Orlando VA Healthcare System

About Orlando VA Healthcare System – Orlando

The Behavioral Health Clinic in the Orlando VA Medical Center at Lake Nona in Orlando, Florida, offers dual diagnosis treatment. They’re a mental health clinic that helps veterans, their families, and other eligible recipients with a full range of medication assisted therapeutics and counseling, including inpatient and outpatient care.

Seeing a psychiatrist at this center may offer the addiction treatment option of receiving medication management for conditions like anxiety, depression, PTSD, or other emotional and mood regulating concerns. You’ll have individual sessions with a doctor experienced in psychological disorders that affect veterans, especially after you’re discharged from active duty or a campaign in an active theater of war.
While the facility may look grandiose from the outside, its staff have received complaints for not being responsive to the needs of veterans during weekend appointments by keeping their main entrance door locked and shut and then lecturing patients, some of whom have mobility issues or disabilities. One man said the patient advocate failed to follow up on a somewhat serious matter. Another veteran said the clinic overmedicated some patients, resulting in a worsening of their condition. Others accused staff of just being there for a paycheck and said that most weren’t veterans themselves.

Addiction Treatments

Levels of Care

Aftercare Support

Completing a drug or alcohol rehab program shouldn't spell the end of substance abuse treatment. Aftercare involves making a sustainable plan for recovery, including ongoing support. This can include sober living arrangements like halfway houses, career counseling, and setting a patient up with community programs like Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) or Narcotics Anonymous (NA).

Inpatient

Residential treatment programs are those that offer housing and meals in addition to substance abuse treatment. Rehab facilities that offer residential treatment allow patients to focus solely on recovery, in an environment totally separate from their lives. Some rehab centers specialize in short-term residential treatment (a few days to a week or two), while others solely provide treatment on a long-term basis (several weeks to months). Some offer both, and tailor treatment to the patient's individual requirements.

Intervention Services

Intervention services helps family or friends of addicts stage an intervention, which is a meeting in which loved ones share their concerns and attempt to get an addict into treatment. Professional intervention specialists can help loved ones organize, gather, and communicate with an addict. They can guide intervention participants in describing the damage the addict's behavior is causing and that outside help is necessary to address the addiction. The ideal outcome of an intervention is for the addict to go to rehab and get the help they need.

Outpatient

Outpatient Programs (OP) are for those seeking mental rehab or drug rehab, but who also stay at home every night. The main difference between outpatient treatment (OP) and intensive outpatient treatment (IOP) lies in the amount of hours the patient spends at the facility. Most of the time an outpatient program is designed for someone who has completed an inpatient stay and is looking to continue their growth in recovery. Outpatient is not meant to be the starting point, it is commonly referred to as aftercare.

Treatments

Dual Diagnosis Mental Health

Programs

Adult Program

Adult rehab programs include therapies tailored to each client's specific needs, goals, and recovery progress. They are tailored to the specific challenges adult clients may face, including family and work pressures and commitments. From inpatient and residential treatment to various levels of outpatient services, there are many options available. Some facilities also help adults work through co-occurring conditions, like anxiety, that can accompany addiction.

LGBTQ Program

Recovery is most successful when clients feel accepted and validated by their peers and treatment providers. Facilities that offer LGBTQ-inclusive programming are committed to creating a safe space where everyone can grow and recover without fear of judgment or discrimination. They will have dedicated policies in place to create a safe and supportive environment that fosters free expression.

Military Program

Serving in the military is both mentally and physically challenging, and can result in trauma that persists even after combat ends. Military programs are tailored to the specific and often complex needs of active duty personnel, veterans, and military families. Clients often access these programs through the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA).

Young Adult Program

Young adulthood can be an exciting, yet difficult, time of transition. Individuals in their late teens to mid-20s face unique stressors related to school, jobs, families, and social circles, which can lead to a rise in substance use. Rehab centers with dedicated young adult programs will include activities and amenities that cater to this age group, with an emphasis on specialized counseling, peer socialization, and ongoing aftercare.

Staff

Timothy J. Cooke

Medical Center Director

Lisa L. Zacher, MD, FACP, FCCP

Chief of Staff

Suzette McNeil, RN,MS

Associate Director for Patient Care Services

Derek D Szafranski, PhD, MBA

Associate Director for Resources

Ryan Baker, MBA

Assistant Director

Jeffrey Birdsong

Associate Director for Operations

About Orlando VA Healthcare System – Orlando

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