Some may consider Becky Flood the Florence Nightingale of the addiction treatment industry in the 21st century. With more than 30 years of experience in the behavioral health field, Flood has demonstrated exceptional expertise in the development, implementation, management and evaluation of chemical dependency treatment programs. She has distinguished herself in the area of marketing, fundraising and board development. She is currently Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer of two substance abuse treatment centers — New Directions for Women, a 30-bed women-only facility and Morningside Recovery, a 70-bed, mixed gender facility — both in Southern California. In her first two years at New Directions for Women, she tripled revenue, diversified the payer mix, and increased negotiated rates with grants, insurance carries and private pay clients that resulted in financial solvency for the failing organization. She led the organization through its first successful three-year accreditation from the Commission on Accreditation for Rehabilitation Facilities (CARF) and is also responsible for the philanthropic activities critical to this non-profit’s existence.
A nationally certified and licensed chemical dependency counselor, Flood is the President of the Association of Intervention Specialists, co-founder of National Interventionist Credentialing Board, and a board member of the National Association of Treatment Providers. Flood’s passion for helping others has paved an impressive precedence — and this dynamic woman says she won’t stop until she’s helped “heal the hole in the soul of America.” BHC Journal spoke with Flood about how such a daunting task could be achieved. The answer might surprise you…
BHC Journal: Becky, we’re talking about a very passionate topic for you: Healing the Hole in the Sole of America. Can you tell us what you mean by that and how that could be implemented?
Becky Flood: I came up with this phrase a couple of years ago after working many years in specializing in the treatment of addiction for women and children. It’s a belief that I have that addiction is the hole in the sole of America, and that if we fill and treat addiction, especially that in women and generationally their children, we will begin to heal many of the social ills our country faces — social ills such as our criminal justice system, our welfare system, our child protective system. Addiction to me is at the root of many of our social and economic ills, and women are the addicts that go most unnoticed and untreated and they are the ones that are generationally perpetuating the difficulty with themselves and their children.
BHC Journal: Becky why do you think it is that women are the most untreated demographic?
BF: I think that women and other minorities are the least treated in the addiction industry or the addiction field.
BHC Journal: Right, but what in society brought that on to make that so?
BF: I think the stigma. Especially for women, the shame and the guilt that women feel personally, which is placed on them by society for behaving differently than our expectations of men, keeps women hidden and in the closet and keeps them from accessing care on their own until their illness is so bad that there is absolutely no other choice.
BHC Journal: With such a broad scope, what are some of the tactical responsibilities or actions professionals in this industry can take to help achieve that goal?
BF: We need to work on destigmatizing the disease and assist women in not suffering in silence or sitting in their shame and fear. We need to spread awareness that it’s okay for women to get treatment. They need to know it isn’t something they caused, it’s something that happened just like cancer or heart disease does. I think that when that occurs, more women will come forward and their treatment will happen at earlier intervals and, therefore, the outcome of that treatment is more likely to be successful over time.
BHC Journal: As more and more women get treatment and are in recovery, how does that trickle down to other demographics?
BF: I believe that women in our culture and our society are the moving force within their families — so if the woman heals and gets well, it’s likely that if she’s in a relationship with an addict or in a relationship with somebody who is codependent, most likely they will heal, and if there are children involved or grandchildren, most likely each generation will embrace the concept of healing. And in the outcome, they will either get into recovery for their own addictions or they will make healthier choices, therefore never entering into an addictive pattern. So again, I believe that when women are treated, generational healing begins and, therefore, the hole in the sole of America can begin to look differently than it does right now.
BHC Journal: Part of the starting process for this, the grassroots if you will, may actually be starting with building awareness among the primary care providers; the general practitioners or the gynecologists who see women on a recurring basis. Building their awareness of what to ask women in order to find out whether they might be dealing with an addiction that they are not being forward with. What should primary care providers be considering when they’re seeing women, such as for their annual physicals?
BF: Well I think that if we begin to ask key questions as healthcare providers — whether it’s their general practitioner, their ob/gyn — the same questions as we ask about generational diabetes, whether or not somebody smokes, or whether or not there is heart disease in the family. Once we begin to just very openly engage in a dialogue on whether or not there is alcoholism, addiction, what their current usage is, and begin to have what appears to be just a healthcare dialogue as matter of fact questions, we will begin to get some valuable information. But the healthcare providers, as well, need to deal with their own fears and insecurity and possibly shame and guilt around being very open and upfront and being able to speak comfortably with women.
Some of the staggering statistics that I think are important to know involve the impact of what this disease does to America. If you look at the National Institute on Drug Abuse, they have done a lot of research and it shows that annually the cost of lost productivity in this country due to alcoholism and drug abuse is $129 billion a year. It costs healthcare $16 billion, and there’s $36 billion in other lost causes and efforts that stem from abuse in America.
The biggest statistic that always moves me emotionally is that every year, there are 40,000 babies born that have some degree of alcohol-related damage, which is known as fetal alcohol syndrome or fetal alcohol effects. That is the leading cause of mental retardation in our country and it’s 100 percent preventable. If we eradicate this disease or fully treat it then there would be 40,000 additional healthy babies born; 40,000 fewer children with mental retardation born every single year.
BHC Journal: That’s staggering! Tell me, as CEO of New Directions for Women, how have you implemented strategies for treating women at your facility?
BF: I want to talk about treating women in general first, because I believe the model most used in our country is known as the Minnesota model of treatment for addiction. It was a model that was created by men for men, predominately Caucasian men. Women of course are very different than men, and it is not untypical of our healthcare industry to have most types of treatment and research initially done on men or for men. Over time, women get to be recognized and sometimes treated differently, so I think designing and implementing successful intervention strategies that holistically address the needs of women with addiction disorders requires racial, ethnic, cultural and clinical competencies that are different and more holistic.
Research has shown that such therapies as CBT (cognitive behavioral therapy), experiential therapies, trauma therapies, all need to be integrated into the treatment of women, and yes, we do integrate all of those things at New Directions for Women. But I think our field needs to begin to make sure they are using research-driven, evidence-based best practices for whatever population or demographic or gender that they are treating so that they can guarantee the best outcomes of that care over time. They also need to make sure that if they are treating women, they are incorporating services that address all of the relationships, because women are relationship driven. Therefore, you have to address the needs of children, the needs of significant others, and other extended family members into the delivery of service. I think that when our field focuses on the individual needs of the person they are serving, the outcomes of treatment will become better.
BHC Journal: That makes perfect sense. Becky is there anything that I haven’t asked you that you think is important for industry professionals to hear with regard to the issues we’ve been talking about today?
BF: I think that we’ve come a long way. We’re a young field; we’re only between 50 and 65 years old, so in the scheme of things we are in our infancy and I think the greatest thing that any of us can do in this field is to listen to each other, keep dialogues open, be respectful of each other and be willing to continue to evolve and grow to the next professional level that we can, so that we can all be the best providers.
Reprinted with permission of BHCJournal.com
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