If you could design your own "treatment center", with no regard to limits on finances or what seems "impossible", what would find most helpful to you?
I am not sure how this topic came up this morning, but I ended up having a long discussion with my mom about what my ideal treatment would look like. It does not exist at this time, but it is based off of my experiences both professionally and personally. A lot of it sounds impossible with today's treatment models and financial limitations, but I think, at least for me, it would be hugely beneficial.
I have found I need a certain level of intensity to safely and effectively get through my issues, so I would want something that is residential, however I would want to keep my freedoms (access to my music, animals, nature, ability to leave if I need a change of scenery even if it means going with someone, access to my positive coping skills, access to my social supports and the community). I would want access to supportive and trained people at all hours of the day and night (because let's be honest, most crises don't keep themselves to a schedule, so if one arises, I want to be able to deal with it appropriately in the moment); a holistic treatment team that takes my input into account and helps me implement my ideas (as appropriate and available); a safe environment where added supervision is available, but personal choice is also a key component; staff that maintains a level of compassion even if I get super annoying and needy; availability for staff to decompress and engage in self-care as needed; down-time to regroup from dealing with something very heavy; people that are open to challenging me on my trouble points but also understanding of places I may be stuck; flexibility in treatment plans; openness to new ideas and new ways of doing things; limited judgements on how I present and a willingness to look at what may be underlying my symptoms/presentation; freedom from stigma around any particular symptom, behavior, or mood-state; people that listen to and hear what I have to say; people with patience around helping me figure stuff out; people to help me build a vocabulary and a method of expression for things I cannot adequately express; people that are willing to sit with me through challenging times, and gently insist that I get through the triggered symptom to find out what's "on the other side" of it; catering my treatment to me as an individual, and respecting me as an individual with certain likes and dislikes; going at treatment with "kid gloves" knowing that sometimes things will get way worse and way more challenging before they get better; having a treatment team that is ok taking over when my judgement goes south, but still open and receptive to what I am trying to communicate... Also an openness to "thinking outside the box" and coming up with new treatment ideas if the current ones do not work.
It would be incredibly expensive, and incredibly intensive, but I think it would work for me. A girl can dream, right?
So, if you could design your ideal treatment based on what has and has not worked for you in the past, or what you have seen work or not work for others, what would it be?
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