study to compliment to the Exercise Program. The food supplements work in synergy with the exercises to elevate mood and sustain a sense of well-being.
- The Malibu Beach Recovery Diet™ : Meals prepared by our chefs help clients achieve a “stimulatory” satisfaction from foods that do not include sugar, caffeine, white flour, white rice, potatoes and other high glycemic products. Eating in accordance with the Malibu Beach Recovery Diet effectively reduces excessive appetite and overeating, reduces mood swings and promotes a physiologically healthy body. Our low glycemic diet is based on the finest traditions of French Cuisine which has always been famous for its elegance, tastes, textures and colors. To help familiarize clients with the Recovery Diet, Chef Licia Jaccard teaches cooking classes every Sunday. There is an online cookbook available to alumni and their families which includes rules of the simple diet, hundreds of recipes that are elegant and easy to prepare, shopping lists, and a glycemic index.
- MALIBU BEACH RECOVERY SYSTEM℠ Clinical Therapy Program : Therapists with PhD's and MFT degrees (Masters in Family Therapy), experienced in treating addiction, meet individually with clients twice a week, and with their loved ones during family weekends. Our therapists support and empower our clients so that they become more responsible, organized, and efficient individuals.
- MALIBU BEACH RECOVERY SYSTEM ℠ Psycho-Spiritual Program: Based on the principles of the 12 Step program. This component helps our clients understand the disease of addiction and the relationship between addiction and the brain. Clients learn important sober thinking and decision making skills through daily groups facilitated by certified Addiction Counselor and the counseling staff. Our experienced staff support and empower our clients so that they become more responsible, organized, and efficient individuals.
At the Malibu Beach Recovery Center®, our clients have a full daily schedule. The day begins at 7 a.m. and ends at 11 p.m. There is little free time. All modalities are integrated into one comprehensive program. Each part of the schedule has been carefully designed to help our clients efficiently achieve long term sobriety. Our clients learn the essentials of each modality as well as how to identify and handle the tipping points of his/her recovery. Our clients are taught how to responsibly respond to cravings, and maintain long term sobriety by incorporating into their lives the Malibu Beach Recovery Center®’s nutritional, physical, and psychological principles.
Detoxification
The path to healing begins with detoxification, a process that removes toxic substances and cleanses the body. The body accumulates toxins that must be removed after alcohol and/or drugs have been used, as well as after periods of over-eating high-glycemic, non-nutritious, and processed foods.
We treat our detoxing clients with respect and dignity. After all, a person struggling through an alcohol or drug detox is not a bad person doing sick things, but rather a sick person who may have done some unhealthy things and is now trying to get well.
While detoxing at the Malibu Beach Recovery Center®, you or a loved one will be monitored 24-hours a day by our experienced and compassionate staff. All clients in detox are under the supervision of an independently affiliated doctor who specializes in addiction and holistic medicine. Detoxification of the body is the basic starting point for almost anybody who wishes to get healthy. The detoxification process at the Malibu Beach Recovery Center® incorporates several therapeutic modalities which help to effectively alleviate the physical discomfort which accompanies withdrawal from alcohol and other drugs.
We are located in a serene and tranquil setting. The treatment team strives to heal our clients' body and soul: we utilize a variety of complimentary holistic drug addiction and alcoholism recovery therapies to rapidly enhance feelings of well-being. Proper nutrition is an essential part of the recovery process, and the Malibu Beach Recovery Diet™ in conjunction with yoga breath work and bio-active supplements are an indispensable component of eliminating of toxic substances from the body, and restoring health.
The transition from a life of misery and addiction to a life of well-being in recovery takes strength and courage, and we are here to support you in every step of that process.
Major Drugs that Require Detoxification
Some of the mind-altering substances we detoxify for include
1. Alcohol
2. Illicit opiates such as heroin and opium
3. Legally manufactured pain killers often over prescribed, mis prescribed, or abused: Percoset, oxycodon, morphine, fentanyl and dilautid.
4. Methadone (sometimes prescribed to relieve moderate to severe pain that has not been relieved by non-narcotic pain relievers and also to help opiate addicts stay off illicit opiates).
5. Suboxone and subutex which are semi-synthetic opioids used to detox from opioid addiction and in specific cases to control moderate pain in non-opioid tolerant individuals in lower dosages .
6. Benzodiazepines are legally manufactured, easily abused, central nervous system depressants such as clonopin, valium, ativan, and xanax
7. Methamphetamine
8. Cocaine
During the detoxification process the objective is to keep the patient comfortable by using various medications and food supplements to relieve their symptoms of withdrawal.
Proper alcohol detoxification prevents clients from having severe anxiety or seizures. This is accomplished by using a combination of food supplements, anti-anxiety and anti-seizure medications.
Opiate and methadone detoxification includes various prescription drugs to keep the patient from having symptoms of withdrawal which can include severe anxiety, abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, joint paint, and severe generalized influenza-like symptoms. This is accomplished by the judicious use of Clonidine, Phenobarbital, or benzodiazepines; anti-nausea medications such as Vistaril, Bentyl (for abdominal cramping), as well as other medications to alleviate the sometimes severe symptoms of withdrawal. The judicious use of buprenorphines (suboxone and subutex) is also employed.
The detoxification off benzodiazepines includes the use of anti-convulsants as well as a slow taper of long-acting benzodiazepines. In some patients medication is necessary to prevent symptoms of post-amphetamine psychosis, and in the case of cocaine detoxification various dopamine agonists as well as sedation are employed.
The detoxification process is the first step taken in the journey of rehabilitation. Once detoxed, patients can comfortably begin the recovery process.
Residential Program
The residential program is located in a luxurious home in the serene Malibu hills overlooking the ocean. Antique furniture, contemporary art and beautiful vistas bring tranquility to our clients, allowing them to give undivided attention to the intense rehabilitation process they are going through.
We know that every 15 minutes not spent actively participating in recovery related activities takes the person whose goal is achieving sobriety “down the hill” – that is to say, back to their disease. That is why our treatment center is based on the principle of intensive rehabilitation. During the residential program the participant "climbs the peak" of sobriety by attaining skills which allow him or her to live a full and joyful life without drugs.
Here is what a regular day looks like in the residential program: 
Our clients wake up and attend a short inspirational meeting, and are presented with the goals of the day. After taking bio-active food supplements, our clients participate in the morning exercise class – Energy Replenishment.
This is followed by breakfast. The food in the clinic is prepared by a gourmet chef according to principles of the special Malibu Beach Recovery Diet™. All meals at the Center have a positive stimulatory effect on our clients' mood – in contrast to the usual meals most people are used to eating. After breakfast clients have individual or group therapy, or actively participate in a variety of recovery workshops and educational lectures. Our expert staff provides individual attention and support in helping our clients obtain essential knowledge and understanding about the debilitating process of addiction, and what is required for successful recovery from the disease.
After the morning sessions and a short 15 min break, our clients go to a second exercise class – called Energy Enhancement, and this is followed by gourmet low-glycemic lunch. After lunch which, just like breakfast, creates an uplifting active state of mood, clients participate in the afternoon therapy or groups, oriented to learning practical skills. During this time clients learn to implement the new knowledge they obtained during morning session.
In the afternoon, after completing the afternoon sessions, our clients take another set of bio-active food supplements, and participate in the evening exercise class – Calming Release, where they practice relaxation techniques. After dinner, clients have time for individual homework, and individual consultations with the staff members, many of them in recovery. Four nights a week there is a 12-Step meeting or Big Book Study at the Center; 2-3 times week clients attend a 12-Step Meeting in the local community. The day ends with inspirational self-support meeting and evening meditation.
The Transitional Living Program
90 Days is considered the current ”Gold Standard” for Alcohol and Chemical Dependency Treatment. This may seem like a very long time to allot to addiction treatment, but outcome study research by the National Institute for Drug Abuse, a division of the National Institute of Health, has concluded that participation for less than 90 days is of limited or no effectiveness, whereas more than 70% of patients completing a 90 days program remain sober long term.
Our transitional Living Program follows residential treatment at the Malibu house where our clients live in a protected drug-free environment. They are constantly motivated by our therapists to participate in the recovery program. We encourage clients to chose one of the drug-free, supportive transitional living and sober living houses we have vetted in Malibu and the West Los Angeles area. At this stage our clients are able to take care of their mood sustaining system based on the knowledge and skills acquired during the residential program, and here our clients learn how to apply the newly learned life styles to everyday life with staff support. The extended care program allows our clients more flexibility to independently structure their day, and gradually adjust to living in a more independent environment.
Click here for a list of recommended Sober Living and Transitional Living houses.
Malibu Beach Recovery Center® coaches are available for clients who need to return to work immediately after the Residential Program and need help setting up a Transitional Living Program at home, in accordance with their healthy new lifestyle.
MALIBU BEACH RECOVERY SYSTEM℠ Family Support Program
Because addiction is a family disease, it is essential to provide family members with relevant information and education about what to do, and what not to do to help their recovering family member maintain sobriety. Ideally the Family Support Program is held on the third weekend of a client’s stay at the Center and lasts for 2 days. We strongly encourage the families and/or close friends of our clients to participate as the Family Support Program includes educational lectures about the nature of addiction and co-dependency, an introduction to the Malibu Beach Recovery System ℠ Addiction Treatment Program, a chance to participate in the exercise sessions, and learn about the Malibu Beach Recovery Diet™. The family members meet with Malibu Beach Recovery Center® therapists to discuss their family member’s recovery progress, and his or her personal treatment plan. During this time the family members will have an opportunity to discuss their individual problems and questions with the therapists. At the end of the Family Support Program, the family participates in a family session with their recovering family member, the goal of which is to prepare the family to accept the client’s new character and start building a new relationship.
The 2-Year Support and Maintenance Program
Our clients are encouraged to remain in contact with the Center staff after completing the programs.
The Malibu Beach Recovery System℠ treatment for addiction is not just a temporary "band-aid" to cover inner pain and sense of powerlessness, but a comprehensive program that incorporates cutting-edge scientific research, nutritional support, therapy, and the 12 Steps. These are powerful tools and that will help you make the right choices for the rest of your life. The Malibu Beach Recovery System ℠ treatment for addiction will give you the skills essential required to maintain health, well-being, and sobriety. Your body, mind, and spirit with thank you with renewed joy, energy, and vitality.
The transition from a life of misery and addiction to a life of well-being in recovery takes strength and courage, and we are here to support you in every step of that process.
Addiction robs people of their dignity and life before it kills them.
We can help you achieve sobriety now - and maintain it for life. If you
or a loved one needs help call our supportive intake staff who will
address your concerns and guide you through the intake process:
C all: 1-800-366-8101 or email us at info@malibubeachrecovery.com
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