Our Frontline Healthcare Workers Are Heroes. We Need Them Healthy.
It’s time to destigmatize substance abuse and addiction treatment for healthcare workers. Veritus, a Telehealth alcohol and drug treatment program, provides secure and confidential treatment designed exclusively for licensed medical professionals.
Last month, Forbes published an article It Is Time To Stop Stigmatizing Mental Health Among Healthcare Workers by Jessica Gold. The article talked about Dr. Esther Choo, an emergency medicine physician and a vocal public health advocate, who took to her twitter account to express her feelings about stoicism in medicine and her own experience with mental health. This was her response to a recent The New York Times article about the death of well-respected emergency medicine physician, Dr. Lorna Breem, to suicide due to unbearable pressure at work resulting from the onslaught of Covid-19 cases at her hospital.
The article states, “What followed was an unprecedented experience in healthcare. A flood of professionals from physicians to nurses to therapists to pharmacists wrote about their own mental health histories, sometimes for the first time, in an attempt to destigmatize mental health and help seeking in the medical profession.”
Emotional, mental and physical burn out in the medical community are real, and are serious problems. Substance abuse and addiction are as well. To address this problem head on, Freedom Institute, New York’s leading independent, non-profit, outpatient, substance abuse treatment center, has launched Veritus, a concierge Telehealth treatment program designed exclusively for licensed medical professionals. Veritus combines Freedom Institute’s renowned evidence-based Intensive Outpatient Program (IOP) with a proprietary executive performance coaching platform and the unique mobile technology of the Veritus App. Veritus is customized to meet the specific challenges of physicians, dentists, pharmacists, and nurses who may be struggling with drugs and alcohol and who may be hesitant to seek help due to the stigma around mental health issues in the medical profession.
“We are in the midst of a global pandemic, which is having devastating effects on medical professionals. This population continues to be under intense pressure, experiencing physician burn out, increased rates of depression, suicide, PTSD and substance abuse. More than ever, we need our medical professionals healthy and at optimal performance,” said Steven Wolt, CEO of Veritus. “Medical professionals are deathly afraid of losing their license and thus delay getting help for a drug or alcohol problem. Veritus is a flexible, easily accessible, private and confidential program specifically designed for this population to turn to before they are in crisis and there are severe consequences to their health, careers and to the public.”
The idea of Veritus was inspired by the desire to destigmatize mental health in the medical community, by limited access to quality outpatient treatment outside of major cities, and by the lack of existing treatment programs with services to allow clients to remain at work while seeking treatment. Veritus is for licensed medical professionals who do not need or are unable to do inpatient treatment and because it is a telehealth model it is available to medical professionals all across the country. The program is unique in its integration of Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT) and executive performance coaching. DBT is a proven modality for individuals with a drug or alcohol problem and teaches the skills needed for distress tolerance, emotion regulation, mindfulness, and interpersonal effectiveness. Veritus’ Executive Performance Coaching provides accountability to these new skills and helps build resiliency to stay successful at work. The combination of treatment and coaching significantly improves the likelihood of healing, experiencing life changing results and reclaiming one’s personal and professional life.
Veritus was designed with consultation from Dr. Michel Sucher, who has overseen the care of thousands of physicians over the past 30 years dealing with a substance use disorder. Because Veritus is exclusively for physicians, dentists, pharmacists, and nurses, its clinical program focuses on shared work-related issues and concerns and clients receive treatment exclusively with their medical professional peers. In the Veritus treatment model, executive performance coaches are an integral part of the clinical team. Veritus has partnered with local resources to include virtual programming to treat PTSD for those frontline medical providers who have experienced significant trauma dealing with COVID-19 and allows medical professionals to continue to work while receiving counseling and coaching services in a discreet, confidential model.
“Doctors and nurses account for one of the highest rates of addiction in our country’s workforce due to intense pressure and easy access to drugs,” said Bob Miller, Chairman, Freedom Institute. “Since our founding in 1976, Freedom Institute has helped thousands of individuals and families reeling from substance and alcohol abuse and we’re excited to expand our focus on healing this specific population. Veritus’ model of peer group recovery combined with Executive Coaching on a Telehealth platform is a unique and invaluable option for sobriety and recovery so that medical professionals can return to their peak performance at work.”
The Veritus Executive Performance Coaching model is a specialized form of coaching designed to help medical professionals improve performance in three key areas; business, leadership and recovery. This proprietary platform was designed by Ben Kiker, one of Silicon Valley’s top executive and performance coaches. Executive Performance Coaching bridges the gap between clinical treatment and the ‘real’ world helping address the challenges medical professionals face when it comes to blending recovery with the demands of an intense career. Veritus’ Executive Performance Coaches have significant business experience and are in recovery themselves. Coaches can help create motivation to return to peak performance at work, provide strategic planning on how to disclose a recovery journey, begin the process of career and reputation restoration, help overcome and prevent future burnout, create wellbeing and balance at work, improve inter-personal dynamics with colleagues, and become a more effective and influential leader.
The existing culture of the medical profession dictates that physicians bury their mental health needs and deal with things internally. There is a stigma in medicine surrounding mental health issues and the notion that physicians are supposed to be superhuman and not suffer from the same diseases as their patients is false and damaging to our society. No matter their profession, anyone who needs and wants help should feel safe and empowered to ask for it. Veritus seeks to normalize mental health issues and mental health and substance abuse treatment among medical professionals and help these essential workers, our local community heroes, stay healthy, stay at work and be the superheroes we know they are in spite of any human challenges.
Save the Date: Veritus Webinar
On Thursday, September 17, 2020 at 12:00pm (EST), Veritus will host a webinar featuring Steve Wolt, founder and CEO; Dr. Michael Sucher; executive coach Ben Kiker; and Freedom Institute’s Alex Dayton, LMHC for a brief presentation and Q&A on Veritus, its goals and mission. The webinar is free, and registration is required. Please click here to register.
If you or a loved one need help, contact Veritus at 646-259-3172 or online at Veritus.