Sept. 28, 2026

From Crisis to Care: Support at AAC

Show Notes
Transcript

Are you struggling or you know someone who is? You want to get help, but not sure where to go in your community, and you don't want anyone to know you have a problem. Only 10% of addicts seek treatment. The other 90% of addicts are stuck, feeling as if there are no options. AAC American Addiction Centers is the leading provider for addiction treatment nationwide and specializes in evidence-based treatment and mental healthcare services. People listening can get help at ACC, covered by insurance

ASharpe Outlook is broadcast live Mondays at 8AM PT on K4HD Radio - Hollywood Talk Radio (www.k4hd.com) part of Talk 4 Radio (www.talk4radio.com) on the Talk 4 Media Network (www.talk4media.com). ASharpe Outlook TV Show is viewed on Talk 4 TV (www.talk4tv.com).

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Hello, and thank you for tuning in to A Sharp

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Outlook on K4HD Radio and Talk4TV. I am Angela Sharp,

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your host. Our armchair discussions with industry experts will give

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you the steps, tools, and information to be successful in

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business and to prepare you to be your best self.

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Hello, I'm Angela Sharp, and welcome to A Sharp Outlook. Today,

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we're going to talk about from crisis to care, where

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you can get support for addiction at American Addiction Centers.

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And we have a wonderful guest that will be able

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to discuss this. But, you know, are you struggling? Or

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you know someone who is? You want to get help,

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but there are no places to go in your community.

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And you don't want anyone to know you have a problem.

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Did you know that only 10% of people that are

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suffering from addiction seek treatment? 10%. And the other 90%

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of those suffering from addiction are stuck, feeling as if

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there are no options. Well, AAC, the American Addiction Center,

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is the leading provider for addiction treatment nationwide. and specializes

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in evidence-based treatment and mental health care services. People listening

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to this episode are likely to stay to high stress.

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They need to hear that there is a clear human-centered

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process to get help. AAC places the focus on the

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personalization of care. They emphasize on how their treatment isn't

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a factory process, but a tailored plan that addresses individual history,

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mental health, generational trauma, physical safety, and specific service offerings

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like specific therapies, amenities, or programs that meets the residents

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at their point of need. And a wonderful thing is

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AAC accepts insurance coverage, which provides a healthy, supportive intervention

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for a loved one. Well, today I have Heather Usura,

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who is a part of AAC organization, and I'd like

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to invite her to join us right now.

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Hello.

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Hello. Good to see you. And I'm really glad to

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have you here to talk about this. Just very important

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topic because as you know, we see on the news

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and even go to our community events, we know that

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addiction is a problem, not just in this nation, but

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around the world. And so we need to let them

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know that we care and there's help. And so tell

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us about yourself, Heather, and how did you get addicted?

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into working with this organization?

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Well, first of all, thank you for having me. I

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really am excited to share this information with everybody. So

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I got into this because I've had a lot of

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friends struggling with addiction. And this job just gives you

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that amazing relief that we can get people help. And

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I just want to help people.

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I'm on this.

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Earth to help people.

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Yes. Yes, absolutely. If all of us had this attitude,

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we would have a lot more people that are being

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helped instead of having an attitude that people are just

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something that you can use and monetize from. Exactly. But

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if you were like, love thy neighbor as yourself, like

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they all say they believe, We would have a different society.

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We would have a different world if people cared, had

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that community love for one another. So when someone calls

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AAC Helpline for the first time, what actually happens? I mean,

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walk us through the intake process so a listener knows

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exactly what to expect and how do you help families

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navigate the financial crisis. or insurance side of things to

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remove the stress of getting their loved one admitted?

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Absolutely. A lot of the times they'll contact me. They're very,

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you know, apprehensive. And so I try to be empathetic because,

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you know, addiction is real and it is different for

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every single person. I listen to their story and I

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ask them, you know, may I ask you what you're

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struggling with? And then we go from there and I'm like,

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do you want the help today? And you know, most

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of them say, yes, I'm calling because I want the help.

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And so I will get their name, date of birth

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and insurance information. And we'll send that into admissions team.

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And they actually, the admissions team will call them and

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we do this within the We don't wait. And so

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the admissions team will run the insurance to make sure

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the insurance works for our company. And then they call

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them for an intake screening. They will ask them a

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series of questions to see what kind of level of

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care that they need. Because some need inpatient, some need outpatient.

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Once they get approved, we actually... ask them if they

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need transportation. We can actually help them with transportation to

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the facilities that they get approved for. So we can

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help them with train, by bus, by plane. It's amazing.

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I've seen it. They will get a plane. They'll call

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in me in the morning at 10 a.m. and they'll

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be on a plane by 6 p.m. It is so fast.

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It's amazing. It is so amazing. But once they get

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approved and once we have everything booked, they actually will

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email them a packing list. Because a lot of them

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are like, I don't know what to pack. I don't,

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you know, I've never been on a plane. I just want,

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you know, I don't know what to do. I'm like,

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I can walk you through. I've actually helped people in

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the airport. I'm like, okay, let's go here. All right,

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you're off the plane now. Once they get to the airport,

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they call for an Uber. We get them an Uber

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and we get them to the facility. It is, honestly,

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once that person is committed... We can get them in

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same day admissions. We're open 24 hours a day, seven

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days a week.

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Wow, that is wonderful. I mean, you're actually helping them.

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You're holding their hand through the whole process because that

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is probably frightening. They don't know what to expect. They

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don't know. And who knows what other kinds of places

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they've attempted that maybe didn't work out. So that is

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just wonderful that you're able to do that. You know,

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AAC is known for having a comprehensive approach, and that

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really is a great one. You know, can you break

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down the difference between your medical detox and residential treatment program?

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Oh, yeah, absolutely. So our medical detox is a 3.7,

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which means it's a monitored intensive inpatient withdrawal management program.

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It actually will get rid of any dangerous life-threatening levels

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of alcohol, drugs, opioids. So this means, this 3.7 means

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there is 24-hour a day, seven days a week nursing care.

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And then there's a daily physician that will come in

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and check on them. Because as we all know, detoxing

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can be dangerous, extremely dangerous. So these facilities do provide

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a level of structured care that stabilizes that patient before

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transitioning them into inpatient. 3.7 is one of the highest

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ASAMs out there, and we do offer that. And then

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our residential treatment program. is a live-in health care, and

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that is approximately the length of stay. It provides therapy

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as well. Length of stay is anywhere from 30 to

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90 days.

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Yeah, a friend of mine here in the state of

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Washington that I met when I first moved here, we

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started going to a treatment center called Elma. It's in Elma, Washington.

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And that is a residential treatment center. But it's very,

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very long term. But a lot of those residents that

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are there, they were court ordered to be in that facility.

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But we used to go and visit and counsel them

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like every other Saturday. Okay. And we would have, you know,

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other guests that would go with us and we would

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sing songs. We would all tell our stories and, you know,

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letting them know you're not the only one that has

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been through something. Now it's a matter of, okay, can

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you take responsibility now? Can you take responsibility of how

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you made this step? And what are you going to do?

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about this new step that you are in right now?

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And I'll tell you, that was one of the most

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rewarding things. We did that for 13 years. And that

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was the most rewarding thing I think I can say

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besides being a foster mother. that I can say I've

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ever done to be there and watch them change their

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lives and, you know, realize that they are valuable. They

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are someone, they are a person that is needed in society.

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And just taking that step was like the best thing

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that could happen. In fact, I would be out you know,

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walking to lunch or something like that. And one of

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the residents that was out now would say, Angela, Angela, Angela. Well,

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I've seen so many of them and wouldn't actually remember

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their name, but they're like, I'm out and I'm registered

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in community college. And I'm like, oh my gosh, this

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is so wonderful. This is, she said, thank you so

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much for taking your time to help because it really

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made a difference in my life. And this is what

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is important to our audience. You know someone. Help them.

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Help them make the right decision. Many people struggle with

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co-occurring disorders. How does AAC integrate psychiatric care with addiction

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treatment to ensure the whole person is being healed?

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Yeah, so we actually integrate psychiatric care through dual diagnosis approach.

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The clients are assessed for both the substance use and

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for mental health conditions. So the mental health conditions can

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be anxiety, depression, PTSD. There's others as well. So we

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have treatment plans. We use comprehensive evaluation with medical and

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psychiatric assessment. And at intake, that's where they get some

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of those questions at intake are to see where they're

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at in their mental health side of it as well.

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We also use integrated therapy, which is a coordinated care,

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whereas psychiatric therapists and addiction specialists, they all work together

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to get this person sober. And we also use medication management.

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which is also known as MAT, and the psychiatrists, they

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actually prescribe the clients that, and they monitor those medications.

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And those medications can help with the mental health side

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and with the withdrawals. Then we have therapeutic programs such

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as CBT, and there's more as well.

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Yeah, I was going to ask you about the CBT

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and EMDR, eye movement, desensitization, group therapy, or other holistic approaches.

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So you use various approaches that are tailored for those

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people that are coming in?

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Absolutely. So CBT, as you know, is cognitive behavioral therapy.

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So it's like a psychotherapy, and they use principles from

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cognitive psychology and behavioral. And then we use DBT, so

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that's dialectical behavioral therapy. That actually helps with personality disorders.

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And then the EMDR, which is eye movement desensitization treatment.

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So that actually treats PTSD, which it's just amazing what

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these different, you know, therapy programs can do. And then

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we also do trauma-informed therapy. So it recognizes that there's trauma,

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usually trauma, involved in addiction. Most, most clients and slash

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patients will have some kind of trauma. And then we

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do a holistic wellness activities, which is, this is the

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fun side of it. They do equine therapy with the horses, yoga,

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art therapy, there's acupuncture, there's a nutritional therapy, and this

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is just to support the recovery side of it. So,

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you know, When they get out, they can actually, you know,

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do the nutritional side to stay healthy.

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In fact, like you were mentioning, recovery doesn't end at

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the discharge. You know, what does AAC aftercare or alumni

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program look like? And, you know, why is it important

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to have that relationship, you know, kind of long term relationship?

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for this long-term sobriety to have that interaction with others.

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Yeah, absolutely. Continuum care is so important to sobriety. If

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we don't have that aftercare or that continuum care, you know,

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they'll go right back to their addiction. So during this stage,

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you know, they don't need that level of care that

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they needed and inpatient. So they're, you know, they need

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to be able to function in the quote unquote real world.

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So we do have a discharge plan. So there's a

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primary therapist that's involved and they do get a case

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manager that works with the client from day one. They

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actually will customize a discharge plan to maintain sobriety. And

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with this discharge plan, you know, a lot of them

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are like, well, I want to go back to work.

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I want to live in sober living. I want to

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do outpatient. I want private therapy. Well, this case manager,

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including in myself, they'll reach out to me as well.

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And I'll be like, hey, here's some places you can

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go to for outpatient. I work with the case managers,

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with all of them, to help them figure out, OK,

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which place would be best for the client. But I

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give them three to four places to reach out to.

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What's great is AAC actually has an app. And this

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app is a peer support community. There's like virtual events

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that they have on this app. There's in-person. There's library.

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There's resources if they need help. There's a place where

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you can do a referral. So if you um, come

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out and you're sober and you have a friend or

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a loved one, you can actually refer them through this app.

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And then they actually have a program called AAC Thrive.

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They're virtual meetings and anybody that is an alumni from

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AAC can join. And it's the second Tuesday of every

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month and it's peer run. Um, so they do have

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people bring in their real life insights, uh, motivational lessons

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and yeah it just helps them stay strong in recovery.

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Oh wow that's that's like building a whole community to

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encourage and to make sure the sobriety stays you know

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that way and and i really like the fact that

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you are offering or services are available for those suffering

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from ptsd um you know i'm from the generation that

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you know a lot of Men and women went to

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the military and went to war and things like that,

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and they have come back with PTSD. And they have

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those triggers and they follow off the wagon and, you know,

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try to medicate themselves with all of these other devices

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instead of having that group that they can connect with.

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they'll say come on man you can make it hey

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girl you got this you got this you got this

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you can do it come on let's go let's go

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let's go you know because they understand what they're going

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through and so they're giving them the encouragement to hold

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on to keep you know standing for their commitment that

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they made that is really important like i said when

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i said in the um a lot of people don't

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want anyone to know that they're getting this help. So

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having this community that they can talk to, boy, that

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is really cool because they're certainly not going to go

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to work and talk about this at the coffee machine.

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So they definitely need, you know, a group of people

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who have walked that walk and can tell them exactly

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what they need to be doing right now. so that

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they don't fall completely off the wagon and go back

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into those behaviors again, but can help them get through

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that moment of crisis that they're having. That's really important

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to be there for that. I know that based on

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what you were saying, AAC tailors the treatment plan for

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individuals who, But what do you say to a person

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who is afraid that treatment will be a clinical or

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cold experience? What is the culture like in the facilities?

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Because most are going to go to think that they're

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in a hospital or something instead of, you know, a

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community where you're interacting and things like that. So what

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can you say to them?

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That's what, you know, it's funny you say that because

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that's what everyone says. They're like, I don't want to

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go to a hospital. I'm like, it is definitely not

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a hospital.

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It's like a resort, honestly.

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It's really nice. It's very clean. It's peaceful. It's calm.

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The energy is like a sense of belonging because you are,

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you know, working, you know, you have group therapy with

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your peers there. So a lot of them understand addiction,

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you know, and that's before and after treatment, you know,

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there's a gym at all of them. There's, you know, there's,

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you can go outside, enjoy the, you know, the weather,

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you know, it's just, it's really nice. Some of them

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have pools, some of them have hot tubs, some of

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them you can go fishing at. Like, like I said,

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there was the equine therapy. There's, you know, go see

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the horses. Some of them, you go to the beach

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once a week. So it's, I mean, it's, they're honestly,

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they're beautiful. Like they smell good.

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That's important. And they know what we're saying too. Yeah,

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for sure. Yeah, but, you know, I was looking at

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some flyers from a couple of locations and I was

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looking at, you know, the one in Florida. I mean,

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you've got, you know, the beach there. You've got different,

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you know, activities that they have. Like you said, there's

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a lot of activities that they have. And then, you know,

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the one in Las Vegas, you have all that beautiful

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scenery and, you know, just the... the atmosphere is a

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lot different in Las Vegas. It's just a, what I

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want to say, an aura that is there that is

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great for healing. So it's just really, yeah, really, really nice.

304
00:22:01.160 --> 00:22:07.190
How many, how many facilities altogether is a part of AAC?

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00:22:07.869 --> 00:22:13.099
So we have eight across America. So yeah, it's, And

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they're all over the country from West Coast to East Coast.

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So it's great.

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Good. Good. Absolutely. So if a family member is trying

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to intervene, what resources does AAC offer to help them

310
00:22:33.309 --> 00:22:37.470
through the process of getting their loved ones some help?

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They just call and you help them? help them get

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through that process?

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I have worked with so many families. I'm telling you,

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if you work with the families, they'll get their loved

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00:22:50.099 --> 00:22:57.480
one in. They'll help me to get the loved one in. I, I, yeah, I, uh,

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we actually have family therapy. We promote families being involved

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00:23:02.720 --> 00:23:05.660
because it does help with, uh, the healing process and

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the sobriety process. But we have family therapy to improve

319
00:23:10.230 --> 00:23:14.490
the communication, and they address the relational.

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Issues as well.

321
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Because a lot of times, you know, the person that

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is addicted has, you know, went away, has kind of

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removed themselves from the family.

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And we need to.

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Bring that back together. So they do, we encourage families

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to be involved. And I tell families all the time,

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you know, daughters, you know, aunties, uncles, moms, dads, I'm like, please,

328
00:23:40.279 --> 00:23:43.880
please be involved. You know, I'll be here if you

329
00:23:43.920 --> 00:23:46.700
have any questions. And, you know, I've reached, I've had

330
00:23:47.700 --> 00:23:50.099
a dad reach out and tell me, thank you so

331
00:23:50.119 --> 00:23:52.660
much for getting my son sober. This is the first

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00:23:52.720 --> 00:23:56.960
time he's ever been sober. And that just is amazing.

333
00:23:56.980 --> 00:23:59.740
I was like, it wasn't me. It was him. He's

334
00:23:59.789 --> 00:24:00.309
the one that.

335
00:24:00.230 --> 00:24:08.789
Did all the work. I just, Yes, absolutely. Yeah. You know, I,

336
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I can, I can sometimes understand maybe the fear that

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they have, because I know when I was working with

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the treatment center, the, the residents, they were feeling a

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00:24:23.150 --> 00:24:26.630
sense of shame and they, like you said, they have

340
00:24:26.990 --> 00:24:31.589
left the family. They haven't been communicating with them. You know, they, um,

341
00:24:33.299 --> 00:24:36.500
They feel like they're an outcast now, all of these things.

342
00:24:36.579 --> 00:24:40.440
And I don't know, I'm not a therapist or anything.

343
00:24:40.500 --> 00:24:43.359
I'm just a grandma. So I said what a grandma

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00:24:43.400 --> 00:24:47.279
would normally say. You need to get in touch with

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your family. You need to let them know that you

346
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were suffering from an illness and to please forgive you

347
00:24:58.410 --> 00:25:04.230
for whatever that you have done that caused this. the

348
00:25:04.289 --> 00:25:09.430
family not to be together. Just say, I'm sorry. It's

349
00:25:09.519 --> 00:25:14.200
not that difficult. And I know you're sorry. So swallow

350
00:25:14.220 --> 00:25:19.660
that pride and call them up and say, I was wrong.

351
00:25:20.779 --> 00:25:23.579
I was sick. I was doing these things. And I

352
00:25:23.640 --> 00:25:26.650
know it's something that you had told me not to do,

353
00:25:26.730 --> 00:25:31.509
but I did it anyway. And I am sorry. Forgive me.

354
00:25:32.509 --> 00:25:36.900
I'm getting help now. That didn't take too many words

355
00:25:38.460 --> 00:25:40.720
and I'm a big talker. So maybe you can even

356
00:25:40.759 --> 00:25:45.890
cut them down some more. Hey, I'm sorry, man. You done.

357
00:25:47.890 --> 00:25:48.250
Forgive me.

358
00:25:48.269 --> 00:25:52.930
It's over. And then you can just keep on going

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00:25:52.990 --> 00:25:57.130
on your journey of getting well and getting healthy and

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00:25:57.150 --> 00:26:03.160
getting strong and, and, Having dreams and working for purpose

361
00:26:03.940 --> 00:26:09.380
and making a difference. Because one thing about it, you

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00:26:09.460 --> 00:26:13.750
have a story that you can tell others to save

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00:26:13.809 --> 00:26:21.299
their lives. You are a walking, talking story. And nothing

364
00:26:21.400 --> 00:26:24.420
is more convincing than someone who has walked the walk,

365
00:26:24.920 --> 00:26:28.259
talked the talk, and now they've made the change and

366
00:26:28.299 --> 00:26:31.789
can tell you exactly what you need to do. That

367
00:26:31.869 --> 00:26:37.450
is the best, you know, help you can get. So

368
00:26:39.210 --> 00:26:43.970
as someone who connects people to help daily, what is

369
00:26:43.990 --> 00:26:48.420
the most common misconception people make? have when they first

370
00:26:48.859 --> 00:26:49.279
call you?

371
00:26:52.250 --> 00:26:55.549
A lot of them don't realize how nice I am.

372
00:26:55.849 --> 00:26:58.390
You know, they think I'm going to be just mean. Honestly,

373
00:26:58.390 --> 00:27:03.230
80% of people are like, you're the nicest person I

374
00:27:03.539 --> 00:27:07.740
have talked to. I was like, really? And they're like, no, seriously,

375
00:27:07.779 --> 00:27:10.779
you actually listen to me. You know, you understand where

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00:27:10.819 --> 00:27:15.250
I'm coming from. And I just, I don't get it.

377
00:27:15.339 --> 00:27:19.269
We're all people, so why not just give them five

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00:27:19.309 --> 00:27:23.150
minutes and let's hear what's going on. Let's see if

379
00:27:23.230 --> 00:27:29.589
we can move forward and get this sobriety going. And

380
00:27:29.630 --> 00:27:32.970
I always tell people, you can reach out to me

381
00:27:33.029 --> 00:27:36.390
while you're in treatment. If you want to text or call,

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00:27:36.430 --> 00:27:38.579
you're more than welcome. I'm here.

383
00:27:38.599 --> 00:27:38.680
Yeah.

384
00:27:40.750 --> 00:27:43.529
You deserve this. I always tell them that. I always

385
00:27:43.549 --> 00:27:46.450
tell everyone, you deserve to be sober.

386
00:27:47.029 --> 00:27:47.269
Yes.

387
00:27:48.750 --> 00:27:52.750
Nobody, you know, and I, yeah, I just, that's, and

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00:27:52.769 --> 00:27:55.309
they also, like I said before, they think it's a hospital.

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00:27:55.329 --> 00:27:56.329
I was like, oh, no.

390
00:27:57.529 --> 00:27:59.779
No, it's a retreat.

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It's a resort. Like, my account's always like, man, it

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sounds nice. And I show them pictures and They're like, wow.

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I'm like, no, it's very relaxing. It's supposed to be

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more like a home-like setting. You know, that's where sobriety,

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you know, if you feel comfortable, you're going to want

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From Crisis to Care: Support at AAC

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