Our Approach

Why is this organization different? We focus on serving the unique needs of the formerly-incarcerated population by offering support and continued re-entry services such as therapeutic community (TC) intensive outpatient (IOP) treatment services, aftercare, employment assistance, and housing assistance from committed staff members who understand the additional challenges faced by this population. No one else in Casper focuses exclusively on the needs of the formerly-incarcerated population. We do! Academic research has identified that this population faces many more challenges and obstacles than other addicts without justice-involvement. Rising Phoenix staff understand the barriers and work diligently with Rising Phoenix participants to work through the obstacles and continue to live law-abiding lives post-incarceration.

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By focusing on therapeutic community (TC) principles that would have been taught at the Therapeutic Community treatment center at the Casper Re-Entry Center, the Women's program in Lusk, and ITU in Newcastle, the concepts of “community as method” and “right living” that have already been learned are reinforced and strengthened. With Rising Phoenix, the community is still viewed as the method by which participants share their experiences and learn from each other. Guided by licensed professional mental health professionals, it is the social organization as a whole that is intended to facilitate learning, healing, and change in each participant. By working collaboratively with other treatment participants who share similar past experiences, the participant engages in the social learning process established by the TC process.

Philosophy of Recovery

The TC perspective is that addiction is a disorder of the whole person that affects some, or all, areas of functioning. Mood disturbances, as well as problems in cognitive and/or behavioral functioning, are also often involved. Typically, people who turn to substances as a way to "cope" with life have grown up in or adapted to destructive behaviors which include domestic abuse/violence, unsafe sexual practices, criminality, suicidal ideation and prior suicide attempts, violence toward others, involvement in vehicular and other accidents, child neglect and abuse, and neglect of one's own physical health. There are often additional signs indicating difficulties with social functioning. These difficulties are evident through strained family relations, issues at work (stagnant or declining job performance, absenteeism, loss of jobs, frequent job changes, etc.), and a lack of engagement with mainstream society.

From this perspective, it does not matter one's drug of choice. If the substance is used in an effort to self-medicate, it is not necessarily the substance use that is the issue. The substance becomes the visible tip of the iceberg indicating that there is much more under the surface that needs to be addressed to resolve the issue of wanting to self-medicate with substances in the first place. Treatment must be much deeper than just surface substance abuse services or the root issue will never be addressed or resolved. 

Commitment to and from Clients

Rising Phoenix serves as a peer self-help community post-substance abuse treatment with which the participant can connect and feel accepted for the man he is becoming through his recovery process. Through IOP, each participant will have a venue to continue learning pro-social skills and a place to debrief challenging situations when they are encountered, as they likely will be given the nature of the participants targeted for this program.

Regardless of the situations encountered in the community, the focus of each Rising Phoenix member will be to always aspire to “right living.” Right living is one of the foundational principles of a therapeutic community, and Rising Phoenix Therapeutic Community & Rescue Center is no exception. The philosophy of TCs emphasize absolute honesty in both word and action. Recovery requires a change in one’s lifestyle that requires one to live differently than he did before. This means one’s behaviors, attitudes, values, and beliefs have to have changed. It is through Rising Phoenix IOP and aftercare that these new behaviors, attitudes, values, and beliefs will continue to be reinforced and encouraged, assisting the participant to live a productive, healthy, and positive lifestyle post-incarceration.