During her time at Timberline Knolls, a resident with more than one diagnosis will attend educational and process groups for both issues as well as groups that focus specifically on co-occurring disorders.

Our treatment is multi-disciplinary and lodge-based. Therefore, each of the five lodges at Timberline Knolls has its own team, which includes a psychiatrist, medical doctor, registered dietitian, and a host of clinicians. Additionally, each lodge has its own ED specialist and Certified Drug and Alcohol Counselor (CADC).

These professionals work closely together to observe, coordinate and collaborate with other staff to ensure the best treatment options are made available to all residents receiving integrated treatment for co-occurring disorders.

“Typically, disorders feed off of each other. That is why it is critical to treat them simultaneously,” said Beth Tesmond, MHS, CADC, MISA, Addictions Program Coordinator at Timberline Knolls. “So many people bounce back and forth between facilities; perhaps one program treated a woman’s alcoholism, but not her ED, or vice versa. If both are not treated together, the other disorder will be exacerbated; it could become life-threatening.”

Clearly, treating co-occurring disorders is far more complicated, challenging and complex than simply treating one issue. It necessitates a constant review and updating of each comprehensive treatment plan to ensure integration of both disorders.

“The frequent co-occurrence of problems with ED and SUD may signal greater psychiatric disturbances in these individuals that need to be addressed in the treatment plan. I have done a plan for substance abuse alone; it looks completely different than one for substance and ED,” said Tesmond. “But we must do it; otherwise we are providing incomplete care.”